View source for Plurale tantum

{{Short description|Noun that appears only in the plural form}}
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{{Italic title}}
[[File:Kranichschere.jpg|thumb|Even a single item is called ''scissors'' (the singular form ''scissor'' is sometimes used in India).]]
A {{langnf|la|'''plurale tantum'''|plural only|paren=left}}; {{plural form|{{lang|la|'''pluralia tantum'''}}}}) is a noun that appears only in the [[plural]] form and does not have a [[grammatical number|singular]] variant for referring to a single object. In a less strict usage of the term, it can also refer to nouns whose singular form is rarely used.
[[File:Schiele - Weibliches Modell mit feuerroter Jacke und Hose - 1914.jpg|thumb|'Putting on pants' is correct, but 'putting on a pant' may sound odd.]]
In English, {{lang|la|pluralia tantum}} are often words that denote objects that occur or function as pairs or sets, such as spectacles, trousers, pants, scissors, clothes, or genitals. Other examples are for collections that, like [[alms]], cannot conceivably be singular. Other examples include [[wikt:suds|suds]], [[jeans]], outskirts, [[odds]], riches, goods, news, [[gallows]] (although later treated as singular), surroundings, thanks, and heroics.

In some languages, {{lang|la|pluralia tantum}} refer to points or periods of time (for example, [[Latin]] {{lang|la|[[kalendae]]}} 'calends, the first day of the month', [[German language|German]] {{lang|de|Ferien}} 'vacation, holiday'), or to events (for example, [[Finnish language|Finnish]] {{lang|fi|häät}} 'wedding'), or to liquids (for example, [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] {{lang|he|מַיִם}} ({{lang|he-Latn|mayim}}) and [[Chewa language|Chichewa]] {{lang|ny|madzí}}, both 'water').

A bilingual example is the Latin word {{lang|la|[[fasces]]}} that was brought into English; when referring to the symbol of authority, it is a {{lang|la|plurale tantum}} noun in both languages.<ref>{{OEtymD|fasces}} "1590s, from Latin fasces 'bundle of rods containing an axe with the blade projecting' (plural of fascis 'bundle' of wood, etc.).... Carried before a lictor, a superior Roman magistrate, as a symbol of power over life and limb: the sticks symbolized punishment by whipping, the axe-head execution by beheading." Retrieved 2 August 2015.</ref>

==English usage==
{{More citations needed section|date=April 2024}}
In English, some {{lang|la|plurale tantum}} nouns have a singular form used only [[Noun adjunct|attributively]]. Phrases such as "trouser press" and "scissor kick" contain the singular form, but it is considered nonstandard to say "a trouser" or "a scissor" on its own (though in the fashion and tailoring industries use of "trouser" in the singular to refer to a particular style occurs<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://coveteur.com/styling-flared-trousers|title="Proof that Flared Trousers are Indeed a Wardrobe Staple"}}</ref>). That accords with the strong preference for singular nouns in attributive positions in English, but some words are used in the plural form even as attributive nouns, such as "clothes peg", "glasses case" – notwithstanding "spectacle case" and "eyeglass case".

In English, a word may have many definitions only some of which are ''pluralia tantum''. The word "glasses" (a set of corrective lenses to improve eyesight) is ''plurale tantum''. In contrast, the word "glass"&mdash;either a container for drinks (a [[count noun]]) or a vitreous substance (a [[mass noun]])&mdash;may be singular or plural. Some words, such as "brain" and "intestine", can be used as either ''plurale tantum'' nouns or count nouns.

==''Singulare tantum''==
The term for a noun that appears only in the singular form is {{lang|la|'''singulare tantum'''}} ({{plural form|{{lang|la|'''singularia tantum'''}}}}), such as the English words: information, dust, and wealth. {{lang|la|Singulare tantum}} is defined by the ''[[Shorter Oxford English Dictionary]]'' as "{{Abbr|Gram.|Grammatical}} A word having only a singular form; ''esp.'' a non-count noun."<ref>{{cite book |title=The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary |date=1993 |page=2871 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> Such nouns may refer to a unique singular object (essentially a proper noun), but more often than not, they refer to uncountable nouns, either [[mass noun]]s (referring to a substance that cannot be counted as distinct objects, such as 'milk') or collective nouns (referring to objects that may in principle be counted but are referred to as one, such as 'popcorn' or [[Arabic]] {{lang|ar|تُوت}}, {{lang|ar-Latn|tut}}, '[[Morus (plant)|mulberry]]'). Given that they do not have a number distinction, they may appear as {{lang|la|singulare tantum}} in one language but as {{lang|la|plurale tantum}} in another. Compare English ''water'' to the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] {{lang|la|plurale tantum}}, {{lang|he|מַיִם}} ({{lang|he-Latn|mayim}}).

