THE CATEGORY OF NUMBER

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 655.

The essence of the category of number is to show the difference in quantity of things, namely: one thing – more than one thing.

The category of number in the system of the English noun is reflected in the oppositions a boy – boys, a foot – feet showing whether the noun denotes one thing or many things.

The productive model is forming the plural by adding the ending -s. New words appearing in the language build their plural form this way.

There are also non-productive models that are characteristic only of the existing in the language words. Here belong suffixes the use of which is limited to definite words:

a) the suffix -en in oxen, children;

b) suffixes of the words of the Latin origin: -i in nucleus – nuclei, -a in stratum – strata, symposium – symposia, genus – genera, phenomenon – phenomena, -ae in antenna – antennae.

The words of foreign origin which are widely used nowadays acquire in the process of assimilation the plural ending -s. Thus, instead of the traditional opposemes medium – media, or formula – formulae, new opposemes are developed with the second member inflected -s: mediums, formulas, terminuses, antennas, etc.

c) the vowel change: tooth – teeth, mouse – mice, woman – women, man – men, foot – feet, etc.

There are also nouns which have got only one grammatical form expressing number. Nouns which have only the plural and no singular form are called pluralia tantum.

e. g. trousers, scissors

Nouns which have only the singular and no plural form are called singularia tantum.

e. g. money, advice