Analyse diachronique et variationniste de la désinence du pluriel -en en anglais standard et non standard

Abstract

The use of desinence /-en/, in standard and non-standard English, has its origins in the weak declination of Old English. In Middle English, the use of this plural has extended to words that once belonged to other Old English declensions. This article hypothesizes a basilectal origin of this collective /-en/ based, in particular, on Welsh and Breton, as well as on Arabic.

Keywords

• Breton (language)
• grammar
• Welsh (language)
• English (language)
• standard
• dialect(s)