In the last lesson we talked about the gender of nouns, now we are going to talk about the number.
The number can be singular when there is just a person, an animal or a thing; it can be plural when there are more than one person, animal or thing.
Nouns and number
Variable nouns
In the variable nouns we can understand the number just watching the desinence
Masculine nouns:
If the singular ends with...
-a, -u, -i
...the plural ends with...
-i
Examples...
pueta / pueti (poet / poets), lupu / lupi (wolf / wolves), cani / cani (dog / dogs)
Some exceptions...
omu / omini (man / men); some names ending with -u are feminine in the plural, with the -a desinence: ovu / ova (egg / eggs)
If the singular ends with...
-ca
...the plural ends with...
-chi
Examples...
patriarca / patriarchi (patriarch / patriarches)
If the singular ends with...
-cu
...the plural ends with...
-chi
Examples...
picu / pichi (pick / picks)
Some exceptions...
there are many, like amicu / amici (friend / friends)
If the singular ends with...
-cu, -gu
...the plural ends with...
-ci, -gi
Examples...
manìacu / manìaci (maniac / maniacs), pissicòlugu / pissicòlugi (psychologist / psychologists)
(in proparoxytone words)
Some exceptions...
there are many, like càrricu / càrrichi (cargo / cargos)
If the singular ends with...
-ìu, iu
...the plural ends with...
-ìi, -î
Examples...
vattìu / vattìi (baptism / baptisms) (with tonic i), esempiu / esempî (example / examples) (with unstressed i)
Feminine nouns:
If the singular ends with...
-a
...the plural ends with...
-i
Examples...
stanza / stanzi (room / rooms)
If the singular ends with...
-i
...the plural ends with...
-i
Examples...
arti / arti (art / arts)
Some exceptions...
manu / manu (hand / hands), figu / figu (fig / figs)
If the singular ends with...
-cìa, -ggìa
...the plural ends with...
-cìi, -ggìi
Examples...
farmacia / farmacìi (pharmacy / pharmacies) (with tonic i)
If the singular ends with...
consonant + -cia/-gia
...the plural ends with...
-cî/-gî
Examples...
torcia / torcî (torch / torches)
If the singular ends with...
vowel + -cia/-gia
...the plural ends with...
-cî/-gî
Examples...
acacia / acacî (acacia / acacias)
Invariable nouns
Invariable nouns don't have a different form for the plural. They are...
-monosyllabic nouns: 'u re / 'i re (the king / the kings);
-nouns ending with i: 'a nivrosi / 'i nivrosi (the neurosis / the neurosises);
-some nouns ending with a consonant;
-nouns ending with a stressed vowel: 'u cafè / 'i cafè (the coffee / the coffees);
-some masculine nouns ending with a a: 'u puma / 'i puma (the cougar / the cougars);
-some nouns who are the contraction of other nouns: 'a bici / 'i bici (biciretta - the bike / the bikes), 'u cìnima / 'i cìnima (cinimatògrafu - the cinema / the cinemas);
-surnames.
Defective nouns
Some nouns just have the singular or the plural. Nouns who just are just singular are...
-some nouns of substances: 'u sangu (the blood), 'u pipi (the pepper), 'u latti (the milk);
-some collective nouns;
-a lot of abstract nouns: 'a pacenza (the patience), 'a custanza (the perseverance), 'u curaggiu (the bravery);
-some nouns of diseases: 'a varicedda (the chicken pox), 'u vaiolu (the smallpox), 'a malaria (the malaria);
-some nouns of chemical elements: l' ussìgginu (oxygen), 'u zincu (zinc);
-nouns of things who are unical in the nature: l' Iquaturi (the equator), 'i punti cardinali (the cardinal points);
-nouns of months: jinnaru (January), fivraru (February), marzu (March).
...and nouns who are just plural are...
-nouns of things made by two identical halves: 'i càvusi (the trousers), l' occhiala (the glasses);
-some nouns who have Latin origins: 'i ferî (holidays), 'i nozzi (nuptials), l' isequî (exequies).
Overmuch nouns
Some nouns have to plural forms, a masculine one and a feminine one. The two plural forms can have the same meaning or two different meanings.
S.
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