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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!ihnp4!cbosgd!osu-eddie!allen
From: allen@osu-eddie.UUCP (John Allen)
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: Re: Re: Why the vax, but not the Unix??
Message-ID: <377@osu-eddie.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 11-Jun-85 19:08:47 EDT
Article-I.D.: osu-eddi.377
Posted: Tue Jun 11 19:08:47 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 12-Jun-85 20:16:01 EDT
References: <27400001@gypsy.UUCP> <546@hou2b.UUCP> <561@umd5.UUCP> <666@bbnccv.UUCP>
Organization: Ohio State Univ., CIS Dept., Cols, Oh.
Lines: 22



> VAXen is probably more akin to "oxen" then "vixen", as far as derivation.
> The "en" suffix is a German pluralization, which has leaked over into English
> in words such as "oxen".
> -- 
> Morris M. Keesan
> keesan@bbn-unix.ARPA
> {decvax,ihnp4,etc.}!bbncca!keesan

    The "en" suffix was inherited by both German and English from
Proto-German.  English used to have several noun declensions that had
different endings for the plural.  One of these had the ending "en".  During
the history of English, most of these declensions were lost except for a few
forms that are now considered irregular including "oxen", "geese", "teeth".
So this is not a German plural that has been adopted into English, it has
been there since the beginning of English.

                                        John Allen
					Ohio State University
					(UUCP: cbosgd!osu-eddie!allen)
					(CSNet: allen@ohio-state)