Chapter 2

The category of number

1. Preliminary remarks

Morphologically, nouns are open-class items. At the formal level, they

are characterized by the morpho-syntactic features of number, gender
and case. The category of number is reflected in the singular-plural
opposition. Both in the singular and plural there is a contrast between
definite and indefinite forms (a book vs. the book; books vs. the books).
Number is a grammatical category which encodes quantification
over entities or events denoted by nouns or nominal elements. It derives
from the ability to perceive something as a token, an instance of a class
of referents, and the ability to differentiate between one and more than
one instance of the referent (i.e. the plurality of instances). Since number
can refer to both entities and events, it has been suggested that a
linguistic system evinces both nominal number and verbal number,
the latter phenomenon also being referred to as pluractionality.
However, since pluractionality can be regarded as an expression of
situation type, it is more readily related to the category of aspect rather
than number. This chapter will focus on nominal number.
Traditional approaches to the English number deal with two
oppositions:

(a) the opposition SINGULAR (which denotes ‘one) – PLURAL

(which denotes ‘more than one’) and
(b) the distinction between COUNT(ABLE) and UNCOUNT(ABLE)
(MASS) nouns.

The first opposition is grammatical in the sense that one of the two
terms, namely the plural one, is marked morphologically (usually by the
morphological marker –s) while the singular one is the unmarked term.
The second distinction, closely related to the first, is semantic in nature
and has to do with the distinction between nouns denoting entities with
divided reference (i.e. entities which can be counted) and nouns denoting
entities with undivided reference (i.e. entities which cannot be counted

35
and therefore do not vary for number). The difference between countable
nouns (e.g. book, girl, flower, etc) and uncountable/ mass nouns (e.g.
water, copper, sugar, etc.) is that the entities belonging to the latter set
cannot be easily individualizable so as to be able to count them (Baciu
2004b).
The English number system applies to nouns and NPs without
exception and is grammatically relevant with regard to:

• noun inflection: generally, plural nouns are morphologically

marked (books) while singular nouns are unmarked
• concord between nouns and determiners (this book vs. these
books; a book vs. several books; another penny vs. *another
money)
• subject-verb agreement (This book is mine vs. Those books
are mine)
• pronoun-antecedent agreement (I have read that book. It is
very interesting)

2. The conceptual basis of the count/mass distinction

2.1. Count and mass nouns

Before embarking on a detailed analysis of the subclasses of English

nouns, we need to consider the count-mass distinction. This is a
complex issue, on which a substantial literature has been written1. For
our purposes, we shall adopt the theoretical frameworks of cognitive
semantics and cognitive grammar relying namely on Langacker (2008),
Pelletier (1979), and Quine (1979).
Traditional grammars identify two basic types of nouns count
and mass on the basis of the contrasting grammatical behaviour of these
nouns. The differing grammatical properties of count and mass nouns are
symptomatic of a fundamental conceptual opposition. These two basic
subclasses correspond to the conceptual archetypes object and
substance (Langacker 2008). These two broad classes into which
1
There are some fine observations in McCawley (1975); an influential paper which
includes cross-linguistic evidence is Chierchia (1998b) See Langacker (2008:128-146)
for an account within the Cognitive grammar framework. Markman (1985,
1989:168-74) is concerned with children’s acquisition of the count-mass distinction and
suggests a link between superordinate categories and mass terms.

36
English nouns are divisible2 are exemplified in (1). Typical for count
nouns are names of physical objects (e.g. diamond, book, cup), and for
mass nouns, the names of physical substances (e.g. gold, meat, water).

(1)

Count nouns: diamond, book, cup, pencil, house, table, tree, apple, dog,
neck, edge, county, lake, cloud, question, idea, joy, complaint, etc.

Mass nouns: gold, meat, water, wood, coal, glue, beer, skin, steel, air,
smoke, moisture, electricity, nonsense, anger, righteousness,
complaining, etc.

However, both classes include terms for other types of entities. Count
nouns, for instance, also label creatures (dog), parts of larger wholes
(neck), or geographical regions (county), as well as entities that are either
nebulous (cloud) or abstract (idea). Similarly, mass nouns designate
entities whose substantial nature is rather tenuous (air, electricity,
smoke) or entities which are wholly non-physical (nonsense,
righteousness, joy). Thus the descriptive labels object and substance
apply straightforwardly only to prototypical members, not to all
members (Langacker 2008:129).
The count/mass distinction has been established and
characterized in terms of distinctive grammatical properties. Some of
these properties are given in (2), taking diamond and gold as
prototypical instances of the count and mass nouns categories.

(2)

(a) They are looking for *diamond/gold

(b) a diamond/*gold
(c) most *diamond/gold
(d) all diamond/gold
(e) a lot of *diamond/gold

The examples in (2) highlight the following distinctive grammatical

properties that hold for all the nouns in (1):
• only a mass noun can stand alone as a complete nominal
expression, without a determiner
• only a count noun permits the indefinite article a(n)
2
Cross-cutting this classification is the distinction between common and proper nouns.
The examples in (1) are all common nouns.

37
 • a number of determiners – including the quantifiers most, all, and
a lot of – only occur with mass nouns

Count nouns designate entities that can be counted: one diamond, two
diamond, three diamonds, etc. Countability correlates with the
possibility of forming a plural (e.g. diamonds) that designates multiple
instances of the type specified by the singular noun (diamond). By
contrast, mass nouns do not form plurals (*golds), nor are their referents
countable: *one gold, *two gold(s), *three gold(s). The referent of a
typical mass noun lacks the discreteness required for the recognition and
counting of multiple instances.
Although only a count noun can be pluralized, interestingly
enough, a plural functions grammatically as a mass noun. Going through
the properties in (2), we notice that gold and diamonds behave alike, in
contrast to the singular form diamond:

(3)

(a) They are looking for *diamond/gold/diamonds

(b) a diamond/*gold/*diamonds
(c) most *diamond/gold/diamonds
(d) all *diamond/gold/diamonds
(e) a lot of *diamond/gold/diamonds

With regard to other morpho-syntactic properties, however, plurals do

not behave identically to mass nouns. By its very nature, a plural (e.g.
diamonds) refers to multiple instances of the type (diamond). Therefore
a plural “portrays the mass it designates as “consisting of individual
‘particles’ salient enough to be countable” (Langacker 2008:130).
Consequently, plurals co-occur with numerals, plural demonstratives and
certain quantifiers, whereas mass nouns do not, as the examples in (4)
illustrate:

(4)

(a) those diamonds vs. that gold

(b) these diamonds vs. this gold
(c) many diamonds vs. much gold
(d) few diamonds vs. little gold
(e) several diamonds vs. *several gold
(f) numerous diamonds vs. *numerous gold

38
These morpho-syntactic properties are symptomatic of underlying
conceptual differences. In what follows we shall assume two properties
as basic for an act of individuation (Langacker 2008:131):

• an entity can be construed as being discretely bounded in time

(and/or space)
• an entity can be construed as being continuous (i.e. amorphous
and not inherently limited) in space (and/or time)

2.2. Conceptual basis

The grammatical distinction between count and mass nouns is reflective

of a basic conceptual distinction. A count noun profiles an entity
construed as being bounded in a certain dimension. An entity is
bounded in a certain dimension if the various locations along this
dimension contain its parts, but not the whole entity. Defined more
abstractly, a thing is bounded where there is “some limit to the set of
constitutive entities’ Langacker 2008:136). Bounding can be effected
on the basis of contrast with surroundings3 (if bounded in space they
have contour, i.e. they have a certain spatial shape4or form), internal
configuration5, and function6. These three means of bounding are not
mutually exclusive. An alphabet for instance is delimited not only by
3
Contrast with surroundings is achieved by mentally scanning through an entity in any
direction and reaching a point at which the entity fails to be manifested. The limit is
defined by this point of contrast where we detect a transition from the presence of the
entity in question to its absence. For instance, a beep is the occurrence of a certain kind
of noise bounded by silence on either end. In hearing or imagining a beep, we first
encounter a transition from the absence of that noise to its presence, and then from its
presence to its absence. If further scanning through time reveals more of the sound, it
represents the onset of another beep and not the continuation of the previous one.
4
Conceiving an entity as being bounded does not depend on being able to impose
boundaries, i.e. a precise line of demarcation in any specific place. Boundaries may be
fuzzy, but entities bounded fuzzily are still bounded. For instance, there is no precise
boundary between the handle of a bat and its barrel, yet each is a bounded region
distinguishable from the other.
5
For instance, a car consists of a certain set of parts connected in a particular manner to
form a structured whole. To recognize an instance of this type, it is sufficient to observe
the requisite parts in the appropriate configuration. At this point, transition from car to
non-car, i.e. contrast with surroundings, seems inessential. The noun alphabet provides
a more abstract example of bounding by configuration. An alphabet is a set of letters
limited in number and occurring in a certain sequence (i.e. order) A>B>C>….X>Y>Z.
The referent of the noun alphabet is bounded by the first and last elements in the
sequence.

39
configuration (a fixed sequence of a limited number of items with initial
and final letters) but also by function: it comprises the full set of letters
used together to represent the sounds of a certain language (Langacker
2008: 137-138).
A mass noun referent, on the other hand, is unbounded, i.e.
amorphous and not limited. An entity that is unbounded is continuous
and can be defined as not having parts in the dimension in which it is
continuous. An entity that is unbounded can be found in its entirety in
the respective dimension. In distinguishing count and mass nouns,
bounding should not be considered by itself. As Langacker 2008:139)
has put it, “it shares the burden with three conceptual factors:
homogeneity, contractibility and replicability” (my emphasis).
The referent of a mass noun is construed as being internally
homogenous. A typical mass noun such as water designates a substance
indentified by various prototypical qualities: a liquid of low viscosity,
largely transparent, tasteless, odourless, non-alcoholic, etc. Ideally, any
sample of water will reveal these properties. Homogeneity thus consists
of being qualitatively the same throughout7.
The homogeneity of a mass is dependent on the lack of intrinsic
bounding. These two factors are responsible for another property on
mass nouns, namely contractibility. By this we mean that “any portion
of a mass of a given type is itself a valid instance of that type”
(Langacker 2008:141). If we consider the water in a lake, any portion
selected for individual examination can be described as water, no matter
the size. In other words, if the referent of water is divided, what is left is
still water. This does not hold for count nouns: part of a lake is not itself
a lake. Similarly, the tail of a dog is not a dog, the sequence ABCD,
although part of an alphabet, is not an alphabet, or if the referent of a
book or a car is divided, what remains is no longer a book or a car.
The homogeneity and lack of bounding also lead to another
property that is characteristic of a mass: expansibility. The mass
obtained by combining any two instances of a given type is a valid
instance of that type. By adding some sugar to the sugar already in a
bowl, we obtain a larger mass that also counts as a single instance of
6
If we consider a wooden baseball bat, physical examination reveals no obvious
boundary between the portions referred to as the handle and the barrel. The bat gets
thicker as we scan from handle to barrel, but with no evident point of transition. The
demarcation, i.e. contrast with surroundings, depends primarily on the function served:
the handle is where we grip the bat, and the barrel is the part that hits the ball.
7
Contrast with a typical count noun such as pencil, for instance, which does not display
such qualitative uniformity or homogeneity. Instead, it is usual for differnt parts (lead,
shaft, eraser) to consist of different substances (e.g. graphite, wood, rubber). With
respect to qualitative properties, a typical count noun referent is heterogeneous.

40
sugar which later we can refer to as that sugar or the sugar in the bowl,
but not *those two sugars8. This property does not apply to count noun
referents. Several dogs put together do not form a larger dog. Langacker
(2008:142) proposes another property that is the opposite of
expansibility and which he calls replicability and which applies to
count nouns. Because a count noun specifies bounding (i.e. some limit
to the constitutive entities), replicability provides a way of determining
when one instance ends and another begins. These opposing properties
of expansibility and replicability that apply to mass and count noun
referents respectively are indicated by more vs. another: when two
instances are combined, the result is more sugar but another bowl.

2.3. Variable construal

Given its conceptual nature, the count/mass distinction reflects human

capacity for conceiving or portraying a situation or an entity in alternate
ways. This capacity has the consequence that categorization can be fluid
to a certain extent. For a large number of English nouns, both a count-
noun variant and mass-noun variant are well established as conventional
linguistic units. Though novel, the mass-noun use of lake in (5a)
illustrates a general pattern for construing a bounded entity as an
unbounded mass. Conversely, the count-noun use of water in (5b)
follows a general pattern for construing a mass as a bounded entity:

(5)

(a) You need a lot of lake for speedboat race.

(b) I want two lemonades and a water.

For a more detailed analysis of the recategorization of mass

nouns as count ones and the reverse, see Section 5. At this point, suffice
it to say that generally one variant is perceived as basic, while the other
one constitutes a semantic extension. For water, the mass-noun sense is
clearly primary. In contrast, diamond is primarily a count noun, with a
secondary mass-noun use (e.g. Diamond is one of the hardest substances
known). With many nouns, however, the two variants are of comparable
8
Contractibility and expansibility correspond to subdivisibility and additivity,
respectively, in mereological logic (i.e. the logic of the part-whole relationship).
Additivity can be identified by Quine’s (1979) test of cumulative reference: any sum
of parts, which are sugar, is sugar.

41
status; examples of such nouns include: rock, stone, brick, tile, glass,
hair, fur, cloth, rope, string, cake, squash, steak, thought, insight, pain,
rest, law, principle, etc. As a mass noun, each designates a physical or
abstract substance, whereas the count-noun counterpart designates a
bounded entity composed of that substance.

