• candybrie@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Why is English so ridiculous that the plural and singular of deer is the same word? And why do people want to keep it that way?

    • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
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      9 months ago

      The plural of “moose” is also “moose” but it’s not because of English. Moose derives from Algonquian, a Native American language. It kept the same plural ending it had in its original language instead of adopting the normal “s” ending of most English plurals.

    • Jorgelino@lemmy.ml
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      9 months ago

      This isn’t an english specific trait. Lots of languages have something similar.

      For instance, in portuguese we do the same for words that end on the letter S.

      Ex: Lápis (Pencil), Vírus (Virus), Ônibus (Bus), etc.