Markers of plurality

Markers of plurality:
§ Productive markers – s, es, (i)es
§ Unproductive markers – s ending accompanied by change in the noun

-s with change of voiceless to voiced consonant
· only change in spelling – lives, shelves, calves, elves
· change in pronunciation – houses, youths, mouths
· exception – beliefs, chiefs, cliffs, gulfs, proofs, roofs
· alternative forms – scarfs – scarves, hoofs – hooves
nouns changing in base vowel
men, women, mice, lice, teeth, feet, geese
–en (-r + en) – historical endings
oxen, children, brethren

zero marker
council, craft, sheep, Japanese
· measures – stone, dozen, mile (two-mile walk, ten-minute break, two-pound note)

Plurals of compounds:

not contain a noun ® plural at the end
forget-me-nots, take-offs
contain one noun ® plural comes with the noun
passers-by
contain two nouns ® plural comes with the head noun
sons-in-law, men-of-war
contain two nouns the first is modifier ® plural comes with the second one (boyfriends)
the first is man or woman ® plural comes with both (menservants, womendoctors)
the first is man or woman but it isn’t modifier ® plural comes with the second one
(woman haters)

Foreign plurals:

§ Adopted together with their original plural forms

Latin
curriculum – curricula
fungus – fungi
medium – media
stimulus – stimuli
lava – lave
Greek
analysis – analyses
basis – bases
thesis – theses
criterion – criteria
phenomenon – phenomena
French
chateaux – plural is the same only pronounced with –s
plateau