2.4. The sortal/non-sortal distinction

Count terms like man, dog, star, river, etc are also called sortals, while
mass nouns like water, smoke, ice, gold, etc. are called non-sortals. The
philosophical sortal/non-sortal distinction thus parallels the
grammatical count/mass distinction which grammars have
acknowledged for many years.
As shown by philosophers of language, “the purpose of the sortal
distinction was to be able to apply number to it in a definite manner and
not to permit any arbitrary division of the sortal term. Non-sortals do not
allow number to apply to them and arbitrary division into parts is an
identification test” (Pelletier 1979). The purpose of the philosophical
distinction is to give a semantic characterization. The sortal/non-sortal
distinction is intended to divide predicates that provide a criterion for
counting from predicates that do not provide such a criterion. Pelletier
(1979:3) argues that “in a space appropriate to the sortal ‘S’, we can
count how many S’s there are in that space; but in a space appropriate to
a non-sortal ‘M’ we cannot straightforwardly ask how may M’s there
are. Thus we can ask how many men are in a room, but not how many
waters (without changing the sense of water)”. Non-sortal terms are
collective in the sense that if ‘M’ is a non-sortal term, then ‘M’ is true
of any part of an entity of which ‘M’ is true and it is divisive to the
extent to which ‘M’ is true of any part of an entity of which ‘M’ is true.
The grammatical distinction count/mass applies to simple noun
phrases only, whereas the philosophical distinction sortal/non-sortal
applies to complex noun phrases as well. For instance, ‘white man’ is
sortal and ‘dirty water’ non-sortal.
Moreover, if the grammatical distinction applies to nouns only,
the philosophical distinction sortal/non-sortal is said to be instrumental
in individuating other types of entities as well, namely situations. Verb
phrases such as build a house, write a letter, buy a book (described as
events) share properties characteristic of sortals and are bounded in the
dimension of time. Situations designated by verb phrases such playing
the piano, walking in the park are describable in terms of the properties

42
of individuation characteristic of non-sortals. These entities, named
processes, are conceived as being unbounded, i.e. continuous in the
dimensions of time and space (Pelletier 1979).

3. Sortal terms – Count(able) nouns

3.1 The semantic and morphosyntactic properties of sortals (i.e.

count(able) nouns)

As mentioned above, countable nouns are considered to be sortals at the

semantic level. This semantic characterization is based on the process of
individuation. As Baciu (2004b:37-8) points out “no division of a sortal
term in the spatial area can yield the entity as a whole. [....] sortal terms
have in-built-modes of dividing their reference – so that we distinguish
between one rabbit, another rabbit, etc.”
Countable or sortal terms are also known as general terms,
which are the opposite of singular terms. Quine (1960:90) argues that
‘semantically the distinction between singular and general terms is that a
singular term names or purports to name one (unique) object, [...] while
a general term is true of each, severally, of any number of objects’.
Having a certain shape or form is another characteristic of general terms.
From a pragmatic point of view, people employ sortal terms when they
want to designate individual objects (Stefanescu 1988:46).
The morphosyntactic properties of sortals (i.e. count(able)
nouns) mentioned in (6) are the reflexes of their semantic behaviour
discussed in Section 2.

(6)

• they are individuated by means of the indefinite article a(n);

• they co-occur with cardinal numerals;
• they allow such countable quantifiers as many, few, each, every;
• they take the plural morpheme;
• they trigger plural agreement with the verb and plural anaphoric
pronouns.

I prefer a dog to a cat. Dogs are more interesting.

43
At Beckford in Worcestershire fifty hedgehogs have been brought in by
worried animal lovers.
I invited a few friends around on Saturday night.
You’ve been reading too many romantic novels.
Every child will receive a certificate at the end of the course.
There are three different series of the computer. We think they were all
made in South Korea.

3.2. The plural morpheme

The vast majority of English countable nouns (sortals) form the plural by
adding the inflectional suffix –s. Although the plural form has often
been taken as the main criterion for distinguishing between countable
and uncountable nouns (i.e. mass nouns/ non-sortals), this criterion is
notoriously unreliable. As the examples below show the plural suffix –s
is but one possible realization of the plural morpheme9, i.e. one of the
allomorphs of the morpheme which stands for the feature [+ plural]:

(7)

Singular Plural Plural allomorph

a) dog dogs -s
book books
table tables

b) sheep sheep Ø
fish fish
deer deer
9
In one the most readable histories of the English language Pyles and Algeo
(1982:116) sum up the development of English plural formation as follows: “One of the
most significant differences between Old English and Modern English nouns is that
Old English had no device for indicating plurality alone – that is, unconnected with the
concept of case. It was not until Middle English times that the plural nominative-
accusative –es (from OE -as) drove out the other case forms of the plural (save for the
comparatively rare genitive of measure). Even in the root-consonant stems [like foot],
the mutated forms [like feet] were, as we have seen, not exclusively plural forms. The –
en ending (from OE -an), surviving in oxen, likewise did not indicate plurality alone in
earlier periods; in Old English, as a backward glance at the plural of oxa will show, the
oblique singular forms had –an and were thus identical with the nominative-accusative
plural form oxan”.

44
 series series
species species
gallows gallows

c) foot feet Ablaut

mouse mice

d) ox oxen -en
child children

e) knife knives -s + F/V Rule

wife wives

In the above singular/plural pairs, the realization of the plural

morpheme varies from one set to another. The first set includes nouns
whose plural forms end in –s, being thus regular. The set under (7b)
includes nouns which make no formal distinction between the singular
and the plural and which have been singled out in structural grammars as
having zero plural (Quirk et. al 1985). The set under (7c) includes nouns
whose plural form is not marked by an inflectional suffix but by Ablaut
(vowel change). The set in (7e) includes nouns such as knife, wife, leaf,
life, wolf, etc. These nouns are subject to the F/V rule10 when they are
pluralized. In other words, their plural is marked not only by the
inflectional suffix –s but also by voicing, a phonological phenomenon
whereby the final voiceless consonant of the stem is replaced by its
voiced counterpart. The set under (7d) includes Old English plural
forms.
All these suffixes represented above as –(e)s, -en, -Ø, or –s +
voicing mean plural and are therefore allomorphs of the plural
morpheme (i.e. the morpheme that stands for the feature [+ plural]).
These idiosyncratic plurals depend on the identity of the stem to which
they are attached.
To account for the distribution of these allomorphs, the strategy
in generative phonology has been to propose a single underlying form
and provide phonological rules that adjust this form according to the
context in which it occurs. In the case of Plural, the underlying form in
English is –s. To put it differently, the allomorph –s has been chosen as
basic and all the other allomorphs are derived from it by applying certain
rules to this basic allomorph. The realization of the plural morpheme is
as follows:
10
F/V Rule: Change the last f of a root to v is the root is of the class leaf, loaf, etc.

45
(8)

PLURAL -en with class A (ox, etc.)

-Ø with class B (deer, etc.)
-s plus F/V Rule with class C (leaf, etc.)
Ablaut with class D (foot, etc)
-s elsewhere

It should be pointed out that these plurals cannot be predicted in

any way from their corresponding singular forms and there is no
semantic mnemonic to help the speaker/learner decide which ones apply
to which. Even in the case of so-called ‘regular plurals’, contrary to what
traditional grammars argue, the plural is not fully predictable from the
singular form. There is nothing in the form or meaning of a noun with
regular plural that will enable the user to infer that its plural form ends in
the suffix –s. We suggest that the –s allomorph should be seen as
‘regular’ or basic only in so far as this allomorph occurs with by far the
largest class of nouns (a class which is in fact so large as never to be
enumerated exhaustively, whereas other classes could be) and represents
the first choice in the early stages of language acquisition. It is also the
suffix that people use when they have not learnt the special lists of nouns
which take the other allomorphs, as in the children’s speech form ‘foots’,
rather than feet.
To the classes of nouns mentioned above we can add the
following classes of foreign plurals:

Singular Plural Plural allomorph

f) cactus cacti -i
alumnus alumni

g) addendum addenda -a
bacterium bacteria
symposium symposia

h) analysis analyses -es

thesis theses
axis axes
diagnosis diagnoses

46
The sets under (f) and (g) include Latin forms while the last group is
Greek in origin. Thus the set of plural allomorphs in (7) can be
supplemented with the following endings: -i, -a, -es.

3.2.1. The pronunciation of the plural allomorph –s

The inflectional suffix –s is phonologically realized as (/ɪz/, /z/, /s/)

depending on the final sound of the stem:

The pronunciation /ɪz/ occurs after stems ending in fricatives and

affricates

(9)

/s/ horse ~ horses /hɔ:sɪz/

/z/ size ~ sizes /saɪzɪz/
/ʃ/ rush ~ rushes /rʌʃɪz/
/ Ʒ / mirage ~ mirages /'mɪrɑ:ʒɪz/
/tʃ/ church ~ churches /tʃɜ:tʃɪz/
/dƷ / language ~ languages /'læɳgwɪdʒɪz/

The pronunciation /z/ occurs after stems ending in vowels and voiced
consonants other than /z/, / ʒ/, /dʒ /, and /s/

(10)

bud ~buds /bʌʣ/

day ~ days /deɪz/
dream ~dreams /dri:mz/
leg ~legs /legz/

The inflection –s is phonologically realized as /s/ if the stem ends in

vowels and voiceless consonants other than /s/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/.

(11)

week ~ weeks /wi:ks/

cap ~ caps /kæps/

47
pet ~pets /pets/

3.2.2. The spelling of the plural allomorph -s

The plural inflection –s is spelt ‘s’ after most nouns including nouns
ending in silent –e. However, there are several exceptions to this rule.

(a) Addition of –e:

The ending is –es with nouns ending in:

(12)

-ch: porch ~ porches; church ~ churches; speech ~speeches

-tch: match ~matches
-s gas ~ gases;
-ss: glass ~glasses
-sh: bush ~bushes
-z: buzz ~ buzzes
-x: box ~ boxes

(b) Treatment of –y

With nouns ending in a vowel letter followed by -y, -y remains

unchanged and the plural ending is –ys:

(13)

boy ~boys
day ~ days
valley ~ valleys

The same rule applies to proper names such as two Germanys and to
such compounds as stand-bys, lay-bys, drys (‘prohibitionists’).
With nouns ending in a consonant letter followed by -y, -y is
replaced by –ie before the plural suffix –s:
(14)

country ~ countries
lady ~ ladies

48
opportunity ~ opportunities
spy ~ spies

(c) Doubling of the final consonant occurs in a few nouns:

(15)

fez – fezzes
quiz - quizzes
bus – busses (but also: bus ~ buses)

Doubling also occurs in some abbreviations:

(16)

p → pp (pages)
l →ll (lines)
Ms→Mss (manuscripts)

(d) The plural of numbers and abbreviations is formed by adding ’s

(traditional) or only –s (a more recent trend):

(17)

to count by 10’s / 10s

to know your ABC’s / ABCs
in the 1930’s or 1930s
two MP’s / MPs
three PhD’s / PhDs

The variant without apostrophe is on the increase.

(e) The plural of letters, symbols and words used as examples is formed
by adding ’s:

(18)

Cross your t’s and dot your i’s.

There are too many and’s in this sentence
There were three large X’s on the map
The border consisted of a series of ▪’s

49
The apostrophe is not added to a number that is written out.

(19)

The gymnast scored three tens in the European competition.

Nouns ending in –o require special attention since the regular

plural suffix of such nouns has two spellings –os and –oes. In the
following cases the spelling is –os:

(a) after a vowel: bamboos, embryos, radios, kangaroos, zoos

(b) in proper names: Filipinos, Neros, Romeos
(c) in abbreviations: kilos, photos, pros (‘professionals’)

In other cases there is considerable vacillation between –os and -oes:

archipelago – archipelagos – archipelagoes

buffalo – buffalos – buffaloes
cargo – cargos – cargoes
commando – commandos – commandoes
flamingo – flamingos – flamingoes
fresco – frescos – frescoes
ghetto – ghettos – ghettoes
innuendo – innuendos – innuendoes
manifesto – manifestos – (manifestoes)
memento – mementos – mementoes
mosquito – mosquitos – mosquitoes
motto – mottos – mottoes
stiletto – stilettos – stilettoes
tornado – tornados – tornadoes
volcano- volcanos – volcanoes

However, the following nouns ending in –o have plurals ending in –oes:

domino – dominoes
echo – echoes
embargo – embargoes
mango – mangoes
negro – negroes
potato – potatoes
tomato – tomatoes

50
torpedo –torpedoes
veto – vetoes

3.3. Classes of sortals (i.e. count(able) nouns)

3.3.1. Plural by voicing

With some nouns the final consonant changes between the singular and
the plural. More specifically, several singular nouns ending in the
voiceless11 fricative consonants /f/ and /θ/ replace these consonants with
their voiced counterparts /v/ and /ð/ respectively when they occur in the
plural. This phenomenon is known as voicing12 or consonant mutation.
Of the two changes, the former is reflected in spelling, the latter not:

knife – knives /naif/ - /naivz/

mouth – mouths /mauθ/ - /mauðz/

This voicing alternation found in plural formation is losing

ground in Modern English, and of the alternations involving voicing
speakers generally retain only the nouns observing the F/V Rule, which
is supported by spelling as well. The rule might be stated as follows:

F/V Rule: Change the last f of a root to v if the root is of the class leaf,
loaf, etc.

