steven@boring.UUCP (06/12/85)
In article <666@bbnccv.UUCP> keesan@bbnccv.UUCP (Morris M. Keesan) writes: > VAXen is probably more akin to "oxen" then "vixen", as far as derivation. > The "en" suffix is a German pluralization, which has leaked over into > English in words such as "oxen". Actually, rather than leaking into English from German, -en plurals is a feature of Old English, which has only survived in 3 words: children, brethren and oxen. It is a common feature of Germanic languages, and still survives in, for example, German and Dutch. (Actually, chicken is also an example. Chicken was originally the plural of chick, but for some reason it became used as a singular, perhaps in analogy to other animal words which have the same singular and plural - e.g. fish, sheep, deer. Anybody know of any other examples in English of this happening? In Dutch "teen" (toe) and "schoen" (shoe) were both originally plurals which are now used as singulars. This means that when in Dutch you use the plural "tenen" you're really saying "toeses" :-). Steven Pemberton, CWI, Amsterdam; steven@mcvax
aeb@mcvax.UUCP (06/13/85)
In article <6454@boring.UUCP> steven@mcvax.UUCP (Steven Pemberton) writes: > > Actually, chicken is also an example. Chicken was originally the plural of > chick, but for some reason it became used as a singular, perhaps in analogy > to other animal words which have the same singular and plural - e.g. fish, > sheep, deer. A nice theory, but I don't believe it. "Chicken" has developed quite regularly from Old English "cycen". "Chick" is much more recent and is plainly a shortened form of "chicken". Concerning "cycen" (or "cicen"), this has parallels in Dutch "kuiken", Flemish "kieken", Old Norse "kiuklingr", and both -en and -ling- should be interpreted here as diminutiva, not plural endings. In Dutch another example of a diminutivum in -en is "veulen" (foal). It may be that an English example is found in sow/swine.
kay@warwick.UUCP (Kay Dekker) (06/19/85)
In article <294@cstvax.UUCP> db@cstvax.UUCP (Dave Berry) writes: >BTW, what IS the plural of 'vixen' (with an 'i')? Vixens (with an s). Kay. -- "In a world without rational structure, even the most bizarre events must eventually take place." -- Philip Avalon, "On the Resurrection of Reagan" ... mcvax!ukc!warwick!flame!kay
db@cstvax.UUCP (Dave Berry) (06/22/85)
In article <6454@boring.UUCP> steven@mcvax.UUCP (Steven Pemberton) writes: >Actually, rather than leaking into English from German, -en plurals is a >feature of Old English, which has only survived in 3 words: children, >brethren and oxen. What about 'men' & 'women'? I realise they're not quite the same pattern, but they seem similar. BTW, what IS the plural of 'vixen' (with an 'i')? -- Dave Berry. CS postgrad, Univ. of Edinburgh ...mcvax!ukc!{hwcs,kcl-cs}!cstvax!db