If the plural of 'goose' is 'geese', shouldn't the plural of 'moose' be 'meese'?

Answer 1

It's true that the singular forms look very similar. But they have a very distinct history: goose is an Old English word that still "echoes" features of an ancient Germanic system for forming nouns; moose is a Modern English word borrowed from Algonquin.

Here's a bit more, esp. on why they each have their plural forms:

Goose was an OLD English word, and i-type suffixes (including some plural endings) in Old English and and most Germanic languages sometimes changed the sound of the preceding vowel. That' s how we ended up with man/men, mouse/mice, louse/lice, tooth/teeth, foot/feet, etc. as well as other vowel changes between forms (like old > elder,eldest; strong > strength; full > fill; food > feed).

Now in Middle English the old complicated system of endings disappeared and English developed a new standard way of forming plurals -- adding -(e)s. Most words went along with the change, but some common words kept their older forms. Thus the plural of house took the modern plural form [compare German Haus/Haueser], but mouse did not.

(This Germanic change in vowel sounds between forms is called "umlaut" or "i-mutation")

http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/research/rawl/IOE/pronunciation.html#pronounce:imutation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_umlaut



Now "Moose" is a MODERN English word -- borrowed from Algonquian -- so we wouldn't expect it to follow an OLD English method of forming plurals. What it does instead is follow a pattern common for wild "herd" animals -- the singular and plural forms are the same.

Compare: deer, antelope, caribou, elk, buffalo, bison

Answer 2

Those terms of venery (animals and hunting) that are "native" to English (i.e. have Anglo-Saxon roots) have terms for the general animal group = a flock of geese.
male and female= goose, gander. and children = gosling
(cattle, bull, cow, calf; chicken, rooster, hen, chick; sheep, ram ewe, lamb)
Most of "kitchen" terms for animals come to us from French - poultry, beef, mutton, etc.
However, words for animals adopted from other languages follow their own rules. Moose are not native to the British isles (or France) the term was borrowed from the Algonquin Indian language when early explorers first saw North American moose. SO while goose a common European farm animal follows the forms of plurals, moose a borrowed word does not - so the plural of moose is moose. Try this site for animal terms in English: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animal_names

Answer 3

Well - if the plural of moose was meese then:
The plural of Noose would be Neese.

AND:
Mouse - Mice
Louse - Lice ..........would equal: ............ House - Hice.

Just imagine: I saw some beautiful meese near the hice on the hill.

Answer 4

Why do you want to make your language so predictable that exists only black or white, right or wrong, good or bad?

Enjoy, that you have many rules with many exemptions .... because the world is fuzzy .... is not black or white, is grey. Truth is something between right and wrong. And people are neither good nor bad, but in between.

Answer 5

Ahh, the wonders of the English language!!

Answer 6

No, because people use "meese" in fun to mean "mice" and it would get too confusing.

Answer 7

You are right. But not so, as this is English language.

Answer 8

Then, if the plural of "mouse" is "mice," and the plural of "louse" is "lice," then the plural of "house" should be "hice," and the plural of "blouse" should be "blice."

Answer 9

If that's the case, wouldn't deer be door?

We can't have deer suddenly turning into slabs of wood. It's a no-no.

Answer 10

I agree, they should spell it like it sounds and change English to Inglish.