11
Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech
sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless (unvoiced) or voiced. At the
articulatory level, a voiced sound is one in which the vocal cords vibrate, and a
voiceless sound is one in which they do not. Voicing is the difference between the pairs
of sounds that are associated with the English letters “s” and “z”. The two sounds are
symbolically written /s/ and /z/ to distinguish them from the English letters, which have
several possible pronunciations depending on context. If one places the fingers on the
voice box (i.e. the location of the Adam’s apple in the upper throat), one can feel a
vibration when one pronounces /zzzz/, but not when one pronounces /ssss/.
12
Voicing is a relic of Old English, where each vowel was pronounced. Unvoiced
consonants between voiced vowels were ‘coloured’ with voicing. As the language
became more analytic and less inflectional, final vowels/syllables stopped being
pronounced. For example, the present day English noun knives is a one-syllable word
instead of a two-syllable word, with the vowel ‘e’ not being pronounced.

51
The following derivation in (20) shows the steps from the input to the
output:

(20)

Word Structure Rule Noun -Plural

Lexical insertion leaf -s
F/V Rule leave -s
Final Output leave -s

The following list includes nouns which are subject to the F/V rule or
voicing when they are pluralized. Note that with these nouns voicing is
also reflected in spelling:

Singular Plural

calf calves
elf elves
half halves
leaf leaves
life lives
loaf loaves
knife knives
thief thieves
self selves
shelf shelves
wife wives
wolf wolves

The painting term still life has a regular plural still lifes, as shown in the
following examples in (21a):

(21a)

The apparent realism of much Dutch art can be deceptive: many floral
still lifes, for instance, show combinations of flowers that do not bloom
at the same time of year.
Cézanne’s still-lifes, in their simplicity and delicate tonal harmony, are a
typical work and thus ideal for an understanding of his art.

The compound still life painting is another option:

(21b)

52
Still life paintings often adorn the walls of ancient Egyptian tombs.

With some nouns such as dwarf, handkerchief, hoof, scarf the

plural can involve voicing or be regular (-fs).
The F/V Rule does not apply to such nouns as cloth, death, faith,
moth, puffs, cough, cliff, chief, waif and fife. With these nouns only the
regular plural is found. Consider the examples in (22):

(22)

The dark moths appeared in London by 1897.

Cloths can be one of the top causes of cross-contamination in the
kitchen.
The tensions are growing between members of different faiths.
Authorities counted 50 traffic deaths over the holiday weekend.
Breaths of flame and puffs of smoke leaping from the surrounding
hillsides.
Disease can be spread by coughs.
It has bushy cliffs on both sides that lean like hairy ghosts over the
unknown waters.
Efforts to reorganize and liberalize the army alienated other military
chiefs.
She loved cats, and would take any waifs and strays into her home.
This study is by no means a “last word” in the development of fifes.

3.3.2. Plural by Ablaut

The following seven nouns form their plural by Ablaut13 (or vowel
change):

foot – feet (also, forefoot – forefeet)

louse – lice
mouse – mice

13
The term ablaut designates “vowel variation (as in English sing, sang, sung, song)
caused by former differences in syllabic accent. In a prehistoric period the
corresponding inflected forms of the language (known through internal reconstruction)
had differences in accent rather than in vowel. Phonological change resulted in
alteration of syllable structure and in vowel gradation” (The Columbia Encyclopedia,
New York: Columbia University Press,2007)

53
goose – geese
man – men
tooth – teeth
woman – women

Like the F/V Rule, the Ablaut rule is restricted to a small subset of
nouns. Plural by Ablaut is accounted for on historical grounds as well. It
should also be noted that compounds of man and woman change to
‘men’ and ‘women’ respectively, as in:

alderman – aldermen
fireman – fireman
postman – postmen
Norseman – Norsemen
horsewoman – horsewomen
charwoman – charwomen

Certain words ending in –man are not (or are not regarded as)
compounds of man. German, Norman, Roman form their plural
according to the general rule by adding the plural suffix –s: Germans,
Normans, Romans.
When the noun mouse refers to the computer peripheral device its
plural is generally regular: mouses

(23)

The best known such mouses are Microsoft’s current optical models.

Although Principles of English Usage in the Digital Age suggests

the plural should normally be mouses since mice is too “suggestive of
furry little creatures”, nevertheless it points out that both terms are
common.

(24)

Mice first broke onto the public stage with the introduction of the Apple
Macintosh in 1984, and since then they have helped to completely
redefine the way we use computers.

However, The Microsoft(R) Manual of Style for Technical Publications

cautions against the use of the plural form mice and suggests mouse
devices.

54
 When the noun foot is used to denote measurement the plural
form can be either feet or foot (i.e. unmarked for the plural):

(25)

She’s described as five foot three, with blonde permed hair, slim build
and green eyes.
She was tall, too, inches taller than Juliet, who was a petite five feet three
inches.
I received £300 prize money and a three foot tall trophy.

3.3. The –en plural

Other survivals from Old English take the plural suffix –en:

child – children
ox – oxen
brother – brethren

Note that in child/children the plural is marked not only by the plural
suffix –en but also by ablaut.

The plural form brethren is nowadays used in religious contexts to

address or talk about the members of an organization or group,
especially a religious group.

(26)

But among his brethren this benefactor would be sadly missed.

But in the strict sense of the word, and in the sense ‘fellow-men’ or
‘soldiers who have fought together in a war’, the plural is ‘bothers’:

(27)

Brothers! Fellow-workers!

A war is always a war between brothers.

55
3.3.4. Zero plural

The zero allomorph of PLURAL in English also triggers a minor rule for
some nouns. For nouns like deer and sheep, the zero allomorph occurs,
but since these nouns do not appear in the list of nouns which undergo
Ablaut, their plural form is identical with the singular form (i.e. Sg = Pl).
Thus nouns with zero plural have the same spoken and written form in
both singular and plural. However, they should not be confused with
uncountable which do not change their form but are either singular (This
music is too loud) or plural (All the cattle are grazing in the field).

Zero plural nouns are countable and thus take both singular and
plural verb agreement. They also take all the articles and quantifiers
(numerals included) that are characteristic of genuine countable nouns.
The plural use of these nouns is marked on the verb, determiners and
anaphoric pronominal substitutes which take plural form. Their irregular
behaviour can be accounted for in terms of their diachronic evolution
(Baciu 2004b). In Old English nouns had several declensions according
to gender distinctions. Nouns such as deer, sheep, swine, which in
Modern English have zero plural, belonged to the class of Old English
neuter nouns, which in the nominative and accusative had the same form
in the plural as in the singular (Poutsma 1926:122). Consider the
examples below:

(28)

This sheep looks small.

All those sheep are mine.

A deer is a large wild animal with horns that eats grass and leaves.

We still have many deer, very little water and not many open spaces.

The following classes of nouns are marked by the zero allomorph when
they are pluralized:

56
A. Nouns denoting some animals

Nouns denoting wild animals, wild fowl and fish often have zero plural,
i.e. the unmarked singular form is used for both singular and plural
contexts. Examples of such nouns include: cod, deer, fish, grouse,
moose, reindeer, bison, halibut mullet, salmon, mullet, mackerel, tuna,
snipe, sheep, i.e. names of animals generally found in flocks (Schibsbye
1973:102). These nouns are countable and have count properties, except
for the lack of the plural marker on the noun. Jespersen (1911: 51) points
out that “in (expressions like) five snipe or a few antelope we have
neither a collective word or a singular, but a real (individualizing) plural
though the form be identical with the singular”. These nouns tend to be
used when reference is made to animals in mass as food or game.

(29)

fish: What advantage did Grimsby have over Hull for the distribution of
fresh fish? Ronny caught three huge fish this afternoon. The Arundell
Arms Hotel in Devon runs a variety of courses in wet and dry fly fishing
for salmon and trout. Salmon, tuna, sardines, and kippers are good
sources of polyunsaturated fat.

wild animals: Thousands of starving reindeer, too weak to make the

crossing, are being carried across in landing craft. On the opposite shore
I saw two large gray black moose. So we decide to ride up to Graveyard
Lake to see about getting some ducks, or maybe a moose.

wildfowl: Wildfowl are numerous in winter with thousands of teal as

well as widgeon, pintail and shoveler.

In cases of variation, i.e. with nouns having two plural forms, the
zero plural is more common to denote hunting quarries as in (30) or to
denote a group of specimens from a single species as in (31):

(30)

57
We caught only a few fish

(31)

The North Atlantic stock of Gadus morhua is estimated to contain

several million fish

The plural form marked by the inflection –s, on the other hand, is
used to denote different individuals, or species:

(32)

My aquarium contains three different fishes: guppies, platies, and

swordtails.

The marine fishes reach their greatest diversity in the coral reef
ecosystems.

The following nouns consistently take zero plurals include: cod,

deer, grouse, sheep, plaice, and salmon.

(33)

A deer makes tracks in the snow.

Several deer/sheep are grazing in the distance.

It used to be said that any salmon running up the Dee made a one-way
journey.

Jim has since caught six more salmon in Ayrshire rivers on the same fly.

The following nouns may have both zero plural or regular plural:
crab, carp, herring, trout, duck, etc. In some contexts, as the examples
below show, the unmarked form is not a zero plural but a
mass/uncountable term. In other contexts these nouns have two plural
forms (zero plural and regular plural) which are not in free variation,
however. The regular plural forms trouts, carps, herrings, are used to
denote the variety of the kind.

58
(34)

Herrings have no adipose fin, and all the fins have soft rays. The
majority of the herrings are marine pelagic species but some of them
occasionally venture into rivers and a few species are exclusively found
in freshwater [CT – the regular plural denotes different species]

A few dozen herring here or there; nobody troubled: every child went
home with a few dozen herring on a string. [CT – the zero plural denotes
quarries]

(35)

The loch is full of wild brown trout; where a basket of thirty trout is the
rule, rather than the exception. [CT – zero plural]

In the nature, trouts are found in the sea as well as in freshwater. [CT –
the regular plural makes reference to different species]

Providing fresh trout for dinner was rarely a problem. [MT – ‘the flesh of
this fish’]

(36)

Instantly the water becomes a maelstrom, as huge grey carp or catfish

lunge for the food. [CT – zero plural]

I used to be able to summon a carp from the pond. [CT – zero plural]

There were carp in there and we saw them. [CT – zero plural]

There are many species of heavy-bodied cyprinid fishes collectively

known as Asian carps. [CT – the regular plural denotes various
species/kinds]

It is sensible to give the carp a balanced diet for we want the carp to do
well on our baits. [CT – zero plural]

(37)

(i)The majority of our wild duck are mallard although we are able to
supply widgeon and teal from time to time. [CT – the zero plural denotes
‘wild duck’; ‘mallard’ and ‘widgeon’ refer to two species of wild duck]

59
(ii) But tiresome authority deems that tickling a trout or two or felling
the odd wild duck for the supper table is illegal. [CT – the zero plural
denotes hunting quarries]

(iii) Most commercial ducks now come from farms in Northern

California or the Midwest states, especially Indiana. [CT – the regular
plural makes reference to ‘ducks raised on farms’]

(iv) A report had been received by his inspector that a discreet cull of the
wild ducks on Hury Reservoir was under way. [CT – regular plural]

(v) In 1608 famed explorer Captain John Smith reported that great
numbers of wild ducks abounded. [CT – regular plural]

Nouns denoting sea animals other than fish also take regular plural:
crabs, lobsters, shrimps, prawns.

(38)

(i) In general, larger lobsters are sold into the fresh/live market where
they command premium prices. [CT - regular plural]

(ii) Personally, I would need a lobster or two. [CT – regular plural]

(iii) Like the flesh of other animals, lobster is loaded with excessive
protein and cholesterol. [MT – ‘the flesh of a lobster, which is eaten’]

(39)

(i) In the confusion, many crabs lose their foothold, tumble into the
water and are swept away. [CT - ‘a sea animal with a hard shell’]

(ii) From Alaska Red King Crab to Snow Crab and everything in
between, we’ve got you covered. [CT – zero plural; different species]

(iii) We pride ourselves in offering only the finest in fresh crab and
seafood, delivered straight from the dock to your door. [MT - ‘the flesh
of this animal that can be cooked and eaten]

As far as the noun shrimp is concerned, the zero plural and the
regular plural may be used interchangeably. On the other hand, the
unmarked (singular) form may be recategorized as a mass (i.e.
uncountable) noun.

60
(40)

(i) Brine shrimp, which are eaten by birds and ducks, hatch in the
ponds. [CT – zero plural]

(ii) In some fish, shrimp, and reptiles, gender is determined by the

temperature at which the egg is incubated. [CT – zero plural]

(iii) The grill had mutton chops and mash; the buffet ran things like
smoked salmon, potted shrimps and corned ox tongue. [CT – regular
plural]

(iv) Add shrimp, salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. [MT]

B. Nationality names ending in –ese:

Nationality names ending in –ese such as Ceylonese, Lebanese, Chinese,

Portuguese, Japanese, Vietnamese when preceded by a numeral have
specific reference, whereas when accompanied by the definite article
they have generic reference.

(41)

a Chinese/ two Chinese

The Chinese are believed to have invented gunpowder.

C. Some quantifying nouns

Quantifying nouns such as hundred, thousand, million, brace, dozen,

gross, head, score, yoke when premodified by cardinal numerals or other
indication of number have zero plural. However, when these nouns are
postmodified by the of- construction their plural form is marked by the
plural inflection –s. Consider the following examples:

(42)

two dozen people vs. dozens of people

several hundred books vs. hundreds of books
fifty thousand pounds vs. thousands of pounds

61
many thousand insects vs. thousands of insects
five million people vs. millions of people
a few billion stars vs. billion of stars
three score years vs. scores of victims

The nouns pound, stone and foot often take a zero plural inflection, when
followed by a smaller unit:

(43)

The bill came to four pound ten.

