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Usually, in borrowing words from Latin, the endings of the nominative are used: nouns whose nominative singular ends in -a (first declension) have plurals in -ae (anima, animae); nouns whose nominative singular ends in -um (second declension neuter) have plurals in -a (stadium, stadia; datum, data). (For a full treatment, see Latin declensions.)
The possessive form of an English noun, or more generally a noun phrase, is made by suffixing a morpheme which is represented orthographically as ' s (the letter s preceded by an apostrophe), and is pronounced in the same way as the regular English plural ending (e)s: namely, as / ɪ z / when following a sibilant sound (/ s /, / z /, / ʃ /, / ʒ /, / tʃ / or / dʒ /), as / s / when following ...
This corresponds to an -e ending in Sanskrit, which might have been a contracted ai or lengthened i: bhagavat-e "for the blessed (one)" Many third-declension nouns, unlike first- or second-declension nouns, show different stems depending on case and number — usually one stem for the nominative singular, and another for the rest of the cases ...
Some singular nouns are pronounced with a sibilant sound at the end: /s/ or /z/. The spelling of these ends with -s, -se, -z, -ze, -ce, -x, or -xe. Most respected authorities recommend that practically all singular nouns, including those ending with a sibilant sound, have possessive forms with an extra s after the apostrophe so that the spelling
y devoices to x, or to z when preceded by /s/ (i.e. z or ce, ci) in the same word nā-yi "I do — ō-nāx "I did" tla-ce-li-ya "plants are in bud, spring is arriving" — tla-ce-liz "plants were in bud" t debuccalizes to h. This alternation does not affect all instances of syllable-final t and is sensitive to stem choice and position in the word.
Also apophthegm. A terse, pithy saying, akin to a proverb, maxim, or aphorism. aposiopesis A rhetorical device in which speech is broken off abruptly and the sentence is left unfinished. apostrophe A figure of speech in which a speaker breaks off from addressing the audience (e.g., in a play) and directs speech to a third party such as an opposing litigant or some other individual, sometimes ...
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English also uses no article before a mass noun or a plural noun if the reference is indefinite and not specifically identifiable in context. [4] For example: Generic mass noun: Happiness is contagious. Generic plural noun: Cars have accelerators. Generic plural noun: They want equal rights. Indefinite mass noun: I drink coffee.