tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33159158.post8493091971015909052..comments2024-02-25T20:07:56.114-06:00Comments on Mr. Verb: Quantitative approaches to the study of discourse, plus bonus randomnessMr. Verbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04048931596146402872noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33159158.post-42665326057549206602009-10-15T13:16:30.933-05:002009-10-15T13:16:30.933-05:00Thanks. Yeah, tons of German dialects have a disti...Thanks. Yeah, tons of German dialects have a distinctly more Yiddish-like pattern here. Plurals have leveled in complex ways, and I think we get this kind of pattern (whether or not with this word) even in some non-apocopating dialects. <br /><br />Whatever the story on Bedouin (and I may have heard that somewhere too), John was right: There ARE some other triples out there.Mr. Verbnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33159158.post-34281199800303904722009-10-15T11:44:17.965-05:002009-10-15T11:44:17.965-05:00"Kreutzen" is, mutatis mutandis, the plu..."Kreutzen" is, mutatis mutandis, the plural in Yiddish, though it's an infrequent word; the more common word for cross is borrowed from Hebrew, presumably to express contempt, but also as a euphemism. The -n plural here is not unexpected; it's a consequence of the apocope that all original Germanic words (as opposed to NHG borrowings) in Yiddish underwent. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the German dialects with apocope have the plural "Kreutzen." <br /><br />Someone once told me that nonstandard "Bedouins" is a triple plural, but I don't think that's true.Benhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02733601180382760718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33159158.post-63715675868918287052009-10-07T19:36:23.746-05:002009-10-07T19:36:23.746-05:00Non-standard chilluns, as in "All God's c...Non-standard <i>chilluns</i>, as in "All God's chilluns got wings", is historically <i>child+er+en+s</i>.John Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11452247999156925669noreply@blogger.com