She used to weight nine stone (or stones) but she has gone down to eight
stone three.
His brother is six foot three.
His brother is six foot (or feet) tall.

Moreover nouns denoting measure or quantity have zero plural when

they are premodifiers in noun phrases:

(44)

a five-pound note
a ten-dollar bill
a twelve-inch ruler
a six-mile walk
a five-second pause
a ten-minute conversation
a two-hour exam
a sixty-acre farm

D. Nouns ending in –(e)s

Like the nouns in the previous three classes, these nouns have all the
syntactic properties characteristic of genuine countable nouns. They co-
occur with cardinals and plural anaphoric pronouns. Verb agreement is
either in the singular or in the plural. Similarly, they evince only one
notable exception to the morpho-syntactic behaviour of countable nouns:
their plural form is identical with the singular form. This subclass

62
includes such nouns as barracks, chassis, crossroads, gallows,
headquarters, means, mews, patois, précis, works, series, species, etc.

(45)

(i) barracks

Lord Apsley was nearly four times over the legal limit when he arrived
for a function at an army barracks.
He had an idea there had been a car bomb at another barracks.
New barracks are rising where dilapidated Navy quarters had been.
He ordered two barracks torn down and a fountain constructed on the
cement base of a latrine.

(ii) chassis

Its chassis offers terrific handling balance, great traction matched to

positive brakes and accurate steering.
The company is currently designing a new chassis to provide full
mechanical functionality, expecting it to ship in June.
Chassis are available as spare parts, and include all of the components
required for operation except the processor modules.

(iii) crossroads

Donna accelerated, seeing a crossroads ahead.

The tunnel to the right turned left after a short distance, while the tunnel
to the left led to a crossroads.
At each crossroads the stone fountains with their precious supply of
water were guarded by men-at-arms.

(iv) gallows

Next a policeman puppet arrived carrying a gallows.

The arrangement was later modified, and gallows were erected outside,
in the hanging corner.

(v) headquarters

63
Budapest Week will move over the river to the red-light district in
Budapest, where Duna’s headquarters are situated.
The army headquarters is on the other side of the square, in a former
colonial mansion.
Another 4 percent are involved in energy and water industries, and we
have a regional headquarters of the electricity board.
Their headquarters is rich in symbolism.

(vi) mews

Simon Templar had lived in a mews.

We knew the rents were going up in Tottenham mews and we couldn’t
find any good, affordable space in town.

(vii) means

E-mail has become an increasingly important means of business

communication.
The most effective means of improving the nation’s economy are
education and training.
The only means of communication was sign language.
Do you have any means of identification?
He had considered every means of transport, air-routes and sea-routes,
and found them wanting.
Here, camels were simply a means of transport.

(viii) works

Batchelor constructed a small cement works which continued to operate

until 1931.
The government of Belarus plans to invite a tender for construction of
two new cement works with the participation of foreign investors in
October-November 2007.
Most scholars regarded these waterworks as man-made, but the
techniques of underground orientation and ventilation employed by the
builders, as well as the numerous anomalies and ostensible mistakes in
design, mystified investigators.

A few nouns ending in –es, such as series or species, have the

same form in the singular and in the plural. Although historically
foreign, these zero plurals are not probably felt to be foreign in the same
way as, for instance analysis – analyses or basis – bases.

64
(46)

(i) series

The police are investigating a series of attacks in the area.

A new TV series called “The Hamilton Dynasty” will be starting next
autumn.
Reuters reports that Will and Jada Pinkett are to be the proud ‘parents’ of
two comedy series that will air on CW and ABC respectively.
The first two series of United States adhesive stamps were issued
unperforated.
The UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Asuncion collaborated with the
National Post Service of Paraguay in December 2007 in the release of a
series of stamps commemorating the International Year of Deserts and
Desertification.

(ii) species

Seven species of birds of prey have been observed.

Scientists have discovered a new species of Eucalyptus tree.

3.3.5. Foreign plurals

Countable nouns with irregular plurals also include foreign plurals.

Some nouns borrowed from Latin and Greek keep their foreign plural or
there may be alternation with regular forms. Foreign plural generally
occurs in technical usage, while the corresponding regular plural is the
most natural in everyday language:

Latin nouns ending in –us

Singular Foreign plural Regular plural

alumnus alumni -
locus loci -

65
cactus cacti cactuses
fungus fungi funguses
corpus corpora corpuses

Latin nouns ending in –a

Singular Foreign plural Regular plural

antenna antennae14 antennas15

formula formulae16 formulas17
larva larvae -

The following however have regular plural: diploma, drama,

encyclopaedia, idea, era, sofa, umbrella, villa.

Latin nouns in –um

Singular Foreign plural Regular plural

aquarium aquaria aquariums

curriculum curricula -
medium media mediums
bacterium bacteria -
stratum strata -

The following are regular: album, asylum, museum.

Latin nouns in –ex/-ix

Singular Foreign plural Regular plural

index indices18 indexes19

appendix appendices20 appendixes21
14
The irregular foreign plural antennae occurs in biology.
15
The regular plural antennas occurs in everyday language and in electronics.
16
The irregular plural is used in mathematics.
17
The regular plural occurs in everyday use of language.
18
a standard by which the level of something can be judged or measured
19
an alphabetical list of names, subjects etc at the back of a book, with the numbers of
the pages where they can be found; a database containing information, usually arranged
in alphabetical order and used especially in a library
20
a part at the end of a book containing additional information
21
(an anatomical term) a small organ near your bowel, which has little or no use

66
matrix matrices matrixes22

Greek nouns in –is

Singular Foreign plural

analysis analyses
axis axes
basis bases
crisis crises
diagnosis diagnoses
ellipsis ellipses
hypothesis hypotheses
oasis oases
parenthesis parentheses
thesis theses

Greek nouns in –on

Singular Foreign plural

criterion criteria
phenomenon phenomena

The following nouns of Greek origin have regular plural: demon,

electron, neutron, proton.

(47)

Quarks unite to form protons, neutrons and electrons, which in turn

unite to form atoms.
Astrology was condemned as the doctrine of demons.

French nouns in –eau

Singular Foreign plural

plateau plateaux
22
a technical term

67
bureau bureaux
tableau tableaux

Italian nouns in –o

Singular Foreign plural Regular plural

virtuoso virtuosi virtuosos

libretto libretti librettos
solo soli solos
tempo tempi tempos

Although a plural form in the language of origin, confetti takes the verb
in the singular:

(48)

The simplest confetti is simply shredded paper.

Hebrew nouns with –im plurals

Singular Foreign plural Regular plural

cherub cherubim cherubs

seraph seraphim seraphs
kibbutz kibbutzim -

3.3.6. Collective nouns

Foreign learners and native speakers of English alike are faced with the
problem of how to treat collective nouns (e.g. army, audience, board,
class, committee, company, crew, crowd, family, federation,
government, group, staff, team, etc.), since both singular and plural
concord are possible. Semantically, these nouns designate ‘sets of
individual concepts’ (Baciu 2004b:43). Formally, most collective nouns
pass all the tests of countability: they allow countable quantifiers and
determiners, and in the sense of ‘body/group’ vs. ‘several

68
bodies/groups’, they allow the plural marker –s and thus plural
agreement and plural anaphoric pronouns:

(49)

A coalition government is now going be established.

Governments in all countries are trying to control the financial crisis.

It has been often argued that a verb in the singular is used when
the group is thought of as a unit whereas a verb in the plural is used
when the speaker or writer focuses on the individual members that make
up the group (Poutsma 1914:283; Quirk et al 1985:316). Thus a
distinction is drawn between singular, which is triggered by
grammatical concord, and plural, which is motivated by notional
concord. The former involves agreement with the syntactic form of the
subject, whereas the latter involves agreement with its meaning.
When collective nouns designate the individual members of the
set they acquire a distributive interpretation and agree with the verb in
the plural. When they are used to designate the whole set as a body or
group, they acquire a collective interpretation and agree with the verb
in the singular.
The singular/plural distinction is also triggered in connection
with the pronominal substitutes used to refer to collective nouns. Thus
in (50a) and (51a) reference is made to the committee as a unit whereas
in (50b) and (51b) the collective is viewed as a number of separate
individuals.

(50)

(a) The committee has decided that it will postpone its decision
(collective reading)
(b) The committee have decided that they will postpone their decision
(distributive reading)

(51)

(a) Her family has disgraced itself (collective reading)

(b) The family still resolve to hold up their heads (distributive reading)

On the collective reading the predicate is true of the entire group ‘en
masse’. This is the case in the examples in (50a) and (51a) above. The
semantic feature of distributivity (which amounts to [- collective])

69
triggers plural agreement with the verb and plural determiners and
anaphoric pronouns. On the distributive reading the sentences above
read as: ‘the predicate is true of each member (each person), of the set’
(Baciu 2004b:43). This applies to examples in (50b) and (51b) above.
Agreement is also displayed in relative pronouns. There is great
consistency in the use of which + singular verb (i.e. on the collective
interpretation) and who + plural verb (on the distributive
interpretation). That is also consistently used with singular verbs.
Jacobsson (1970:355) and Zandvoort (1975:162) argue that which is
used when the group is in focus and who when the individuals making
up the group are in focus.
Another important factor influencing agreement in number
between collective nouns and verbs was adduced by Strang (1969).
Collective nouns preceded by determiners and numerals associated
with singular forms (e.g. a, one, every, each, this and that) are generally
used with singular verbs (Strang 1969:107). Consider the following
examples:

(52)
Not that every married couple is happy [....] (FLOB B07) 23
The deal is another example of a company that stubs its toe [....] (Frown
A36)
They kept the pace fast with many digressions, a sensible tactic to keep
the attention of an audience who has not been interested enough in
cooking to try it before. (FLOB C04)

Example (53) in which a plural verb is used after a singular determiner

seems, at first sight, to be an exception:

(53)

This Government are dedicated to a sustainable, economic recovery

based on stable, low inflation. (FLOB H15)

However, as Hundt (1998:88) points out, (53) is not an example of

notional concord which emphasizes the individual members who make
up the government. Instead, it appears that agreement with the verb in
the plural is the norm with the noun government in British ‘officialese’
23
Brown stands for the Brown corpus and LOB for the Lancaster-Oslo/Bergen corpus.
LOB and Brown contain, respectively, BrE and AmE texts sampled in 1961.FLOB and
Frown stand for Freiburg updates of LOB and Brown respectively. The sampling year
for FLOB is 1991 and for Frown 1992.

70
(see also Fries 1981). This usage stands in marked contrast to AmE
‘officialese’ which uses a singular concord with collective nouns. At this
point we should mention another peculiarity of the usage of the noun
government in BrE. The singular is sometimes used with government in
official documents in BrE. This is a reflection of the tendency that
“plural concord is used with the British government and singular
concord with foreign governments”, as argued by Bauer (1994:64).
Consider (54) below:

(54)

(.....) the Government of Denmark is applying the General Agreement on

Tariffs and Trade in respect of Greenland. (LOB H14)

Overall, pronouns used after collective nouns are more likely to

yield plural marking than verbs (Nixon 1979:123; Hundt 1998:84-86;
Levin 2001:91). One of the main reasons for this is that verbs are more
likely to show close proximity to the collective noun, as shown in
example (55), whereas pronouns are more likely to occur at a greater
distance.

(55)

No modern government has won four consecutive elections.

The connection between the pronoun and its antecedent is thus weaker
than the connection between the subject and the verb (Levin 1999).
Pronominal concord may even run across sentence boundaries. As Wales
(1996:163) points out, plural personal pronouns are particularly frequent
across clause and sentence boundaries. Consider the example in (56).

(56)

The group meets once a week in the Boliou Student Workshop. They
are assisted and advised by members of the Art Department (Brown
H28)

Nixon (1972) argues that the likelihood for notional concord

increases with the distance from the antecedent. Example (57) shows

71
that a long distance between a node word and concord mark increases
the likelihood of plural agreement24.

(57)

The British Travel Association, which does excellent work in taking care
of all foreigners who want to have a good time here and study what is
pompously called ‘The British Way of Life’, have a hard time on their
hands. (LOB B05)

Examples (58) and (59) are exceptional because who is followed by

singular concord marking.

(58)

They were anxious to entertain the clinic staff who mostly its free time
elsewhere [....] (LOB K23)

(59)

[.....] it is not surprising that the crowd of reports who greeted him upon
his arrival in New York on 8 November 1911, was less concerned with
stories of his ‘collapse’ in Berlin [....] (FLOB G21)

Although such shifts as those in (58) and (59) can be found in both BrE
and AmE, this area needs further investigation before we can determine
with any certainty whether this a case of ongoing linguistic change or
random variation.
The examples from (56) to (59) indicate a divergence between
verbal and pronominal concord and illustrate what has been referred to
as mixed concord or discord, i.e. the combination of a singular verb
and a plural pronoun. Discord “typically occurs where there is
considerable distance between co-referent noun phrases; discord is
generally motivated by notional considerations, i.e. tendency towards
agreement with the meaning, rather than the form, of the subject noun
phrase” (Biber et al. 1999:192). Mixed concord or discord shows a fairly

24
These shifts in concord involving singular forms followed by plural ones can be
accounted for in terms of the primacy semantic memory over syntactic-lexical memory.
It has been shown that the meaning of a sentence is more easily remembered than the
form, both in long-term memory (Begg and Wickelgren 1974) and in short-term
memory (Begg 1971).

