Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði - 01.01.1993, Page 100

98 Margrét Jónsdóttir
d. Examples of words containing [ö], [öi] and [ai] are too rare to allow any
conclusions to be drawn.
2. Words of the type (-)VC-:
a. ir-plural: most (but not all) words with [a], [e], [i], [y], [ai].
b. ar-plural: most (but not all) words with [i], [u], [öi], [au], [ou].
c. More words with [ei] form theirplural with -ar than -ír.
d. Examples of words containing [o] are too rare to allow any conclusions to
bedrawn.
In the third part, the rules involved are discussed as well as the relationship between
stem and choice of ending and the functions and predic tability of the ending. The results
are then compared to the monosyllabic strong feminine nouns with the nominative
ending -0 that also form their plural with -ir and -ar, the former group being far the
more numerous of the two. In most cases, the distribution of these plural morphemes
is predictable, due to the vowel in the stem if the word is of the type (-)VC. Then, the
endingnormally is -ir if the vowel it follows is [u], [d], [ö]>[a], [öi], [ai], [ou] or [au],
and -ar if the vowel is [i], [i] or [ei]. Nearly all words of the type (-)VCC(C) form their
plural with -ir. In the fourth and final part, the main results are summarized.
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