LL-L "Grammar" 2007.09.05 (03) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L  -  05 September 2007 - Volume 03
Song Contest: lowlands-l.net/contest/ (- 31 Dec. 2007)
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From: Elsie Zinsser <ezinsser at icon.co.za>
Subject: LL-L "Grammar" 2007.09.05 (01) [E]

Hi all,

Ron, Afrikaans plurals are alive and well and quite straightforward:
broek-broeke, trap-trappe (one stairway, many steps); bril-brille;
skaap-skape; skêr-skêre, although dialectical differences do occur, as in
the Bushmanland and Namakwaland (where Gariep or Oranje-rivier Afrikaans is
spoken): The plural for skaap and bees remains skaap and bees, and so forth.

I'm wondering whether the dropping off of plural endings is not a result of
foreign tongue populations confusing the different (but somehow similar!)
forms, which gives one the stair and scissor types?

By the way: My grandson (who has not yet been exposed to and confused by the
English singular 'glasses' for Afrikaans singular 'bril'), logically assumes
that one pair of glasses is 'brille'.

Regards,

Elsie Zinsser
 Ron: I find it interesting that there are signs of ambivalence regarding
plural use in certain cases, and I wonder if plural use is on its way out in
such cases.  These are cases in which perception of two or more parts seems
to be shifting to perception of units of which these are parts.  In the case
of English, I wonder if tendencies toward singular choice goes back to
European immigrant languages, especially on the North American east coast.

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From: R. F. Hahn < sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Grammar

Thanks, Elsie.

Low Saxon plural forms are comparatively complicated, in part because of
historical sound shifts that are partly masked these days.

I provide a brief introduction to this here:

English: lowlands-l.net/grammar/nouns-number.htm

Deutsch: lowlands-l.net/grammar/subst-zahl.htm

Regards,
Rerinhard/Ron
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