72
complex interaction of regional, stylistic and inter-linguistic variation.
The following tendencies have been identified:

• Mixed concord is slightly more common in AmE than in BrE,

AusE and NZE.
• Mixed concord is more often used in informal and spoken
language than in formal, written language (cf. Levin 2001,
Biber et al. 1999)
• Some collective nouns are more likely to yield mixed concord
than others (e.g. family and team vs. government and
committee).

This last aspect brings us to the lexico-grammatical aspect of linguistic

variation: the preference for certain concord patterns is linked to
individual collective nouns. Biber et al. (1999: 188) point out that “most
collective nouns prefer singular concord, although a few collective nouns
commonly take plural concord”. Nouns like audience, board, committee,
government, jury and public favour the singular; staff is given as a noun
that prefers plural concord. Nouns that show variation in taking both
singular and plural concord are crew and family. It is to this last group of
collective nouns that the regional differences between AmE and BrE
apply. However, the group of truly variable collective nouns is
considerably larger. Nixon (1979:120) argues that for the following
collective nouns, which he refers to as “corporate” nouns, all types of
singular, plural and mixed concord were recorded:25

army, association, audience, board, cast, clan, class, club, college,

commission, committee, company, corporation, council, couple,
crew, crowd, department, family, federation, gang, generation,
government, group, institute, majority, minority, ministry,
minority, opposition, party, population, staff, team, and university

With respect to regional variation, various authors (Quirk et al.

1985:16-17; Biber et al. 1999: 188; Trudgill and Hannah 2002: 70) have
found that singular concord is most frequently used in AmE; plural
concord, on the other hand, is used most frequently in BrE. In contrast,
varieties like AusE and NZE26 take an intermediate position (Hundt
25
Nixon (1972:120) argues that “the possibility of plural verbal concord exists only
with those words denoting a collection of living individuals”. This observation is
illustrated by the following two sentences: The fleet is in the harbour (i.e. a number of
ships) vs. The fleet are in town (i.e. a number of sailors).
26
AusE and NZE stand for Australian English and New Zealand English respectively.

73
1998: 83; Levin 2001:60-70). As Depraetere (2003:112-13) points out,
“From a sociolinguistic point of view, the preference for the singular
may reflect the pecking order among the different varieties of English:
American English [......] is beginning to set the norm for British
English”.
With respect to stylistic variation, the general tendency in all
varieties of English is that singular concord is preferred in more formal
styles (with the exception of BrE officialese; cf. Fries 1981 and Hundt
1998), whereas plural concord is on the increase in more informal
styles, such as sports reportage or informal conversation (Levin 2001).
To conclude, it should be pointed out that in present-day AmE
and BrE there seems to be a tendency towards a more frequent use of
singular forms. Marckwardt (1985) claims that AmE “has retained the
older practice” of using plural concord and that in the 1950s there were
no indications of change. Evidence from the second half of the twentieth
century, however, shows that AmE is currently leading world English in
a change towards a more frequent use of singular concord.
Although British English does favour singular forms, it has not
been influenced by American English27. The development within British
English must have taken place independently, because singular forms
were increasingly used in British English in the 1930s, a time when
influence from American English through mass media and increased
global mobility was less widespread than it is today (Bauer 1994:
61-66). Data from the eighteenth and nineteenth century suggest that the
singular has always been a latent option in both British and American
English (Hundt forthcoming).

3.3.7. Quasi-count nouns

The term ‘quasi-count nouns’ applies to a class of uninflected plural

nouns only, i.e. nouns which are morphologically unmarked for plural.
This subclass includes nouns such as cattle, folk, livestock, poultry,
police, people, vermin, etc28. Like true collectives and plurals, they
27
Diachronically, AmE is more advanced in the use of singular concord than BrE
(Hundt 1998:88-89, 2006, Levin 2001) at the end of the twentieth century.
28
Quirk et al (1985) include these nouns in the class of aggregate nouns which they
define as nouns denoting entities that comprise or are viewed as comprising an
indefinite number of parts. The class of aggregate nouns, which also includes such
nouns marked for plural as arms, communications, data, media, outskirts, remains,
troops, is a class of invariable nouns in the plural.

74
display both distributive and collective readings. Unlike true collective
nouns, however, they agree with plural only.

(60)

Police have surrounded the courthouse.

No one is going anywhere until the cattle move.
Several police were injured during the rioting.

These nouns lack the singular – plural contrast, as the examples in (61)
and (62) illustrate:

(61)

These cattle belong to John

vs.
*This cattle belongs to John.

Another peculiarity of these nouns is that they do not occur with

low numerals (Crainiceanu 2007). Thus, distinct lexical items must be
used whenever individuation takes place:

(62)

*four police vs. four policemen/police officers

*five cattle vs. five cows

However, they generally co-occur with high numerals:

(63)

two hundred police/cattle/poultry

On the other hand, folk and people can be used with low numerals: these
six/five/two city folk/people.

Remark

When the noun people denotes ‘the people who belong to a particular
country, race, or area’, it displays a regular count behaviour:

75
(64)

….the Basques, a people of north western Spain

The peoples of Europe are confident about the future.
Ours is a great people.

4. Non-sortal terms – Mass nouns

4.1. The semantic and morphosyntactic properties of non-

sortals (i.e. mass nouns)

The most adequate way of highlighting the semantic and syntactic

properties of non-sortals (i.e. mass terms) is by setting up a comparison
with sortal terms (i.e. count terms). Their major distinctive characteristic,
namely individuation, will provide the most adequate basis for such a
comparison as well as for the formulation of their semantic and syntactic
characteristics.
Because sortals (i.e. count nouns) specify bounding, they
possess in-built modes of dividing their reference29 (so that we can
determine when one instance ends and another begins and therefore
distinguish between one dog, another dog, etc) which results in the
application of number to such terms. Non-sortals (i.e. mass nouns), on
the other hand, do not divide their reference. Being unbounded, non-
sortals are subdivisible, additive or cumulative in reference30.
Philosophers of language have argued that the purpose of sortal
designation is to apply number in a definite way to them (Pelletier
1979). Quine (1960:91) in his account of mass nouns has pointed out
that “[...] so called mass terms like water footwear [...] have the semantic
property of referring cumulatively: any sum of parts which are water is
water [...] Semantically they are like singular terms in not dividing their
reference, but syntactically they do not go along with singular terms
which purport to name a unique object each”. In other words, as far as
their semantic behaviour is concerned, non-sortals (i.e. mass terms)
should be opposed not only to sortals, but also to singular terms (i.e.
nouns with unique reference such as mama, London, the book on the
29
Their ability to divide reference corresponds to Langacker’s (2008) notion of
replicabilty in cognitive grammar.
30
These features correspond to contractibility and expanisibility in Langacker’s
(2008) terms.

76
table). The opposition between mass terms and singular terms centres
round their purport to name or not a unique object: singular terms
purport to name unique objects while mass terms do not. Mass terms
also qualify as names but they designate a different type of entity,
namely kinds.
The syntactic properties of mass terms reflect their semantic
behaviour. We shall repeat them here for convenience:

• mass nouns trigger singular agreement with the verb and the
singular anaphoric pronoun it
• they combine with specific quantifiers, also called amassives,
such as much, little, which are used with both concrete and
abstract mass nouns
• they cannot take the indefinite article (a)n or the cardinals
• mass noun are resistant to pluralisation (i.e. they are not marked
for plural)
• in point of their morphological structure, morphologically
complex nouns that contain in their structure the suffixes – ness,
- ity, - hood are, generally, mass nouns

The syntactic behaviour of mass nouns and that of count nouns can be
brought out by a tabulation of grammatically comparable constructions:

(65)

the book is the books are the water is

a book books water
this book these books this water
- few books little water
- many books much water
every book all books all water
one book two books -
some book some books some water (some stressed)
- some books some water
(some unstressed)
It should be pointed out that mass nouns include both concrete
and abstract nouns. The expression mass noun has clearer intuitive force
in the context of concrete ‘stuff’. Concrete mass nouns, however, have a
lot in common syntactically and semantically with non-concrete (i.e.
abstract) nouns such as speed, decency, attention, etc. Thus the term
‘mass nouns’ has been extended to cover both concrete and non-concrete

77
nouns distinguished by the semantic and syntactic properties discussed
above. Examples of concrete mass nouns include: silver, gold, water,
wine, butter, milk, tea, coffee, cheese, powder, gas, sugar, flesh, meat,
grass, etc. Whereas examples of abstract mass nouns include: leisure,
progress, success, luck, tact, love, attention, nonsense, knowledge,
vagueness, safety, constancy, decency, experience, danger, harm, etc.

4.2. Mass nouns and quantifiers

The syntactic restrictions imposed on mass terms as a consequence of

their being be construed as unbounded (i.e. continuous and not
inherently limited in space and/or time) and of their lack of built-in
modes for dividing their reference, can be transgressed. Characteristic of
typical mass nouns is a set of quantifiers which operate as partitioning
expressions and individuate a certain ‘portion’ of the intended ‘stuff’.
When mass nouns are used with these quantifiers they are recategorized
into count nouns. Some of these quantifiers can be used with both
concrete and abstract mass nouns (see the examples in (66)); others are
used with concrete mass nouns only (see the examples in (67)); still
others collocate with abstract mass nouns only (see the examples in
(68)).

(66)

a piece of gold honesty

an amount of butter regret
a (little) scrap of iron consolation
coffee love
air wisdom
meat kindness
ice perfidy
sugar politeness
flour justice
cruelty
(67)

a fall of snow
a stack of hay
a cake of soap
a lump of sugar

78
a bar of chocolate
a skein of wool
a blade of grass
a slice/rasher of bacon/ham
a roll of toilet paper
a cup of tea/milk/coffee/cocoa
a reel of thread/wire/film
a clod/lump of earth/clay
a glass of wine/water/milk/beer
a grain/sheaf of wheat/barley/corn

(68)

A flutter of excitement
A pang of jealousy
A stroke of luck
An act of kindness/love/justice

As already mentioned, mass nouns do not co-occur with the

indefinite article a(n), with numerals and the plural marker. Whenever,
they do, the indefinite article, the numerals and the plural marker have an
individuating effect, and the respective mass nouns are recategorized as
count nouns. Consider the following examples:

(69)

I had two coffees this morning

Teas, coffees and cakes are available
He had a beer for lunch.

The examples in (69) are elliptical for “two cups of coffee”, “cups of tea,
cups of coffee, slices of cakes”, “a glass of/ a bottle of/ a can of beer”,
respectively.
The definite article the does not occur with mass nouns. When it
does, the mass noun is recategorized as a sortal and the whole noun
phrase functions as singular term: a unique portion of stuff is
individuated (Baciu 2004b). Contrast the examples in (70) and (71):

(70)

(a) Milk is healthy – mass term

(b) *Milk is on the table

79
(c) The milk is on the table – singular term

(71)

(a) Gold is a precious metal – mass term

(b) *Gold was found in the next room
(c) The gold was found in the next room – singular term

The DP in (70c) and (71c) is elliptical for “the amount/quantity of

milk/gold”. Thus the mass noun is recategorized as count noun (i.e. a
sortal). Ware (1979:23-24) argues that ‘the definite article was said to be
appropriate only to count nouns and not to mass nouns. This would give
a certain unity to the articles (definite and indefinite), and it could
perhaps explain some matters about individuation. On the other hand, it
would appear to give all nouns a count occurrence. For any stuff on the
table we can speak of the stuff on the table, whether it be sugar, water,
dust or whatever. And we can always speak of the stuff here and there”.
The determiners this and that achieve the same individuating
effect when they accompany mass terms. Just like in the case of ‘the N’,
noun phrases including this/that and a mass noun qualify as sortals with
unique reference, i.e. as singular terms.

(72)

(a) Butter is healthy – mass term

(b) This butter is stale – singular term

(73)

(a) Gold is precious metal – mass term

(b) This gold was found in the next room – singular term

The individualizing quantifiers each, every, another have

restricted co-occurrence conditions since they are characteristic of
general terms (i.e. countable nouns) and therefore require criteria of
distinctness and individuation. In contexts in which they occur with mass
nouns an individualizing expression is assumed and we are dealing again
with a case of recategorization from mass terms into count terms.

(74)

80
Each/every/another wine/tea was excellent (i.e. ‘each/every/another kind
of wine/tea, etc was excellent’)

All and some can be used with mass nouns; no criteria of division
are required. The noun phrase is a mass term:

(75)

All water is blue.

All attention is needed.
Some water was blue.
Some attention was needed.

The predeterminers half, double, twice, three times, one third,

one fifth require criteria of division into ‘half’, ‘double’, etc ‘of the stuff’
described. Therefore they are used with countable nouns: half the apple,
one third of the rabbit, etc. In these predeterminers are used with mass
nouns some other article or quantifier must be present to operate the
division into a certain ‘portion of the stuff’:

(76)

*Half water was cold.

Half the water was cold.
Half the amount of water was cold.

The same applies to predeterminers double, three times, etc, which

require the presence of an individuating modifier or article for the
sentence to be well formed. Consider the examples in (77):

(77)

*Double wine was needed.

*Three times wine was needed.
Double the/this wine was needed.
Double of the/this quantity of wine/strength/ attention/love was needed.

The characteristic quantifiers for mass nouns are much and little.
Many and few are used only with countable nous, as shown in (78):

(78)

81
(a) Much butter was needed.
Little attention was needed.

