LL-L "Morphology" 2004.06.22 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 22.JUN.2004 (01) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Morphology


Dear Lowlanders,

Should any of you be alive/awake, I would like to revisit the topic of
plural morphology and invite you to give me (us) some input from the point
of view of various Lowlands language varieties.  In particular, I am
currently interested in apparently irregular plural marking of nouns.

As for double plural marking, so far I can come up with a few examples from
Dutch, Afrikaans and Lowlands Saxon (Low German), but I am sure that there
are other varieties with this type of phenomenon as well.

Dutch:
schoen [sxuːn] 'shoe'
schoenen [sxuːnə(n)] 'shoes'

It appears that the old plural form (with /+ən/ was turned into a singular
form, and, etymologically speaking, the new plural form contains another
plural-marking suffix (/+É™(n)).

Similarly, Afrikaans:
skoen [skuːn] 'shoe'
skoene [skuːnə] 'shoes'

Theoretically (*), this ought to have been as follows:
Dutch:
   *schoe [sxuː] 'shoe'
   *schoeën [sxuːə(n)] or schoen [sxuːn] 'shoes'
Afrikaans:
   *skoe [skuː] 'shoe'
   *skoeë [skuːə] 'shoes' (or perhaps *skoes [skuːs])

Cf. "regular"
Englisch: shoe -> shoes
Scots: shae -> shuin (originally regular with /+n/ plural)
German: Schuh -> Schuhe
Yiddish: שו šu [ʃu] ~ [ʃi] -> שוך šux [ʃux] ~ [ʃix]

Lowlands Saxon (Low German) has the same pattern as that of German, but the
main vowel underwent umlauting, and in most dialects the final vowel has
been dropped:
schou (<Schoh>) [sÉ£É”Ë‘Ê ] ~ [sxÉ”Ë‘Ê ] ~ [ÊƒÉ”Ë‘Ê ] ~ [ʃaË‘Ê ] 'shoe'
schöy (<Schöh>) [sɣœːɪ] ~ [sxœːɪ] ~ [ʃœːɪ] ~ [ʃɔːɪ] 'shoes'
derived from schöye ['sɣœˑɪe] ~ ['sxœˑɪe] ~ ['ʃœˑɪe] ~ ['ʃɔˑɪe] 'shoes'

Another example:
Dutch:
   kind [kɪnt] 'child'
   kinderen ['kɪndərə(n)] 'children'
Afrikaans:
   kind [kə̃nt] 'child'
   kinders ['kə̃n(d)ərs] 'children'

In this case, the singular form is etymologically predictable, while the
plural form receives two plural suffixes (Dutch /+ər+ən/, Afrikaans
/+ər+s/).|

The Afrikaans case is like that in Lowlands Saxon, but double-marking is
optional or varies from dialect to dialects:
kind (<Kind>) [kʰɪˑnt] 'child'
kinder (<Kinner>) ['kʰɪˑnɝ] ~ kinders (<Kinners>) ['kʰɪˑnɝs] 'children'

Some speakers use _kinders_ only as a vocative: 'children!', 'kids!'

The opposite of this, I suppose, is apparent "non-marking" of plural forms,
namely zero marking (/+0/).  In English, this tends to occur where plurality
denotes (or denoted) uncountable or uncounted mass.  (Examples of mass nouns
would be "sand," "water," "people," and "cattle.") E.g.,

English:
fish | fish (not *"fishes," at least not in this sense)
herring | herring (not *"herrings," at least not in this sense)
sheep | sheep (never *"sheeps")

Lowlands Saxon has the same:
visch (<Fisch>) [fɪʃ] 'fish' (sg. & pl.)
heyrn (<Heern> ~ <Hiern>) [hɛˑɪɝn] ~ [hiːɝn] 'herring' (sg. & pl.)
schaap (<Schaap> ~ <Schoop>) [sɣɒːp] ~ [sxɒːp] ~ [ʃɒːp] 'sheep' (sg. & pl.)

In Lowlands Saxon, the plural for "sheep" can be regular (_schapen_
(<Schapen> ~ <Schopen>) ['sɣɒːpm̩] ~ ['sxɒːpm̩] ~ ['ʃɒːpm]), in some
dialects either consistently or as an alternative to mass marking.  This
does not apply to "fish," and I am not sure about "herring."

Lately, I have been noticing a trend among Lowlands Saxon writers toward
orthographic non-marking of plurals where the plural marker /+n/ directly
follows a nasal consonant (to which it assimilates).  Such instances are
particularly numerous in dialects in which final /-nd/ is pronounced not
[-nt] but just [-n] and in German-based spelling (< >) is written <-n>;
e.g.,

leen (<Lehn>) [leːn] ~ [lɛːn] 'back (of a chair or sofa)'
lenen (<Lehnen> ~ <Lehn>) [leːnː] ~ [leːn] ~ [lɛːnː] ~ [lɛːn] 'backs (of
chairs or sofas)'

hand (<Hand> ~ <Hann>) [haˑnt] ~ [haˑn] 'land', 'country'
handen (Hannen ~ <Hann>) [haˑnː] ~ [haˑn] 'lands', 'countries'

plum (<Plumm>) [plÊ Ë‘m] 'plum'
plummen (<Plummen> ~ <Plumm>) [plÊ Ë‘mː] ~ [plÊ Ë‘m] 'plums'

lung (<Lung>) [lÊ Ë‘Å‹] 'lung'
lungen (<Lungen> ~ <Lung>) [lÊ Ë‘Å‹Ë] ~ [lÊ Ë‘Å‹] 'lungs'
     (~ lungs (<Lungs>) [lÊ Ë‘Å‹s] 'lungs')

Incidentally, this also occurs with verbs ending with stem-final nasals when
the infinitive marker /+n/ _-en_ ought to be written; e.g.,

ik leen (<ik lehn>) [ʔɪk leːn] ~ [ʔɪk lɛːn] 'I lean'
lenen (<lehnen> ~ <lehn>) [leːnː] ~ [leːn] ~ [lɛːnː] ~ [lɛːn] 'to lean'

ik vind (<ik find> ~ <ik finn>) [ʔɪk fɪˑnt] ~ [ʔɪk fɪˑn] 'I find'
vinden (<finnen> ~ <finn>) [fɪˑnː] ~ [fɪˑn] 'to find'

ik kaam (<ik kaam> ~ <ik koom>) [ʔɪk kʰɒːm] 'I come'
kamen (<kamen> ~ <komen> ~ <kaam> ~ <koom>) [kʰɒːmː] ~ [kʰɒːm] 'to come'

ik sing (<ik sing>) [ʔɪk zɪˑŋ] 'I sing'
singen (<singen> ~ <sing>) [zɪˑŋː] ~ [zɪˑŋ] 'to sing'

Anyway, hopefully this will resurrect or wake up some of you and will get
you thinking.  Any thoughts and relevant information would be appreciated.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron


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