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CrashBandioof420 t1_ja6yhp1 wrote

Reply to comment by whyvswhynot12089 in Humen is a more logical plural to human than humans. It’s men and women, not mans and womans. by frenglish_man

That's not why the word "human" doesn't have a vowel-changing plural though. The word "human" comes from Middle French "humain". Loan words in English usually get their plural by adding s at the end. The word "man" comes from Old English "mann" and the plural of mann was menn. Some of Old English's plural system carried over to modern English, and thus we have

man -> men

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whyvswhynot12089 t1_ja70xz3 wrote

I wasn't claiming the etymology of the word lol. Just why human/humen wouldn't work practically. That being said, human didn't start with the french word "humain". It started with the latin "homo" and then the latin "humanis"....That french word "humain" showed up around 300 years later.

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whyvswhynot12089 t1_ja74ixi wrote

I know most plural french words include an S on the end and Normandy invaded England, which contributed to middle English taking up some Middle French words...but are you sure other loan languages use an "s" for plural?

(I'm really don't know/am genuinely asking. )

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AxialGem t1_ja700qh wrote

Exactly! By the time the word human entered the language, the process that led to the vowel change in man~men was already long dead. Same with geese but not (usually) *meese

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