Query: Why the plural in Spanish "Buenas dias," etc.? (OT)

[Peter A. McGraw]

I noticed on a trip to Peru in June that people there say "Bueno dia" and I
think "Buena noche."  Whether this is an adoption of singular forms or part
of a larger phonological phenomenon whereby final s is lost, I don't know,
since these two expressions constitute about one-third of the Spanish I've
retained from grade school in California.

Peter Mc.

--On Monday, December 16, 2002 9:33 AM -0800 "A. Maberry"
<maberry at U.WASHINGTON.EDU> wrote:

> Turkish has or had when I first studied it:
>
> iyi geceler (lit. good evenings)
> iyi ak,samlar (lit. good nights)
> iyi g"unler (good bye; lit. good days)
>
> Why? I've got no idea.
>
> allen
> maberry at u.washington.edu
>
>
> On Sun, 15 Dec 2002, Gerald Cohen wrote:
>
>>     This is off topic, but perhaps someone on the list knows the
>> answer: Why does Spanish use the plural for Buenas dias (Good day),
>> Buenas tardes (Good afternoon) and Buenas noches (Good night)?  I
>> know of no other language that does this.
>>
>>     Any help would be much appreciated.
>>
>> Gerald Cohen
>>



****************************************************************************
                               Peter A. McGraw
                   Linfield College   *   McMinnville, OR
                            pmcgraw at linfield.edu