2190: Plural as the Default Dec 13, 2020

Usually, plurals are formed from the singular, but this is not always the case. Exceptionally, in Welsh for instance there are words for which the plural is the base and singulars are formed off of that. This is on top of the fact Welsh has plurals where no non-affixed form exists: ‘merlen’ (a pony) and ‘merlod’ (ponies), but no *merl. Now, take the examples of

Llygod (mice, pl.) but llygoden (mouse, sg.)

Erfin (turnips, pl.) but erfinen (turnip sg.)

These have the same singular ending as with ‘merlen’ but the plural form is indistinguishable from a root, lacking any additional morphology. Keep in mind this is unlike languages like Latin or Finnish where endings indicate not only singular–plural, but also case. There is no particular reason why the singular will resemble the root if one would have to, but looking at how exceptional this is, it could be said to make intuitive sense. Celtic languages did once historically have cases which one could try to explain this with, but so did English, French, and many other such Indo-European languages where this does not happen.

2189: Massive and Numerative Plurals Dec 12, 2020

While some languages distinguish between paucal (unknown few) and greater plurals (unknown many), others have a massive plural and a numerative plural. To illustrate the difference—though keep in mind this does not exist in English—a massive plural implies indivisibility, such as using pluralization to discuss the "waters of the Indian Ocean". Of course in that example using ‘waters’ is not strictly necessary anyway so consider also that English distinguishes between ‘fish’ [singular], ‘fish’ [like a collective plural] and ‘fishes’ [like a divisible plural] i.e. ‘types of fish’. Languages that morphologically distinguish between massive plural and a numerative plural (unlike English) don’t necessarily have both, such as Welsh which has a separate singular, plural, and massive (collective) plural but not numerative per se. Because English has no productive way to distinguish mass nouns morphology, ostensibly singular nouns like ‘sand’ need to be disambiguated with whole phrases, in this case ‘grain of sand’. Slavic and Semitic languages etc. also distinguish certain qualities of massive plurals.

2188: Paucal, Trial, and Greater Plurals Dec 11, 2020

In addition to the dual number, another number besides simply singular and plural is the paucal, which crops up in a number of different languages such as many Oceanic languages, Serbo-Croatian, some Cushitic languages, and Hopi. This is used specifically for a small but unspecified number; in English one would have to use other words like ‘a few’ rather than using morphology. In other languages too there is the trial, used for specifically three objects. There are however, some languages that rather than distinguishing between small numbers distinguish between greater ones. The greater plural—though all grammatical numbers are equally good ☺—is a syntactic category of some languages including Mele-Fila, a Polynesian language, that distinguishes large quantities, relative how much would be expected. This does allow some room for subjective understanding how much is 'a lot' for a given word, but for instance it might be used when discussing thousands of flowers in a park, or just a handful of luxury cars all together. Of course, this distinguishes from the paucal which is just as subjective. Moreover, Mele-Fila and these other languages with a greater plural will generally still use the plural for exact numbers. It should be noted that while this is a general overview, each language will treat these differently, such as Sursurunga which has a ‘lesser-plural’ in its pronoun system, once thought to be a trial number, but actually it can refer to either 3 or 4 people. Indeed Sursurunga has some of the most complicated numerical system for its grammar, distinguishing between singular, dual, (aforementioned) paucal, greater paucal, and plural.

2187: Hebrew and Arabic Dual Dec 10, 2020

The dual—a distinct plural for 2 of something—is common around many languages of the world, but there are differences in how its used. In Hebrew and Arabic, especially in the older forms of those languages, use of the dual seems compulsory, but this is not universally so. In Arabic it is simpler that any word, regardless of gender, will simply take ان‎ (-ān) or the more modern ين‎ (-ain) but this is being lost in some dialects. In Hebrew this is more complicated, with several different factors like gender and semantics factoring in. Often this is distinguished between the masculine plural ־ים‎ (-im) and the dual ־יים‎ (ayim), such as

יום / יומיים / ימים

‎(yōm / yomạyim / yāmīm) for 'day', ‘two days', and 'days' but often there is no written distinction, especially for masculine nouns, as with עין / עיניים‎ (ayin / ʿēnạyim) for 'eye(s)'. Indeed, in Modern Hebrew, there is no productive use of the dual, but words for time and body parts often still retain it. Notably, in Hebrew, only nouns can have dual, so adjectives, verbs, etc. that need to correspond with a dual will usually use the standard plural.

