Re: Plural Problems - Correction & another thought

[Padraic Brown <agricola@wam.umd.edu>]

Scripsit Ray Brown:
> But, however much I like the Brittonic structure (found also in Arabic &
> other Semitic langs, BTW), one must wonder if the Celtic influence would've
> been strong enough for Brithenig to have developed this or whether
> Brithenig would have followed its sister langs & used 'di' (<-- Latin de)
> to denote possession, thus: lla gas di'll hof (la maison de l'homme).

Kernu can use "di" with the nom. (rare) or "do" with the oblique/dative
(much more common) to do this job: la domu dil omm; do le nomme la domu. 
The partitive construction, though, gets what's left of an actual
genitive:  yen lor mew napostoulou, one of my apostles.

> 
> In that case there'd be no problem with the disapperance of the plural
> ending, just as there's no problem in spoken French. We'd have:
> lla gas di'll hof - the man's house
> lla chas di'll hof - the man's houses.
> 
> Just a thought.
> 
> Ray.
> 
Padraic.