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Um ir- og ar-fleirtölu einkvæðra kvenkynsorða í íslensku

Höfundur:	Margrét Jónsdóttir
Birtist í:	Íslensku máli og almennri málfræði: 10.-11. árgangi, 1988-1989, bls. 57 - 84

Útdráttur

Monosyllabic strong feminine nouns form their plural with -ir and -ar; the former group being far the more numerous of the two. In most cases, the distribution of these plural morphemes is predictable.

Words of the type (-)V(C): ir-plural form most words with the following stem­vowels: -ú-, -o-, -ö- -> -a-, -au-, -æ-, -ó-, ar-plural form mostly words with -i- and -í- in the stem normally form their plural with -jar. Examples of words containing and -u- are too rare to allow any conclusions to be drawn.

Exceptions can normally by explained from the historical point of view but in Old Icelandic most words of this type have plural with -ar.

Concerning the interplay between the stemvowels and the vowels of the endings it may be said that round and back vowels are followed by front unrounded vowel, i.e. -ir; the ending -ar follows unrounded and back vowels.

Words of the type (-)VCC(C): Nearly all words of this type form their plural with -ir.

In most cases research on child language (4-6 years old) confirm these conclu­sions.