2186: How Pluralization Can Affect Meaning: 'Oczy' vs. 'Oka' Dec 9, 2020

While pluralization may often be merely a necessary aspect of a language's grammar, sometimes it can have an impact on the semantics too. The Polish noun 'oko' means both 'eye' but also 'oil droplet' and while the plural for the first meaning is 'oczy', for the second it is 'oka'. The reason for this distinction is ostensibly due to the so-called dual number, a form of plural used specifically for things which come in pairs. That is why also even if it is more than 2 eyes, or exactly 2 oil droplets being referred to, the same plural forms are used. Indeed, while the dual is used primarily for things which are considered generally to come as pairs but in Polish and also Russian certain forms of nouns will have different forms for referring to 2, 3, or 4 of that noun, but this extension is limited to the genitive or nominative plural for Polish. Uses for the dual beyond this will be the topic tomorrow.

This post is the start of Pluralization Week, to celebrate the 6th anniversary of the blog.

2185: Words for 'Proud' Dec 8, 2020

The majority of Indo-European languages use the same basic pattern for words for 'proud', with both negative and positive senses. The pattern tends to be a compound with words for 'more' or 'over', and words for 'mood', 'thought' or sometimes 'appearances'. Some examples of this would include the Old English 'ofermodig' (over-moody) and 'heahheort (high-heart), or the Greek υπερήφανος 'hyperephanos' (over-appearing). In certain other cases there is a physical sense of being swollen or inflating such as the Welsh 'balch'.

6 Year Anniversary: Pluralization Week Tomorrow

To celebrate 6 years of Word Facts, 7 posts will be dedicated to the topic of pluralization, with all its quirks and variations.

2184: proud Dec 7, 2020

Pride is a good thing in moderation, but the notion that that word related to emotion at all is a later development in its history. It comes from the Old English 'prud' from the Latin 'prode' meaning 'excellent', 'advantageous' but also 'arrogant', which makes it related to 'improve' but also to 'prude'. In any case, while 'proud' has had the sense of "being excited by something" since the 13th century at least, the more moralistic sense of having a high opinion of oneself is only found in English and not in French or Latin, which might actually reflect what the Anglo-Saxons thought of the Norman invaders, and even in other Germanic languages it retained a meaning of 'brave; valiant'.

2183: Unrelated: improve vs. disprove Dec 6, 2020

Although broadly it could be said that 'improve' means to strengthen something while 'disprove' means to weak it, but the two words are not related, despite the apparent similar root. 'Improve' comes from the Latin 'prode' (advantageous) and is closer related to 'proud'—more on that tomorrow— and meant 'cause to profit', whereas 'disprove' is from the Old French 'prover' as in 'to test'. The spellings and pronunciation of 'improve' was however influenced by 'disprove' since before the 17th century it was uncommon to see it spelled with a -v-: rather it might be 'improu'. Indeed, its more general meaning did not come about until recently either, initially referring only to making something profitable as in "improving land" i.e. by clearing it for farming.

2182: Hebrew Cardinal Directions Dec 5, 2020

While the terms in English for cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—all may seem fairly arbitrary today, though some did have semantic significance in the distant past to the Sun. Modern Hebrew not only has generally meaningful cardinal directions but also some distinct Biblical counterparts. For instance, 'west' is מערב (mayrev) related to ערב (arev) meaning 'evening', when the Sun would be setting. Likewise, contrast ים (yam) seen in the Bible meaning 'sea' but also as a reference for 'west' and Israel's geography along the Mediterranean and it should make sense. Along those lines, צפון‎ (tzafon) for 'North' related to צָפוּן (tsafún) meaning 'hidden' as a reference to Israel's mountainous northern region, or נגב (negev) for 'South' also the name of a desert to the south. 'East' is מזרח (mizrach) related to זָרַח (zarach) meaning 'rise', a reference to the Sun.

2181: Names for Cardinal Directions Dec 4, 2020

At this point the cardinal directions in English—North, East, South, and West—are basically stripped of their original meanings, but unsurprisingly they are related to the Sun. Most directly so is with 'South' thought to come from the Proto-Germanic *sunthaz, understood to mean literally 'sun-side', which being so far north geographically would mean the Sun is usually seen towards the South. 'North' is uncertain, but it either comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁ner- (inner, under) or the *ner- (left, or also 'below) and if the second is true, then it would likely be as a reference to being on the left as the Sun is rising. 'East' and 'West' both come through a different sort of pattern: Roman deities, kind of. While not necessarily directly from these sources, 'east' is related to the Latin 'aura' or Greek αὔρα (auos) meaning 'dawn', and a minor deity. Likewise 'west' is related to the Latin 'vesper', the evening star, and a minor deity.

2180: medina Dec 3, 2020

The city of Medina is known in Arabic as المدينة المنورة‎ (al-Madinat al-Munawwarah) meaning 'the enlightened city' making 'Medina' on its own just mean 'city'. Likewise the Aramaic מדינתא (medinta) and probably Hebrew מדינה (medina) also refer to territory, but have the broader meaning of 'state; region'. This itself comes from the root semitic root דין (din) meaning 'judgement', making it that all of these meanings refer to a place where judgement (kings; legal courts etc) would take place.

