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Double plural
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<h2 id="examples">Examples</h2> <h3>English and Dutch</h3> <p>Examples of this can be seen in the history of <a href="/facts/English_language/tpkxGt7b">English</a> and <a href="/facts/Dutch_language/yIB5lbsx">Dutch</a>. Historically, the general English plural markers were not only <i>-s</i> or <i>-en</i> but also (in certain specific declensions) <i>-ra</i> and <i>-ru</i> (which is still rather general today in <a href="/facts/German_language/oWaQIDA8">German</a> under the form <i>-er</i>). The ancient plural of <i>child</i> was "cildra/cildru", to which an <i>-en</i> suffix was later added when the <i>-ra</i> and <i>-ru</i> became unused.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> The Dutch plural form <i>kind-er-en</i> and the corresponding <a href="/facts/Zeelandic/sekmQEqC">Zeelandic</a> form <i>kind-er-s</i> are also double plurals which were formed in the same way as the English double plurals, while for example German and <a href="/facts/Limburgian/5mS23Txg">Limburgian</a> have (historically conservative) single plurals such as <i>Kind-er</i>. </p><p><i>Breeches</i> is an example involving an old plural that did not use a suffix. It was formerly <i>breech</i> which came from Old English <i>brec</i> which was the plural of <i>broc</i>. </p> Look up <i>double plural</i> in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. <h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2> <ul><li>Alexiadou, Artemis (2024). <a href="https://www.glossa-journal.org/article/id/11585/">"Double plural marking in language mixing and the building blocks of nominals"</a>. <i><a href="/facts/Glossa_(journal)/svcVDPbC">Glossa</a></i>. 9. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.16995%2Fglossa.11585">10.16995/glossa.11585</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Nordquist, Richard. "Double Plurals in English". ThoughtCo. Retrieved October 28, 2024. <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/double-plural-grammar-1690409" target="_blank">https://www.thoughtco.com/double-plural-grammar-1690409</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Moylan, Peter. "Double Plural". Peter & Lynne's place. Retrieved October 28, 2024. <a href="http://www.pmoylan.org/pages/articles/language/Double_plurals.html" target="_blank">http://www.pmoylan.org/pages/articles/language/Double_plurals.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>