(b) Many girls were there.

Few books were there

(c) *Much girls was needed.

*Little books was needed.
*Many butter was needed.
*Few attention was needed.

The quantifiers plenty of, a lot of, lots of are indefinite quantifiers
and co-occur with both mass nouns and countable nouns:

(79)

Plenty of/a lot of/lots of/ butter/attention/books

If one of these quantifiers is used with a countable noun in the singular,

the entire noun phrase becomes a complex mass term, as illustrated in
(80):

(80)

She showed a lot of foot.

There is too much tooth about her.
She is more of a woman now.

5. Recategorization of nouns

5.1 Recategorization of mass nouns as countable nouns

This section addresses the classes of mass nouns that undergo

recategorization31 as countable nouns by means of pluralization and/or
the use of the indefinite article a(n). By means of recategorization a noun
that is usually treated as unbounded (mass) becomes bounded (count).
31
Various terms are used to describe this process: Lyons (1968:282) talks of ‘secondary
recategorization’, while Quirk et al. (1985:248) uses ‘reclassification’.

82
As we shall see in Section 5.3., the reverse is also possible. The process
of recategorization has far-reaching implications for the count-mass
distinction in syntax to the extent to which a very substantial part of the
noun inventory in English can be used in count and mass contexts
(Corbett 2000).

A. The first class includes mass nouns which can be recategorized as

count nouns when they occur in the plural and they mean kinds of X.
Examples of such mass terms which undergo a shift from X (a kind-level
individual) to kinds of X are listed below:

(81)

wine, tea, gas, food, fruit, meat, metal, steel, grass, coffee, butter,
cheese, fashion, experience, etc.

Compare the sentences32 from (82) to (88).

(82)

(i) Wine is healthy if you drink it in small quantities. [MT]

(ii) Four wines were served at dinner. They were dry wines. [CT]
(iii) Full-bodied, sweet or sparkling wines are usually drunk at a cooler
temperature. [CT]
(iv) This is an astonishingly fine wine with great concentration and
wonderful flavours of black cherry, chocolate, black raspberry and herbs.
[CT]

(83)

(i) The luncheon table in the little cottage was spread with cheese, olives,
sardines and bread. [MT]
(ii) Top with the cottage cheese, and sprinkle the mixed herbs on top.
[MT]
(iii) To make a fresh milk cheese at home is the simplest of processes.
[CT]

32
The examples included in this section, as well as in Section 5.3, and labelled as MT or
CT illustrate the morpho-syntactic behaviour of mass terms (i.e. mass nouns) and
count terms (i.e. count nouns) respectively.

83
(iv) Swaledale is a traditional cheese of the same era as Wensleydale,
which has been revived and is now selling well. [CT]
(v) It won’t be long before cheeses such as these become rarities. [CT]
(vi) a selection of English cheeses [CT]
(vii) It won’t be long before cheeses such as these become rarities. [CT]

(84)

(i) The room smelt of stale sweat and strong coffee. [MT]
(ii) Peter returned with fresh coffee and explained how to score and
interpret the material. [MT]
(iii) A variety of gourmet coffees are on sale. [CT]

(85)

(i) She enjoyed the feel of grass beneath her feet. [MT]
(ii) All grasses need light to grow well. [CT]

(86)

(i) The gate is made of metal. [MT]

(ii) They traded in gold and other precious metals. [CT]
(iii) A large number of chemical reactions take place when trace metals
move through the environment. [CT]
(iv) Modem glass also tends to contain a greater range of other metals
such as arsenic and zinc. [CT]

(87)

(i) Fur coats were considered to be the height of fashion and

sophistication. [MT]
(ii) Having conquered the world of fashion, she is now being courted by
Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks film company. [MT]
(iii) This year’s men’s fashions are brighter and more casual than ever
before. [CT]
(iv) I always find it hard to keep up with the latest fashions. [CT]

(88)

(i) I’d like two teas and a piece of chocolate cake, please.

84
(ii) We stopped for a cream tea on the way home
(iii) They competed to see who could eat most in the hotel restaurant and
gorged themselves on Cornish cream teas.
(iv) It may be black or green tea flavoured with jasmine flowers, is very
fragrant and is always drunk without milk.

The noun wine in (82i) is a mass noun, naming thus a kind-level

individual in Carlson’s terms. Semantically it does not divide its
reference; instead its reference is cumulative and subdivisible: any sum
of parts which are wine is wine. These semantic properties are reflected
in the syntactic behaviour: it triggers singular agreement with the verb
and singular anaphoric pronouns. This analysis applies to the nouns
cheese in (83), coffee in (84), grass in (85i), metal in (86), fashion in
(87).
In (82 ii, iii,) the reference of the mass noun wine is viewed as
being partitioned into ‘kinds’ according to various special properties
such as flavour, colour, origin, etc. These properties provide “different
partitions with criteria of distinctiveness implicitly contained in kind of
wine” (Baciu 2004b:57). Thus any kind of wine is wine, and any quantity
of wine is part of a kind of wine. Syntactically the plural countable term
wines has count properties: plural agreement with the verb, plural
anaphoric pronouns, count quantifiers, collocations with numeral,
regular singular form that collocates with the indefinite article a.
It should be noticed that such proper names as Bordeaux,
Chianti, Chablis, Jidvei, Prince Stirbey, etc. represent lexicalizations of
kinds of wine. Syntactically and semantically these proper names
function as mass terms, designating thus kind-level individuals in
Carlson’s theory.

(89)

He drank too much Chianti; it went straight to his head.

B. The second class includes mass nouns whose recategorization as

countable nous refers to an act/an instant/an occasion or occurrence
of X, i.e. an act/an instant/an occasion or occurrence that has the quality
expressed by X. The interpretations of mass nouns as count nouns may
be given a unified analysis by considering the terms falling under this
type of recategorization as stages of the kind. All these mass nouns
recategorized as count nouns denote “spatio-temporal slices of the kind”
denoted by the corresponding mass term prior to recategorization (Baciu

85
2004b). Examples of mass nouns that undergo this type of categorization
include the following:

(90)

attention, affection, confidence, curiosity, decency, education, idiocy,

feeling, freedom, ignominy, immorality, immersion, implication,
imposture, kindness, law, novelty, mentality, regard, respect, etc.

This recategorization is fairly well illustrated by the examples

below:

(91)

freedom [MT] – ‘the state of being free and allowed to do what you
want’; ‘the right to do what you want without being controlled or
restricted, especially by a government or by someone in authority’

(i) There was a huge party at the Berlin Wall as East Germans celebrated
their freedom. [MT]

(ii) Kids have too much freedom these days. [MT]

freedoms [CT] – ‘the right to do what you want without being controlled
or restricted by anyone’

(iii) As children, they dreamed about the freedoms and riches they would
enjoy in the U.S. [CT]

(92)

attention [MT] – ‘the interest that people show in someone or

something’; ‘the state of carefully listening to, looking at, or thinking
about someone or something’

(i) Pets need a lot of care and attention. [MT]

(ii) The exhibition received little attention in the press. [MT]
(iii) Scott sat down at his desk and turned his attention to the file he had
in front of him. [MT]

attentions [CT] – ‘an act of courtesy or gallantry’

86
(iv) The man then turned his attentions to (=became romantically
interested in) her sister. [CT]

(93)

law [MT] – ‘the whole system of rules that people in a particular country
or area must obey’; ‘law as a subject of study, or the profession of being
a lawyer’

(i) In Sweden it is against the law to hit a child. [MT]

(ii) She’s studying law in London. [MT]

law [CT] ‘a rule that people in a particular country or area must obey’;
one of the rules which controls a sport or activity

(iii) On the crucial issue of land ownership, the many agrarian laws
passed in various States have been ineffective in practice. [CT]
(iv) The laws against drug use were very severe. [CT]
(iv) FIFA is the organization that runs world football and decides
whether any of the laws should be changed. [CT]

(94)

regard [MT] – ‘respect and admiration for someone or something’;

‘attention or consideration that is shown towards someone or something’

(i) Burt had high regard for his old law professor, Dr. Finch. [MT]
(ii) The present administration has demonstrated little regard for
environmental issues. [MT]

regard [CT] – ‘good wishes or greetings’

(iii) My husband sends his regards. [CT]

(95)

affection [MT] – ‘a feeling of liking or love and caring’

(i) Their father never showed them much affection. [MT]

affection [CT] – ‘the feelings of love and caring that someone has’

87
(ii) Africa has always had a special place in my affections. [CT]
(iii) Bart had a deep affection for the old man.

(96)

confidence [MT] – ‘the feeling that one can trust someone or something
to be good, work well, or produce good results’; ‘the belief that one has
the ability to do things well or deal with situations successfully’

(i) Opinion polls show that voters have lost confidence in the
administration. [MT]
(ii) The following teacher’s writing illustrates how his pupils have
gained in confidence and initiative. [MT]

confidence [CT] – ‘a secret or a piece of information that is private or

personal’

(iii) They spent their evenings drinking wine and sharing confidences.
[CT]
(iv) I have never betrayed a confidence. [CT]

(97)

kindness [MT] – ‘kind behaviour towards someone’

(i) I shall never forget her kindness to me. [MT]

kindness [CT] – ‘a kind action’

(ii) It would be doing him a kindness to tell him the truth. [CT]

(98)

novelty [MT] – ‘the quality of being new, unusual, and interesting’

(i) I loved driving to work at first, but the novelty soon wore off. [MT]

novelty [CT] – ‘something new and unusual which attracts people’s

attention and interest’

(ii) Fast-food restaurants like McDonald’s are still something of a

novelty in Moscow. [CT]

88
 As shown in the examples from (91) to (98) the recategorized
countable nouns evince all the syntactic properties of countable nous in
allowing count quantifiers and agreement with the verb in plural or in
taking the indefinite article a(n), when used in the singular.
In (97) kindness is an abstract mass noun which has all the
syntactic properties of mass terms and denotes ‘kind behaviour towards
someone’. The noun phrase a kindness, on the other hand, is a countable
noun and denotes one act of such behaviour.
Similarly, law is an abstract mass noun denoting ‘whole system
of rules that people in a particular country or area must obey’, whereas
the noun phrase a law refers to one slice of this whole system of rules, to
only one instantiation which realizes the kind law, namely ‘one rule’. In
(98) novelty is an abstract mass noun which denotes ‘the quality of being
new, unusual, and interesting’. A novelty, on the other hand, denotes an
instantiation of this quality.
The instances of recategorization under classes (A) and (B) are
cases of synecdoche: the part is substituted for a whole or a whole is
substituted for a part.

C. The third class includes mass nouns whose recategorization into

countable nous denotes something related to X (X being the mass noun
recategorized as count noun). The interpretations of mass nouns as count
nouns may be given a unified analysis by considering the terms falling
under this type of recategorization as objects of the kind. All these mass
nouns recategorized as count nouns denote “object-level entities of the
kind-level entity” denoted by the corresponding mass term Baciu (2004b:
59). The instances of recategorization belonging to class (C) are cases of
metonymy: the substitution of a word referring to an attribute for the
entity that is denoted.

(99)

beauty [MT] – ‘a quality that people, places, or things have that makes
them very attractive to look at’

(i) This was the birthplace of the Renaissance and its streets revel in
artistic beauty. [MT]
(ii) He had written a poem about Sylvia, praising her charm and beauty.
[MT]

beauty [CT] – ‘a beautiful thing’; ‘a woman who is very beautiful’

89
(iii) Eric’s new car is a real beauty. [CT]
(iv) She was considered a great beauty in her youth. [CT]

(100)

novelty [MT] – ‘the quality of being new, unusual, and interesting’

(i) I loved driving to work at first, but the novelty soon wore off. [MT]

novelty [CT] – ‘an unusual, small, usually cheap ornament or trinket,

often given as a present’

(ii) They sell a selection of crafts, novelties, and T-shirts. [CT]

(101)

justice [MT] – ‘the administration of law according to prescribed and

accepted principles’

(i) The criminal was brought to justice. [MT]

justice [CT] – ‘a person appointed to administer justice’

(ii) A magistrate is a justice of the peace. [CT]

(102)

nylon [MT] – ‘a class of synthetic polyamide materials’

(i) The tent was made of nylon. [MT]

nylon [CT] – ‘cloth or yarn made of this’; ‘women’s stockings that are
made of nylon’

(ii) She bought several nylons. [CT]

(103)

tin [MT] – ‘a soft silver-white metal that is often used to cover and
protect iron and steel’

(i) The alluvial tin, from the Malayan river gravels, is almost exhausted.

90
tin [CT] – ‘a metal container with a lid in which food can be stored’; ‘a
small metal container in which food or drink is sold’; ‘a metal container
with a lid, in which paint, glue etc is sold’

(ii) She bought a tin of Christmas cookies. [CT]

(iii) Do you want a tin of beer? [CT]
(iv) All I wanted was a tin of paint. [CT]

To conclude our discussion of the recategorization of mass nouns

as countable nouns, it should be pointed out that all the three main cases
of recategorization are productive in present day English.

5.2. Singular mass term – Plural mass term shift

There is another class of mass nouns which, although have a

corresponding plural form, do not involve recategorization as count
nouns, as the newly formed noun is still a mass term. Consider the
following examples:

(104)

snow – snows;
salt – salts;
sand – sands;
water – waters;
wit – wits.

