Double plural
Encyclopedia
A double plural is a plural form to which an extra suffix
has been added, mainly because the original plural suffix had become improductive and therefore irregular. So the form as a whole was no longer seen as a plural (this is an instance of morphological leveling
).
Examples of this can be seen in the history of English
and Dutch
. Historically, the general English plural markers were not only -s or -en but also (in certain specific declensions) -ra/-ru (which is still rather general today in German
under the form -er). The ancient plural of child was "cildra/cildru", to which an -en suffix was later added when the -ra/-ru became unproductive; the Dutch plural form kind-er-en and the corresponding Zeelandic
form kind-er-s are also double plurals which were formed in the same way as the English double plurals, while for example German and Limburgian have (historically conservative) single plurals such as Kind-er.
Suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
has been added, mainly because the original plural suffix had become improductive and therefore irregular. So the form as a whole was no longer seen as a plural (this is an instance of morphological leveling
Morphological leveling
In linguistics, morphological leveling is the generalization of an inflection across a paradigm or between words. For example, the extension of the form is to persons such as I is and they is in some dialects of English is leveling, by analogy with a more frequent form, as is the reanalysis of...
).
Examples of this can be seen in the history of English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
. Historically, the general English plural markers were not only -s or -en but also (in certain specific declensions) -ra/-ru (which is still rather general today in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
under the form -er). The ancient plural of child was "cildra/cildru", to which an -en suffix was later added when the -ra/-ru became unproductive; the Dutch plural form kind-er-en and the corresponding Zeelandic
Zeelandic
Zeelandic is a regional language spoken in the Dutch province of Zeeland and on the South Holland island of Goeree-Overflakkee...
form kind-er-s are also double plurals which were formed in the same way as the English double plurals, while for example German and Limburgian have (historically conservative) single plurals such as Kind-er.