The Category of Number of English Nouns

     Compare the Ukrainian: кучері, гроші, дріжджі, сходи, зелень, листя, дичина. Similarly in Russian: дрожжи, деньги, кудри, всходы, листва, дичь, зелень. German: Eltern, Geschwister, Zwillinge — Pluralia tantum; das Geflügel, das Wild, das Obst — Singularia tantum. Similar developments may be traced in French: les pois, les épinards, les asperges.

     In some cases usage fluctuates, and the two forms are interchangeable, e. g. brain or brains: he has no brains or little brains; victuals is more common than victual; oats than oat; similarly: His wages were high. How much wages does he get? That is a fair wage. They could not take too much pains.

     The dual nature of collective nouns is shown linguistically in various ways: by the number of the verb or by the pronoun referring to it, as for instance, My family are early risers, they are already here. Cf. My family is not large.

     It is important to observe that the choice between singular and plural depends on the meaning attached to the noun. Compare also: We have much fruit this year and The rich fruits of the heroic labour of Soviet people are visible from all the corners of the earth.

     Similarly: The football team is playing very well. Cf. The football team are having bath and are coming back here for tea.

     A word should be said about stylistic transpositions of singular nouns in cases like the following: trees in leaf, to have a keen eye, blue of eye, strong of muscle. Patterns of this kind will exemplify synecdoche — the simplest case of metonymy in grammar ("pars pro toto").

     The Germans won the victories. By God they were soldiers. The Old Hun was a soldier. But they were cooked too. They were all cooked... The Hun would come down through the Trentino, and cut the railway at the Vicenza and then where would the Italians be? (Hemingway)

     The chap was so big now that he was there nearly all his time, like some immovable, sardonic, humorous eye nothing to decline of men and things. (Galsworthy)

     Cf. Держи вухо востро. Держи ухо остро. У него наметанный глаз. И слышно было до рассвета, как ликовал француз. (Лермонтов)

     Other "universals" in expressing plurality will be found in what may be called "augmentative" plurals, i. e. when the plural forms of material nouns are used to denote large amounts of substance, or a high degree of something. This is often the case when we see the matter as it exists in nature. Such plural forms are often used for stylistic purposes in literary prose and poetry, e. g.: the blue waters of the Mediterranean, the sands of the Sahara Desert, the snows of Kilimanjaro.

     Similarly in Russian: синие воды Средиземного моря, пески Сахары, снега Арктики.

     Еще в полях белеет снег,

     А воды уж весной шумят. (Тютчев)

     Люблю ее степей алмазные снега. (Фет)

     Ukrainian: Сині води Середземного моря, піски Сахари, сніги Арктики.

     Cf. French: les eaux, les sables;

     German: die Sände, die Wässer.

     Attention must also be drawn to the emotive use of plural forms of abstract verbal nouns in pictorial language:

     ...it was a thousand pities he had run off with that foreign girl — a governess too! (Galsworthy)

     The look on her face, such as he had never seen there before, such as she had always hidden from him was full of secret resentments, and longings, and fears. (Mitchell)

     The peculiar look came into Bosinney's face which marked all his enthusiasms. (Galsworthy)

     Her face was white and strained but her eyes were steady and sweet and full of pity and unbelief. There was a luminous serenity in them and the innocence in the soft brown depths struck him like a blow in the face, clearing some of the alcohol out of his brain, halting his mad, careering words in mod-flight. (Mitchell)

     He stood for a moment looking down at the plain, heart-shaped face with its long window's peak and serious dark eyes. Such an unwordly face, a face with no defenses against life. (Mitchell)

     Oh! Wilfrid has emotions, hates, pities, wants; at least, sometimes; when he does, his stuff is jolly good. Otherwise, he just makes a song about nothing — like the rest. (Galsworthy)

     It should be noted, in passing, that the plural form is sometimes used not only for emphasis in pictorial language but to intensify the aspective meaning of the verb, the iterative character of the action, in particular, e. g.:

     Oh, this was just the kind of trouble she had feared would come upon them. All the work of this last year would go for nothing. All her struggles and fears and labours in rain and cold had been wasted. (Mitchell)

     Relentless and stealthy, the butler pursued his labours taking things from the various compartments of the sideboard. (Galsworthy)

     The small moon had soon dropped down, and May night had failed soft and warm, enwrapping with its grape-bloom colour and its scents the billion caprices, intrigues, passions, longings, and regrets of men and women. (Galsworthy)

     The emotive use of proper nouns in plural is also an effective means of expressive connotation, e. g.:

     Fleur, leaning out of her window, heard the hall clock's muffled chime of twelve, the tiny splash of a fish, the sudden shaking of an aspen's leaves in the puffs of breeze that rose along the river, the distant rumble of a night train, and time and again the sounds which none can put a name to in the darkness, soft obscure expressions of uncatalogued emotions from man and beast, bird and machine, or, may be, from departed Forsytes, Darties, Cardigans, taking night strolls back into a world which had once suited their embodied spirits. (Galsworthy)

       Expressive connotation is particularly strong in the metaphoric use of the plural of nouns denoting things to be considered unique, e. g.: Ahead of them was a tunnel of fire where buildings were blazing on either side of the short, narrow street that led down to the railroad tracks. They plunged into it. A glare brighter than a dozen suns dazzled their eyes, scroching heat seared their skins and the roaring, crackling and crashing beat upon ears in painful waves. (Mitchell)

     Compare the following example in French:

     Leon: ...— Quelquefois... j'y reste... a regarder le soleil couchant.