If recategorization of mass nouns into countable nouns

determines nouns to adopt new meanings, the newly formed nouns in
(104) do not change their meaning. In terms of meaning there is no
significant difference between the singular mass noun and its
corresponding plural mass noun to the extent to which the former
includes the latter (snow – snows ‘a large amount of snow’). As far as
their syntactic behaviour is concerned, these plural mass nouns differ
from their singular counterparts in that they trigger plural agreement
with the verb and plural anaphoric pronouns. However, like singular
mass nouns they require mass quantifiers (cf. Crainiceanu 2007).

(105)

91
Mount Kenya’s snows are fading.
Antarctic waters are cold, dark, deep and teeming with life.
The waters of the Indus basin begin in the Himalayan Mountains of
Indian held Kashmir. They flow from the hills through the arid states of
Punjab and Sind, converging in Pakistan and emptying into the Arabian
Sea south of Karachi.

5.3. Recategorization of count(able) nouns as mass nouns

As we have already seen in Section 5.1 on the recategorization of mass

nouns as countable nouns, the material may be transferred to the entity
(iron - an iron; silver – a silver; butter – butters). Similarly, a noun
denoting an entity or class of entities can be used to name the material
(an onion – much onion; a pudding – much pudding). The list below
includes several examples of nouns that although are countable in their
basic meaning may acquire a mass noun use depending on the context:

(106)

(i) The rattling carriage was full of rucksacks and hikers and black-
dressed Greek ladies with chickens. [CT]
(ii) Would you like some chicken for dinner? [MT]

(107)

(i) Tests on naturally contaminated eggs show multiplication cannot

occur in an intact egg. [CT]
(ii) She cooked me egg and chips and sat by me while I ate. [MT]

(108)

(i) Would you like an apple? [CT]

(ii) There is too much apple in the salad. [MT]

(109)

By mashing ten potatoes [CT], you get enough potato [MT] for this
recipe.

92
(110)

(i) Several hundred acres of rustling, wind-blown grass swept over our
feet and under scattered oaks. [CT]
(ii) She pressed her back against the door, grateful for the support of its
solid carved oak. [MT]

As the examples above show the countable use is for separate things or
individual instances, while the uncountable use is for something viewed
as substance or material.

5.4. Count(able) nouns with no corresponding mass

occurrences

Some countable nouns cannot be recategorized as mass nouns, but they

have instead lexicalized forms for the corresponding mass use. This is
the particular case of countable nouns that denote some animals. The
meat of the respective animal is designated by a lexical item which is
semantically and syntactically a mass noun. Consider the examples
below:
(111)

Count Mass

pig pork
sheep mutton
calf veal
deer venison
cow beef

(112)

He kept pigs and poultry. [CT]

She has bought some pork for dinner. [MT]

(113)

Sheep were grazing on the hillside. [CT]

He therefore ordered an early dinner of roast mutton to be served in his
quarters at three o’clock that afternoon. [MT]

93
(114)

Thus farmers sell milk and young calves, as well as wool and lambs
which are fattened on nearby lowland farms. [CT]
Menus tend to be Germanic with large helpings of soup, veal or sausage
and Rösti potatoes. [MT]

(115)

We still have lots of deer, very little water and not many open spaces.
[CT]
They’re deer-stealers - I saw a dead deer in their car. [CT]
He serves the venison with a wild rice compote that contains sun-dried
pears, a hard-to-find ingredient. [MT]

(116)

This part of West London seemed like the country to me, with none of
the disadvantages, no cows or farmers. [CT]
In the land of the cowboy you might expect beef to be an unfailingly
popular dish. [MT]

The noun poultry is a special case. When it denotes ‘birds such as

chickens and ducks that are kept on farms in order to produce eggs and
meat’ the noun is invariable in the plural and therefore triggers
agreement with the verb in the plural, plural anaphoric pronouns and
collocates with a plural demonstrative.

(117)

Because the poultry being held have been fed adulterated products,
USDA cannot approve products derived from these poultry for human
consumption.
Poultry are free ranging and scavenge for food.
Smuggling of these poultry and poultry products is considered by many
to be the primary way avian flu is likely to be spread into other
countries.

When poultry denotes to ‘meat from birds such as chickens and ducks’ it
has the properties of a mass noun: it triggers singular agreement with

94
the verb and singular anaphoric pronouns and requires mass
quantifiers.

(118)

Have poultry once or twice a week.

Raw poultry is a known source of pathogens.
It’s difficult to estimate how much poultry China buys from U.S.
producers.

In both cases, however, the noun is uncountable.

5.5. Recategorization of proper names as count(able)

nouns

To conclude our discussion on the recategorization of mass nouns and

countable nous we should turn our attention to cases of recategorization
of proper names as count(able) nouns.

(119)

It is a Rembrandt but not a self-portrait.

The National Gallery has many more Rembrandts than the National
Gallery of Scotland.
So many Vermeers have not been seen together since a sale in 1696.
Forty pictures reputed to be “lost” Van Goghs are to go on public
display this week in an exhibition that will throw open one of the
longest-running and most acrimonious controversies in the art world.
Another Monet, Les arceaux de Roses, Giverny, from the artist’s water
lilies series painted in his famous garden, started the night in pride of
place with an estimate of £9-£12 million. But it sold for £8 million.
I believe the souls of five hundred Sir Isaac Newtons would go to the
making of a Shakespeare or a Milton.

As Quine (1960) points out, “it is not the nature of the referent which
makes a name to be a mass term, a general term or a singular term33, but

33
Quine (1960:90) contrasts general terms to singular terms and defines singular
terms as terms that have unique reference, while a general term “is true of each,
severally, of any number of objects”.

95
rather the way in which reality is viewed and ordered within each natural
language”.

6. Pluralia tantum nouns

The term pluralia tantum is Latin in origin (in the singular: plural
tantum) and it can roughly be translated as ‘plural only’. It covers the
nouns which have only one form, the plural one. Pluralia tantum nouns
have been classified according to their meaning and origin in various
groups that designate (i) illnesses, (ii) names of sciences, (iii) names of
games, (iv) instruments, (v) articles of clothing, (vi) parts of the body, as
well as other nouns that do not belong to these subclasses (Stefanescu
1988: 80-81; Baciu 2004b:74-5).
Traditional grammars have regarded the class of pluralia tantum
nouns as a homogenous one. As we shall see, however, the nouns
labelled pluralia tantum are definitely non-homogeneous with respect to
the distinction between sortals (that evince count noun properties) and
non-sortals (that display mass noun properties). Pluralia tantum nouns
can be divided into two main subclasses: (i) nouns that display mass
noun properties and (ii) nouns that evince count properties. In what
follows, the description draws on Stefanescu (1988).

6.1 Nouns that display mass noun properties

A. Nouns denoting certain physical and mental illnesses such as

appendicitis, creeps, diabetes, dismals, dumps, fidgets, glanders, gripes,
horrors, hysterics, jerks, jumps, measles, mumps, pouts, rabies, rickets,
shakes, shivers, shingles, sullens, staggers, sulks, tantrums, thrills,
tonsillitis, vapours, etc. These nouns have the properties of mass nouns,
except for the presence of the plural suffix –s on the noun. Consider the
following examples:

(120)

But one summer when I was around ten or eleven I developed a nasty
sore throat which the doctor thought was tonsillitis.

96
Measles is in most cases a relatively harmless disease.
Tuberculosis and malnutrition were prevalent, as was rickets.
Insulin will bring a diabetic to normal without the faintest need of a
knife, but appendicitis needs an operation.
Rickets is caused by a deficiency of vitamin D.
Gestational diabetes recurs in about 50 percent of women who had the
problem in a previous pregnancy.
Glanders has broken out in the American mules remount-farm at
Stellenbosch.
The whole of her first year was one continual series of sulks, quarrels
and revolts.
Shingles has severe complications.
The time and Miss Pross making tea, with another fit of the jerks upon
her.

The examples in (120) show that the pluralia tantum nouns in this
group have mass noun properties:

• They trigger singular agreement with the verb and singular

anaphoric pronouns
• These nouns do not co-occur with the indefinite article a(n) and
cardinal quantifiers
• Individuation can be achieved by means of the following type of
individuating expressions: a series of, a fit of, e.g. a fit of the
dismalls/sulens, a series of sulks.

B. Nouns denoting some games: billiards, bowls, cards, checkers,

darts, dominoes, draughts, fives, forfeits, marbles, ninepins, skittles, etc.
These nouns have mass noun properties, except for the presence of the
plural marker. Consider the following examples that illustrate their use:

(121)

Billiards was gradually replaced by bridge.

Ninepins requires great skill.
Marbles is a game similar to bowls.

As in previous case, this group of nouns display mass noun behaviour:

• They trigger singular agreement with the verb and singular

anaphoric pronouns

97
 • They do not occur with the indefinite article, count quantifiers
and numerals
• Individuation is achieved by means of such individuating
expressions as: a game of, around of.

Remark

Skittles, ninepins, draughts dominoes may also be recategorized as

countable nouns and occur in the singular form, i.e. ninepin, skittle,
draught, domino. In this case, however, designation to the pieces is
intended.

(122)

He sets up his four ninepins – designation to bottle-shaped objects is

intended
In this game you must knock over as many skittles as possible –
‘skittles’ designates the objects shaped like bottles

C. Nouns that denote subjects of study/sciences and sports ending in

- ics: acoustics, aerobics, aerodynamics, aeronautics, athletics, classics,
economics, electronics, ethics, genetics, gymnastics, linguistics,
logistics, mathematics, mechanics, obstetrics, phonetics, physics,
politics, statistics, thermodynamics etc. These nouns have mass noun
behaviour since they display all the properties of mass terms: (i)
singular agreement with the verb, (ii) singular anaphoric pronouns, (iii)
no indefinite article and or cardinal quantifiers. Consider the examples
in (123):

(123)

Acoustics is the study of sounds.

Linguistics has developed significantly in modern times.
Physics is fun.
Politics plays a large part in village life.
Comparative politics focuses on similarities and differences in political
processes and structures.
Economics is the oldest of the social sciences.
Mathematics is the science of quantities; its students are mathematicians.
Politics, as a profession, was of importance to him.
Statistics is a branch of mathematics.

98
 Some of these nouns can be recategorized as countable nouns,
in which case they may occur with the verb in the plural, as well as with
plural determiners and anaphoric pronouns. Some may even develop a
singular form. It has been suggested that in this case we deal with a case
of metonymic shift of the type ‘the instrument for product shift’ (Baciu
2004b:78). The examples below illustrate this use:

(124)

acoustics [MT] – ‘the scientific study of sound’

acoustics [CT] – ‘the shape and size of a room which affect the way
sound is heard in it’

Seats are small but plush, and the acoustics are excellent [CT]

economics [MT] – ‘the study of the way in which money and goods are
produced and used’
economics [CT] – ‘the way in which money influences whether a plan,
business etc will work effectively’

Perhaps it is time we had a choice between parties which agree that

liberal free-market economics are here to stay [CT]

mathematics [MT] – ‘a group of related sciences including algebra,

geometry, and calculus, concerned with the study of number,
quantity, shape, etc.’
mathematics [CT] – ‘mathematical operations and processes involved
in the solution of a problem or study’

‘Do mathematics make one’s manners masculine?’ ‘Well, they have not
done so in your case. But still they are not womanly pursuits’ [CT]
It was those infernal mathematics, which I have always neglected [CT]

politics [MT] – ‘the study of political power and systems of

government’

politics [CT] – ‘ideas and activities relating to gaining and using power
in a country, city, etc.’; ‘someone’s political beliefs and opinions’

Company politics are frequently vicious [CT]

His politics are clearly right-wing [CT]

99
statistics [MT] – ‘a science concerned with the collection, classification
and interpretation of quantitative data’
statistics [CT] – ‘quantitative data themselves’; ‘a single number which
represents a fact or measurement’

Statistics show that 50% of new businesses fail in their first year [CT]
There is one surprising statistic in your report [CT]
The statistic comes from a study recently conducted by the British
government [CT]

tactics [MT] – ‘the science of arranging and moving military forces in a

battle’
tactics [CT] – ‘plans followed to achieve an aim’

Shock tactics are being used in an attempt to stop drink drivers [CT]
One tactic she has used is to decide matters outside the formal Cabinet,
either in committees or in informal groups [CT]
Giving out criticism rather than praise is a tactic that rarely works in the
workplace [CT]

At this stage of our investigation of pluralia tantum nouns, it

should be pointed out that these three groups of nouns described above
display mass noun properties. Syntactically they co-occur with singular
verbs and singular anaphoric pronouns and they do not co-occur with the
indefinite article a(n) and cardinal quantifiers. Semantically they do not
divide their reference. The nouns in the third group, nouns that designate
sciences, may be recategorized as countable terms. In all cases in which
the recategorization from a mass term to a countable term has taken
place, there is a change in the type of determiners and quantifiers.
To these three subclasses we should add the noun news, which
although plural in form, triggers singular agreement with the verb and
singular anaphoric pronouns as the examples below illustrate:
(125)

Here’s the 10 o’clock news

No news is good news.
The latest news down the telephone line is that Madonna has just bought
one.

As in the case of the first two groups which behave as mass

nouns, individuation is achieved by means of phrases such as a piece of
news, an item of news, several pieces of news, several items of news.

100
(126)

Every piece of news is scrutinised for negative implications.

The space agency decision was a welcome piece of news.
I received this piece of news with resignation but no enthusiasm.

In what follows we will move on to three more subgroups of

nouns that could be included under the heading pluralia tantum,
although some grammars treat these nouns as examples of binary nouns
or summation plurals given the fact that they denote entities (either tools,
instruments or articles of dress) that are viewed as comprising two equal
parts joined together. As we shall see from the examples below, the
nouns belonging to these subgroups display count properties and
semantically divide their reference, qualifying thus as sortals.

