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Cerberus
Joined: 29 Oct 2009
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 Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 3:48 pm Post subject: why 1 won, but not 2 wons, etc? |
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I had a coteacher last year who kept on using wons in the plural when talking about a number higher than 1.
I knew this was incorrect, as I had been reading the financial press for some time even before coming to Korea.
But the whole thing got me thinking a little more and I immediately realized that for some strange reason, this holds true for almost all of the Asian currencies that come to mind, whereas with US dollars and all European currencies (I think. though some like the Bulgarian lev make me wonder) and Latin American currencies, there's a plural to be used with numbers higher than 1.
e.g.
1 dollar - 2 dollars
1 peso - 2 pesos
1 euro - 2 euros
now consider most Asian currencies
1 yen - 2 yen
1 won - 2 won
1 yuan - 2 yuan
1 ringitt - 2 ringitt
1 rupiah - 2 rupiah
1 dong - 2 dong
1 baht - 2 baht
I know India reverts back to form
1 rupeee- 2 rupees
and perhaps Cambodian riel
1 riel - 2 riels (guessing, not sure)
anyways , do any of you cunning linguists know why some of these currency denominations don't change from singular to plural?
I'm asking out of personal curiosity, but I know down the road I'll get this question from a Korean, and it's a fair and logical question. |
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ChilgokBlackHole
Joined: 21 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:21 pm Post subject: |
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And how come all the other animals in the barnyard are all like 1 horse - 2 horses, and 1 chicken - 2 chickens, but the sheep is like 1 sheep - 2 sheep?
And what's the deal with airline food??? |
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blackjack
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Location: anyang
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:24 pm Post subject: |
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because most countries don't pluralize by adding an s. The won is not an english word.
The indian rupee would be an exception, perhaps because of it's long association with England |
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djsmnc
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Dave's ESL Cafe
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:27 pm Post subject: |
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| blackjack wrote: |
because most countries don't pluralize by adding an s. The won is not an english word.
The indian rupee would be an exception, perhaps because of it's long association with England |
You mean "its" |
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Cerberus
Joined: 29 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:34 pm Post subject: |
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| blackjack wrote: |
because most countries don't pluralize by adding an s. The won is not an english word.
The indian rupee would be an exception, perhaps because of it's long association with England |
this is a logical answer. What struck me was the concentration of said currencies in Asia - and the fact Asian languages don't (seem to ) pluralize words in the way that European/Latin based languages do is a logical answer.
Thanks.
As good/logical as this explanation is however, such things haven't been a barrier to a bastardized/Englishized versions of foreign words before. Apparently it never carried over to the nationalo currency though.
Last edited by Cerberus on Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:36 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Cerberus
Joined: 29 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:35 pm Post subject: |
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| blackjack wrote: |
because most countries don't pluralize by adding an s. The won is not an english word.
The indian rupee would be an exception, perhaps because of it's long association with England |
as would the Filipino peso/piso, because they simply adopted the Spanish coin back in the days as a Spanish colony. |
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blackjack
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Location: anyang
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:35 pm Post subject: |
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| djsmnc wrote: |
| blackjack wrote: |
because most countries don't pluralize by adding an s. The won is not an english word.
The indian rupee would be an exception, perhaps because of it's long association with England |
You mean "its" |
Why yes, yes I do |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:53 pm Post subject: |
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| You could also go with this explanation. Some nouns in English have the same form for the plural as for the singular. One example is Moose: There is one moose in the yard and There are many moose in the forest. |
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Cerberus
Joined: 29 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 5:04 pm Post subject: |
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| CentralCali wrote: |
| You could also go with this explanation. Some nouns in English have the same form for the plural as for the singular. One example is Moose: There is one moose in the yard and There are many moose in the forest. |
c'mon people I know THAT.
kinda like fruit, as well, no?
that wouldn't quite explain the particular geographical split of the currencies in question. |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Fruit, as a noun itself, is non-count noun. Won is obviously a count noun. |
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Cerberus
Joined: 29 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 8:51 pm Post subject: |
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| CentralCali wrote: |
| Fruit, as a noun itself, is non-count noun. Won is obviously a count noun. |
that's the thing that throws me off. English will automatically use s's on countable nouns or units (though now that I think about, temperature units remain the same.. Celsius/Fahrneheit but it's degreeS)
It's just that until encountering Asian currencies in the press, it had never occurred to me that one could have a currency unit that wouldn't change in plural form. |
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hiddenflask
Joined: 03 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 8:56 pm Post subject: |
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| it's like everything else in korean, no plural. you put numbers next to the word to decide if it's singular or plural. |
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oskinny1
Joined: 10 Nov 2006
Location: Right behind you!
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 10:14 pm Post subject: |
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| hiddenflask wrote: |
| it's like everything else in korean, no plural. you put numbers next to the word to decide if it's singular or plural. |
I ate 2 adjumma last night. They were not delicious. |
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irishcailin
Joined: 23 Feb 2010
Location: Wandering aimlessly around La Festa!
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 10:48 pm Post subject: |
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[quote="hiddenflask"]it's like everything else in korean, no plural. you put numbers next to the word to decide if it's singular or plural.[/quote
I agree! |
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Cerberus
Joined: 29 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 10:55 pm Post subject: |
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| oskinny1 wrote: |
| hiddenflask wrote: |
| it's like everything else in korean, no plural. you put numbers next to the word to decide if it's singular or plural. |
I ate 2 adjumma last night. They were not delicious. |
BWA-HAHAHAHAHAHA 
I'm guessing this system spawns from Chinese, hence its existence in Korean, Japanese and all the other Asian countries within the Chinese sphere of influence. |
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