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THE POPULAR EDUCATOR 



Tho plural is formed by either a change in the noun, or by an 

 addition to the noun. 



1. Plural formed by a Change in the Noun. For example, 

 man, men; woman, women (pronounced wimmen). The chang- 

 ing 1 of a in man into e in men, and the changing of o in wo into 

 i in wi, are agreeable to the usages of the German idiom, which 

 changes a, o, u, in the singular, into a. (ae), o (oe, e, i), u (ue), 

 in the plural ; as, man, a man ; manner, men. 



Words compounded with man, if of English origin, take men 

 in the plural. For instance : 



E final was formerly not as now silent, but pronounced with 

 a soft sound as a distinct syllable, as in these lines from 

 Chaucer : 



" So pray I to God that none mis-writt! thee." 

 " The RcvJ was a slender cholerlike man." 



In some words the e is in the plural still pronounced. We 

 say cage in one syllable, but cages is a dissyllable : 



WORDS MONOSYLLABIC IN THE SINGULAR, DISSYLLABIC IN 

 THE PLURAL. 



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