6.2 Nouns that evince count properties

D. Nouns denoting instruments/tools comprising two equal parts

joined together such as: bellows, binoculars, chains, fetters, forceps,
glasses, irons, pliers, scales, scissors, shears, spectacles, tongs,
tweezers, etc. All these nouns trigger plural agreement with the verb,
plural anaphoric pronouns and plural determiners. For the vast majority
of these nouns, individuation is possible by means of the individuating
expression a pair of, several pairs of. The individuating expression used
with the noun scales is a set of: a set of kitchen scales.

(127)

Don’t touch those scissors.

Never use these scissors to cut paper as this will blunt them.
Downstairs he found Beryl at the table with the newspaper, her coffee
and a pair of scissors.
A pair of secateurs might also be useful.
On the whole, good secateurs are safer and cleaner for your roses, as
well as yourself.
She was plucking her eyebrows with a pair of tweezers.
Tweezers are used for handling small objects or plucking hairs.
I spend a lot of time on the bathroom scales - too much time - I really
should throw them away!

101
The bathroom scales are a shrine to which believers turn daily.
I went down to the cellar to find a pair of pliers.

A few of these nouns are found with the plural used as a singular:

(128)

About the only way to eliminate Argulus is to remove the sea horses and
pick off the parasites with a tweezers.
I had seen Bella, when she was about to fry meat, cutting it with a
scissors instead of a knife.

E. Nouns denoting articles of dress consisting of symmetrical parts

such as: braces, jeans, overalls, pants, pyjamas, shorts, suspenders,
tights, trousers, trunks, etc. Just like in the previous case, these nouns
display count noun properties: they trigger plural agreement with the
verb, plural anaphoric pronouns and plural determiners. Individuation
is achieved by means of the individuating expression a pair of. Consider
the examples below:

(129)

These trousers are slightly too short for you.

Those pants have a big patch on them.
I stripped off my pyjamas and restored them to the rucksack.
You will then change into a set of white overalls which are made of
paper.
He was still carrying his mop and broom and wearing his brown
overalls.

Remarks

• The noun overalls has developed a singular form overall with a

slightly different meaning (‘a loose-fitting piece of clothing like a
coat, that is worn over clothes to protect them’) that displays all
the properties of countable nouns.

He was wearing a white overall on top of his grey prison issue

clothes and he pulled the overall off as soon as he was inside.

102
 That white overall was a passport to the scene of the murder.

• Whenever nouns under D and E occur in attributive position or in

compounds, the singular form is used: a spectacle case, a
pyjama cord, a suspender belt, a trouser leg, etc.

F. Nouns designating parts of the body which are made up of two (or
several) more or less distinct parts such as: bowels, entrails, guts, gums,
lungs, innards, whiskers, etc. These nouns also evince countable
properties, qualifying as sortal terms.

(130)

The lungs, or as they are vulgarly called lights, are eaten as parts of the
pluck or fry.
I stopped, breathed deeply, and smiled as sweet air filled my lungs.
Vitamin C is also important for healthy gums.
There were blood and guts all over the place.
She laughs and says his whiskers tickle.
The bowels contain more nerves than the spine.
Whiskers are an important sensory organ for rats.

When reference is made to one of the two parts that make up the
respective body part, some of these nouns also have a singular form,
qualifying thus as fully fledged countable terms (bowel – bowels, lung –
lungs, whisker- whiskers, gum – gums, tit – tits, eyelash – eyelashes,
etc.).

(131)

If the lung is expanding, the radiation bouncing off it is pushed closer

together, slightly raising its frequency.
One of the knife blows had punctured a lung.
It can take 72 hours for food to pass through the gut.
This suggests a discrepancy in absorption in both the large and small
bowel.
This is a high amplitude burst of contractions that start in the stomach
and are propagated distally into the lower small bowel.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University removed all but one whisker
from a group of rats. Not only did the single whisker activate the
expected neurons, it also stimulated surrounding clusters of neurons.

103
 To the six subgroups of nouns considered so far and labelled
‘pluralia tantum’, grammarians also add some other nouns that seem to
display a coherent syntactic behaviour but do not appear to form a
semantically coherent group. Such a subgroup includes such nouns as
dregs, grits, grounds, husks, lees, sediments, remains, etc. These nouns
trigger plural agreement with the verb. However, from a semantic point
of view, they behave like mass nous and thus they do not divide their
reference: any sum of parts of the stuff is the respective stuff. Consider
the examples below:

(132)

The lees are an important component in the making of Ripasso where

the left-over lees from Amarone are used to impart more flavour and
colour to partially-aged Valpolicella.
There were husks in his corn that even Game Chickens couldn’t peck up.
On the table were the remains of the evening meal.
Coffee grounds act as a green material with a carbon-nitrogen (C-N)
ratio of 20-1. Combined with leaves and straw, coffee grounds generate
heat and will speed up the compost process.

Nouns like amends, annals, arms (‘weapons’), assizes, auspices,

communications (‘ways of sending information, especially using radio,
telephone, or computers’), outskirts, remains, and troops. These nouns
are plural-only nouns both in form and syntactically. They trigger plural
agreement with the verb and plural anaphoric pronouns.

(133)

He still lives on the outskirts of his adopted city close on 30 years after
he signed for them.
The annals of the police courts tell a rather different story.
Assizes were held periodically in every English county.
The hustings for the new parliamentary elections were in progress.
Modern communications are enabling more people to work from home.
As for the Federal troops, they were dispirited but not robbed of their
confidence.
Six hundred federal troops from Fort Sam Houston were assigned to aid
in keeping order.

Another group of nouns that are often included in the class of

‘pluralia tantum’ nouns includes nouns ending in –ing which occur with

104
a plural form and trigger plural agreement with the verb and plural
anaphoric pronouns, as the examples below illustrate:

(134)

All bearings herein are magnetic.

There were considerable savings both on the capital cost of power
stations and on their operating costs.
So they packed their few belongings and rushed to southeast
Washington.
The incomings and outgoings of the private purse are faithfully set
down.

All these nouns, with few exceptions (e.g. earnings, leavings)

have a singular form. Thus they seem to behave as countable terms.
Nevertheless, most of these nouns, when used in the singular, qualify as
‘event nouns’ in which case they designate an ‘act’ or ‘process’ and
semantically and syntactically behave like uncountable/mass nouns
(Baciu 2004b:84). We can thus safely assume that when they are used in
the singular they undergo the recategorization MT → CT.
Regarding the semantic and syntactic behaviour of pluralia
tantum nouns we can conclude that, contrary to the descriptions offered
by traditional grammars, these nouns make up a non-homogenous class
with respect to the distinction mass term – countable term. The class can
be roughly divided into two subclasses: a subclass of pluralia tantum
nouns that exhibit mass noun properties and another sub-class that
displays countable noun properties. The presence of in-between cases
like the ones discussed above clearly shows that the distinction between
mass nouns and countable nous is not discrete but scalar: some nouns
meet some but not all count or mass noun properties.

7. Number with compounds

Compound nouns may be countable or uncountable. Others, although

including countable nouns, tend to be used in the singular or plural. The
plural forms of compound nouns vary according to the type of words
they consist of.

7.1 Plural in the first element

105
A few compound nouns are less directly related to phrasal verbs
consisting of a noun or a gerund that has been derived from a phrasal
verb (e.g. pass by ˃ passer-by; sum up ˃ summing-up).

(135)

But outside the battered congress building few passers-by look twice at
yet another standoff between demonstrators and riot police.

In compound nouns where the noun is postmodified by a

prepositional phrase, an adjective, an adverb or an infinitive, the first
element (i.e. the noun) is usually marked for plural.

(136)

I like birds of prey and hawks particularly.

The veil places brides-to-be at a distinct advantage.
I have considered them my comrades in arms.

The following list includes some common compound nouns marked for
plural in the first element:

Singular Plural

attorney general attorneys general

brother-in-law brothers-in-law
coat-of-arms coats-of-arms
commander-in-chief commanders-in-chief
consul general consuls general
court martial courts martial
father-in-law fathers-in-law
grant-in-aid grants-in-aid
hanger-on hangers-on
lady-in-waiting ladies-in-waiting
looker-on lookers-on
maid of honour maids of honour
man-at-arms men-at-arms
man-of-war men-of-war
mother-in-law mothers-in-law
notary public notaries public
passer-by passers-by

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poet laureate poets laureate
sister-in-law sisters-in-law
summing-up summings-up

Remark

In a number of compounds where the head is postmodified by an

adjective, the compound is felt as a single unit, thus the plural inflection
-s can be added at the end:

lord mayors for lords mayor

brigadier generals for brigadiers general
court-martials for courts-martial
knight-errants for knights-errant
poet laureates for poets laureate

(137)

Two US soldiers face court martials for marrying Iraqi women.

Similarly, in some compounds where the noun is postmodified by

a prepositional phrase the compound is felt as a single unit, thus the
plural inflection -s is often added at the end. This feature is particularly
characteristic of AmE:

(138)

commander-in-chiefs for commanders-in-chief

mother-in-laws for mothers-in-law
sister-in-laws for sisters-in-law
daughter-in-laws for daughters-in-law

(139)

Some mother-in-laws are sweet. They bake cookies for you and support
your every decision.
Probably one of the most beloved Commander-In-Chiefs in history was
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a man who led the U. S. and its allies in
World War II, crafted the New Deal, and is rightly (or wrongly) credited
with lifting the U. S. out of the Great Depression.

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7.2 Plural in the last element

If the final word of a compound noun is a countable noun, the

compound pluralizes the final element.

(140)

Air raids were taking place every night.

Shrill voices would be heard through letter-boxes.
……health centres, banks, post offices and police stations.

Compound nous related to phrasal verbs are spelt with a hyphen and
marked for plural in the last element.

(141)

Nobody seems disturbed about cover-ups when they are essential to the
conduct of a war.
People who drive smarter, faster cars than mine are a bunch of low-grade
show-offs.

The following are some of the most common compounds marked for
plural in the last element:

Singular Plural

apple tree apple trees

assistant director assistant directors
boy friend boy friends
close-up close-ups
cover-up cover-ups
fountain pen fountain pens
shut-in shut-ins
grown-up grown-ups
sit-in sit-ins
show-off show-off
take-off take-offs
gin-and-tonic gin-and-tonics

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forget-me-not forget-me-nots

Compounds written as one word add the plural morpheme to the end of
the word.

Singular Plural

breakdown breakdowns
bucketful bucketfuls
cupful cupfuls
journeyman journeymen
spoonful spoonfuls
standby standbys
stepchild stepchildren
stowaway stowaways
toothpick toothpicks

7.3 Plural in both the first and the last element

Compounds including the nouns man and woman are marked for plural
in both elements.

Singular Plural

gentleman farmer gentlemen farmers;

manservant menservants
woman doctor women doctors

Some compound nouns borrowed from such languages as French

and Latin retain their plural forms from the language of origin.

(142)

[...] aided by agents by agents provocateurs sent into our midst.

[...] while the nouveaux riches of younger states built themselves palatial
mansions.

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8. Conclusion

It cannot be emphasized too strongly that the count/mass distinction

depends on how things are conceptualized, which to a certain extent is
independent of their objective nature. An entity can be construed in
alternate ways, each of which highlights certain aspects of it while
downplaying others. To take an example, some oblong pieces of wood
can be referred to as either boards or lumber. Although they are
referentially identical, the plural form boards renders salient the
individual constitutive entities, whereas lumber suppresses their
individuation in favour of highlighting a homogenous mass: three boards
vs. *three lumber, these boards vs. this lumber. These different
construals are incorporated as part of the established meanings of these
forms, a matter of shared linguistic convention. Speakers thus have the
conceptual flexibility to construe the situation in either fashion and select
the form whose meaning best suits their communicative intent.
A further consequence of this conceptual dexterity is the great
fluidity of the count/mass distinction. The count/mass distinction is
anything but a rigid lexical opposition such that a given noun belongs
definitively and exclusively to one or the other category. For instance,
diamond functions as a mass noun when the constitutive substance is not
discretely instantiated, but instead its qualitative properties are focused
on (Diamond is a very hard substance). Similarly, gold may function as
a count noun when it refers to a kind of gold (a discrete though abstract
entity) rather than the substance per se (I am looking for a gold that is
just the right colour for a ring).
To varying degrees, particular forms are conventionally
established as either count or mass nouns, or even both. Learning such
conventions is part of mastering a language. However, there is always
the option a novel construal. Consequently, general patterns of language
use for recategorizing count nouns as mass nouns, and the reverse,
ensure that almost every noun can in principle be employed in either
manner.
However, not all nouns fit comfortably in the classificatory
scheme mentioned above. Cattle, for instance, is not a plural (since there
is no corresponding singular), yet it grammatically behaves as such:
those cattle, few cattle, Several cattle are grazing, etc. Conversely, many
nouns that are plural in form diverge from typical plurals both in
meaning and grammatical behaviour. A well-known example is oats,
which appears to be the plural of oat, a stem which does occur (e.g.
oatmeal). But this stem cannot be used as a singular count noun to

110
designate one of the salient constitutive particles (*an oat, *this oat), nor
are the particles countable (*three oats, many oats). On the other hand,
nouns like scissors, pliers, tweezers, binoculars, trousers, shorts, which
designate a single object made up of two identical parts, exhibit varying
mixtures of singular- and plural-noun behaviours (a scissors, but These
scissors are broken).

111