2179: cyprian plague Dec 2, 2020

It is very common to name diseases after the places associated therewith, like Lyme disease, West Nile virus, and Ebola. This is not the case with the Cyprian plague per se, a plague which affected the eastern and especially southeastern part of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century AD. One might it think started in or around the island of Cyprus, but actually the plague is named after St. Cyprian, the Bishop of Carthage; it is thought to have actually originated in Ethiopia. He documented the disease at the time, and so it is associated with his name. Be careful also, because ‘cyprian’ on its own means ‘prostitute’, and so the adjective now used is ‘cypriot’.

2178: What is Whispering? Dec 1, 2020

Whispering is something that everyone knows intuitively but might not be able to explain exactly.

Whispering is a process by which the vocal folds, sometimes called vocal chords, are not vibrating, though air still passes through. Therefore while all the processes of sound production above the larynx remains the same as in normal speech, rather than oscillating between voiceless and voiced sounds, the latter of which is determined by whether the vocal folds vibrate, whispering uses oscillation between voiceless sounds and whisper. That means that distinctions between voiced sounds like [b, d, g] and voiceless sounds, the counterparts here being [p, t, k] are minimal, and AI technology still struggles to understand this. In general, although whispering takes less energy overall, the vocal folds actually get more strained.

2177: 'Man' as an Interjection Nov 30, 2020

The path that led to the current uses of 'man' is a long and storied one. In addition to the varied uses it has as a noun, it is also an exclamation because that it used to be a pronoun. That might seem strange, but in Old English it meant what 'one' means now (pronominally) but it was also used generically for humanity, but by the Middle Ages it was used for familiar address, sort of like how 'bro' (or also still 'man') are used today. It is from this sense that it is believed that in the 15th century it started to be used as as interjection to express shock or just emphasis. Since then it has only become more popular.

2176: liverpool, liverpudlian, & scouse Nov 29, 2020

Someone from Liverpool is a Liverpudlian, and the variety of English he uses is Scouse. The fact that there are such a variety of terms where normally they would all be related is due to things that were once informal becoming official. 'Liverpudlian' began as a 19th century pun from 'puddle' referring to a small pool; 'Liverpool' itself comes from the Old English for 'muddy water'. The name for the dialect as 'Scouse' is from a word 'lobscouse', a stewed meat dish common among the sailing community there that was then applied to the people there, though this only happened in the mid-20th century.

2175: slavic Nov 28, 2020

The name for the Slavic languages comes from the native term for 'word', as seen still in Slovak 'slovo' or Russian 'слово', pronounced the same. The reason why this is, however, is somewhat contested. Some theories take it fairly literally relating the meaning of '*sluti' (speak clearly) for an articulate people; this explanation would not be uncommon considering other terms around the world. Another relates this to the root *slava meaning 'fame; glory', which again would not be so strange. Furthermore, consider that the proposed root for this would connect it to *ḱléwos (“fame”), the same as other word from Celtic to Greek to Persian meaning 'heard' or eventually 'word' also.

2174: Why Merchants Prefered Roman Numerals Nov 27, 2020

While Arabic numerals eventually won out (or one out, some might say), for most of European history Roman numerals were used. Part of the reason that a few centuries ago Roman numerals were prefered was that the most common need for writing them was not with mathematics per se but with commerce. Merchants prefered to use Roman numerals because they are not so easy to counterfeit because they fall into a particular order, whereas in Arabic numerals someone could just add more digits. Moreover there were actual anti-counterfeit measures built in, such as how the terminal I (representing 1) would be written as a J for instance: XXIIJ (23) so that no one could just add extra digits.

2173: הודו & חג ההודיה (Thanksgiving & Turkey): Unrelated Nov 26, 2020

While people might like to make the connection between Hebrew חג ההודיה (chag ha'hodiah) for the Thanksgiving holiday, and הודו (hodu), the imperative form of 'thank' that also means 'turkey', but it is not from this holiday that the bird is called this in Hebrew. Just compare the name for 'India' in Hebrew, הודו, and you'll notice it is literally the same word. This might become clearer considering the longer name of the bird is תרנגול הודו (“India fowl”), similar to how 'turkey' got its name from the country of Turkey, even though it is from the Americas. The name for the country in Hebrew comes from the Old Persian 'hiduuš', from Sanskrit, and is not related to anything along the lines of 'thank'.

2172: try and trial Nov 25, 2020

Although it is a bit more old fashioned, the structure of "try and" rather than "try to" was seen to be more proper. Indeed, when considering the etymology of this word, it makes more sense. Though clearly the definition has shifted slightly, it originally meant 'test' or 'examine'. Notably, this developed basically oppositely to 'prove', which is now taken to mean 'establish(ed) through testing', but originally meant what 'try' means now. It is through this more formal sense of 'examination' rather than merely 'attempt' that the word 'trial' came to be.