[Lexicog] Re: lexical entries as singulars or plurals

[David Tuggy]

Interesting that the diminutive -ie suffix, then, is apparently a 
singularizing suffix (probably by turning a mass noun "fish" into a 
count noun). "fishies" is probably for virtually anybody the right 
plural for "fishie". But "fishies" grades into "fishes" 
articulatorily/acoustically for me. This may account for why the plural 
"fishes", although I understand, accept, and occasionally use it, feels 
a bit childish to me. It also feels extra inappropriate with a whole 
school of fish, which are most easily construed as mass-like, and most 
appropriate with something like "three fishes". If I were buying caught 
fish, I would never (?) say "give me three fishes", but if I saw some in 
the river, I would probably prefer "there are three fishes right there" 
over "three fish".

--David Tuggy

Rudolph C Troike wrote:

>
>
> In re Bill Poser's comment about catfish being considered inedible in
> Japan, in Brownsville, Texas, where I grew up, people had the same
> attitude. This is near the Gulf of Mexico coast, and the catfish were
> salt-water "cats". They were considered a nuisance by fishermen, and
> when caught were either killed or thrown back, or sometimes used for
> bait. Some years later I was invited to my first fishfry in western
> Illinois, and was shocked to learn that the fish being served was
> catfish. It may be that the Japanese aversion is due to the fish being
> saltwater catfish.
>
>       Rudy Troike
>
> P.S. I agree that "fishes" would refer to different kinds of fish, which
> aligns it with the usage of plural noncount nouns to mean different kinds
> of, such as "sugars", which would refer to such as lactose, fructose,
> dextrose, etc., or "salts", etc.
>
> --------------
>    Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2005 09:47:20 -0400 (EDT)
>    From: billposer at alum.mit.edu
> Subject: RE: Re: lexical entries as singulars or plurals
>
> I like catfish too. Curiously, in Japan, where people eat all manner
> of things that Europeans tend to find disgusting, many people consider
> catfish inedible.
>
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