Why is the plural of mouse mice but the plural of house is not Hice?

In Old English, the word for mouse had a vowel mutation to become plural. mūs became mys in the plural. But house’s Old English word did not mutate. It actually stayed the same in both singular and plural, like we do with moose and fish.

Is Grouse singular or plural?

noun, plural grouse, grous·es. any of numerous gallinaceous birds of the subfamily Tetraoninae.

Is mouse the plural of mice?

noun, plural mice [mahys].

Why are houses not called Hice?

The plural of mouse is mice, and the plural of louse is lice. Why is the plural form of house not hice? According to Merriam-Webster, the word house is already longer in the language, just as mouse and louse, so it is not because it is a foreign word (loanword).

What is the plural of ox and mouse?

Years ago, people who had a computer mouse in each hand could call them “mouses” or “mice.” The “mice” plural comes from a linguistic process called “umlaut.” Today’s topic is irregular plural nouns, odd nouns such as “ox” and “oxen.”

Why is complaining called grousing?

The word grouse has been around since the 1500s, referring to a ground-dwelling game bird with feathery feet and legs. It’s a bird, so people hunt it, which is maybe how grouse came to mean “to complain” a few hundred years later.

Is a pheasant a grouse?

Both being classified under the same family, but the subfamilies are different between pheasant and grouse. The taxonomic diversity of pheasants (about 40 species) is higher than the grouse diversity (more than 20 species). Grouse are usually larger than pheasants. The feathers are longer in pheasants than in grouse.

Why ox plural is oxen not oxes?

English is a Germanic language and in Old English many nouns took -en to become plural.As late as the 16th century the plural of eye was eyen and the plural of hose was hosen. So the plural form of ox is oxen for the same reason as the plural of child is children.