     Emma: — Je ne trouve rien d'admirable commeles soleils couchants... mais аи bord de la mer, surtout. ¹

     Very often the plural form, besides its specific meaning may also retain the exact meaning of the singular, which results in homonymy.

     1) custom = habit, customs = 1) plural of habit

     2) duties

     2) colour = tint, colours = 1) plural of tint

     2) flag

     3) effect = result, effects = 1) results

     2) goods and chattels

     4) manner = mode or way, manners = 1) modes, ways

     2) behaviour

     5) number = a total amount of units, numbers = 1) in counting

     2) poetry

     6) pain = suffering, pains = 1) plural of suffering

     2) effort

     7) premise = a statement or proposition, premises =

1. propositions
2. surrounding to a house

     8) quarter = a fourth part, quarters = 1) fourth parts

     2) lodgings There are also double plurals used with some difference of meanings:

     1) brother 1) brothers (sons of one mother)

     2) brethren (members of one community)

     2) genius 1) geniuses (men of genius)

     2) genii (spirits)

     3) cloth 1) cloths (kinds of cloth)

     2) clothes (articles of dress)

     4) index 1) indexes (tables of contents)

     2) indices (in mathematics)

     Double plurals with the differentiation of meaning will be found in other languages.

     

     Ukrainian:

     зуб —

     1) зуби

     2) зуб'я

     лист —

     1) листя

     2) листи

     Cf. Russian:

     зуб —  1) зубы (во рту)

                 2) зубья (пилы) лист —

                 1) листья (дерева)

     2) листы (бумаги, железа) муж — 1) мужья

     2) мужи («ученые мужи») тон —  1) тона (оттенки)

     2) тоны (звуки) There are some plurals which have been borrowed from foreign nouns:

 

     Mention should be made in this connection of nouns which have two parallel variants in the plural exactly alike in function but different in their stylistic sphere of application, e. g.:

     cow — cows and kine (arch., now chiefly poetic)

     foe — foes and fone (arch.)

     shoe — shoes and shoen (arch.)

     Unproductive archaic elements are sometimes used to create the atmosphere of elevated speech. This may also be traced in other languages. Compare the Russian:

     сын — 1) сыновья, сыновей;

     2) сыны, сынов (e. g.: сыны отечества).

     Morphological variation will be found in nouns foreign in origin. Through the natural process of assimilation some borrowed nouns have developed parallel native forms, as in:

     formula — formulae, formulas terminus — termini, terminuses focus — foci, focuses stratum — strata, stratums

     Foreign plurals are decidedly more bookish than the native ones.

     For all the details concerning the grammatical organisation of nouns and their patterning in different kind of structures students are referred to the text-books on English grammar. Two things should be noted here.

     It is important to observe that in certain contexts nouns can weaken their meaning of "substance" and approach adjectives thus making the idea of qualities of the given substance predominant in the speaker's mind. Nouns functioning in this position are generally modified by adverbials of degree, e. g.:

     "You were always more of a realist than Jon; and never so innocent". (Galsworthy)

     "We're all fond of you", he said, "If you'd only" —he was going to say, "behave yourself", but changed it to — "if you'd only be more of a wife to him". (Galsworthy)

     "Why had he ever been fool enough to see her again". (Galsworthy)

     "Not much of an animal, is it?" groaned Rhett. "Looks like he'll die. But he is the best I could find in the shafts". (Mitchell)

     The use of a noun rather than an adjective is very often preferred as a more forcible expressive means to intensify the given quality. Compare the following synonymic forms of expression:

     He was quite a success.— He was quite successful.

     It was good fun.— It was funny.

     And here are illustrative examples of nouns weakening their meaning of "substance" and approaching adverbs.

     Such adverbial use shows great diversity. Deep-rooted in English grammar, this use is most idiosyncratic in its nature. We find here patterns of different structural meaning:

     a) adverbial relations of time, as in: life long, week long, age long, etc.;

2. adverbial relations of comparison: straw yellow, silver grey, ash blond, ice cold, snow white, iron hard, sky blue, dog tired, paper white, pencil thin, ruler straight, primrose yellow, brick red, blade sharp;
3. different degree of quality: mountains high, a bit longer, a trifle easier, a shade darker, ankle deep.