In English, such words are almost always [[mass noun]]s. Some uncountable nouns can be alternatively used as count nouns when meaning "a type of", and the plural means "more than one type of". For example, ''strength'' is uncountable in ''Strength is power'', but it can be used as a countable noun to mean an ''instance'' of [a ''kind'' of] strength, as in ''My strengths are in physics and chemistry.'' Some words, especially proper nouns such as the name of an individual, are nearly always in the singular form because there is only one example of what that noun means. Others like "nothingness" or "emptiness" refer to logical states of absence that can't sensibly be quantified at all, hence are not usefully "mass nouns" but are still {{lang|la|singulare tantum}}.

==Usage in other languages==
''Pluralia tantum'' vary arbitrarily between languages. For example, in [[Swedish language|Swedish]], a pair of scissors is just {{lang|sv|en sax}} ({{literally|one scissor}}), not a {{lang|la|plurale tantum}}. Similarly, in [[French language|French]], a pair of trousers is {{lang|fr|un pantalon}}, while in [[Spanish language|Spanish]] {{lang|es|un pantalón}} (singular) and {{lang|es|unos pantalones}} (plural) are both valid ways to refer to a single garment. Additionally, in [[German language|German]], the term "Jeans" which is borrowed from the English, is rendered singular feminine as {{lang|de|die Jeans}} in accordance with the singular feminine word {{lang|de|die Hose}} meaning "trousers".

In some other languages, rather than quantifying a {{lang|la|plurale tantum}} noun with a [[measure word]], special numeral forms are used in such cases. In [[Polish language|Polish]], for example, "one pair of eyeglasses" is expressed as either {{lang|pl|jedne okulary}} (one-''plural'' glasses-''plural'') or {{lang|pl|jedna para okularów}} (one-''singular'' pair-''singular'' glasses-''genitive plural''). For larger quantities, "collective numeral" forms are available: {{lang|pl|troje drzwi}} (three doors), {{lang|pl|pięcioro skrzypiec}} (five violins). Compare them to the ordinary numeral forms found in Polish: {{lang|pl|trzy filmy/pięć filmów}} (three films/five films)<ref>{{cite book |last=Swan |first=Oscar E. |title=A Grammar of Contemporary Polish |url= https://archive.org/details/grammarcontempor00swan |url-access=limited |publisher=Slavica |date=2002 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/grammarcontempor00swan/page/n201 200]–201 |location=Bloomington, Indiana |isbn=9780893572969}}</ref>

The [[Russian language|Russian]] {{lang|ru|деньги}} ({{Transliteration|ru|den'gi}}, 'money') originally had a singular, {{lang|ru|[[denga|деньга]]}} ({{Transliteration|ru|den'ga}}), which meant a copper coin worth half a [[kopeck]].

The [[Yiddish]] word {{lang|yi|[[kreplach]]}} is a well known example of a {{lang|la|plurale tantum}} that is also plural only in other languages into which it is borrowed,{{clarify|reason='loaned' instead of 'borrowed'?|date=April 2023}} 'one of the kreplach' would be {{lang|yi|איינער פון די קרעפּלאַך}} ({{lang|yi-Latn|eyner fun di kreplakh}}).

The [[Welsh language|Welsh]] {{lang|cy|nefoedd}}, 'heaven', is the plural of {{lang|cy|nef}}, which is no longer part of the spoken language. {{lang|cy|Nefoedd}} is now used with the singular meaning of 'heaven' and plural of 'heavens'.

In [[Hebrew]], a few words that indicate an action establishing a new relationship between ''two'' persons, are indicated by the plural form only: אירוסין (engagement), נישואין (marriage), קידושין (religious marriage), גירושין (divorce), פיטורין (dismissal), and likewise.

==See also==
{{Wiktionary-inline|plurale tantum}}
{{Portal|Language|Languages|Linguistics|Writing|Contents}}
* [[Classifier (linguistics)]]
* [[Defective verb]]
* [[English plurals]]
* [[Mass noun]]
* [[Singulative number]]
* [[Synesis]]
* [[wikt:Category:Pluralia tantum by language|Wiktionary lists of ''pluralia tantum'']]

==Notes and references==
{{Reflist}}

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[[Category:Grammar]]
[[Category:Latin words and phrases]]
[[Category:Grammatical number]]

[[is:Fleirtala]]