Plural/singular, again, & other UK/US stuff

[tanwo at hotmail.com]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., Amanda Lewanski <editor at t...> wrote:
>
> Because we do not think of it as a plural. There is no 
word "mathematic"
> except as an adjective. There is no such thing as studying one
> mathematic. It is a singular word that happens to end with an 's' 
and
> which is shortened to math. It's as if we shortened "ellipsis" 
to "ell."
>

Hmmmm. My dictionary has 'mathematic' as both adjective and 
substantive. It also indicates that 'mathematics' was originally 
considered as a plural, but is now considered singular. Perhaps we 
got 'maths' from the days when it was plural and you got 'math' from 
the singular days.

It also offers 'the higher mathematics' as a modern plural usage.

And 'math' is a word in its own right, meaning 'a mowing; the amount 
of a crop mowed'.

> --Amanda, who wants to know if the /th/ in "maths" is voiced or
> not; it  isn't in math.

Experiments with hand in front of mouth proved inconclusive! It seems 
to be betwixt and between.


Wotan