In Englishgrammar, a false singular occurs when a singularnoun ending in a s or z sound is understood as a plural from which a new singular is constructed. The false singular is a form of back-formation.
Some false singulars become standard English. For example, pea was originally a false singular from pease pl. peasen. (The old word remains in the phrase pease porridge.)
The non-standard historical forms Chinee and Portuguee are also false singulars, from Chinese and Portuguese.
December 15, 2023
false, singular, this, article, does, cite, sources, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, december, 2009, learn, when, remo. This article does not cite any sources Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources False singular news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message In English grammar a false singular occurs when a singular noun ending in a s or z sound is understood as a plural from which a new singular is constructed The false singular is a form of back formation Some false singulars become standard English For example pea was originally a false singular from pease pl peasen The old word remains in the phrase pease porridge The non standard historical forms Chinee and Portuguee are also false singulars from Chinese and Portuguese Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title False singular amp oldid 1166301430, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
