On 7/10/2020 11:08 AM, Lieven L. Litaer wrote:
Am 10.07.2020 um 16:09 schrieb mayqel qunen'oS:
True ! In fact, the reason I've wondered about all this in the first place, is because in greek the word "information" is countable, and it would sound wrong to say "we obtained valuable information (singular)".
That's very interesting, because in German it's quite normal to say "I've got one important information (singular) here for you." but also "This book contains many informations (plural)"
In English, the word /data/ occupies a strange place as far as plurals go. It's a relatively late entry from Latin, where /data/ is the plural of /datum./ In English, /datum/ has largely fallen out of use, with /data/ taking over both singular and plural, but some people still prefer to use /datum/ for singular, especially in certain scientific and technical areas. English plural /data/ can be used both countable and uncountably, although circumstances you can use the countable version are limited. You can say /these data,/ but you cannot say /four data./ /These data/ (countable) and /this data/ (uncountable) are interchangeable, though the countable version is also falling out of use, but less so than the word /datum/ has. In English, the word /information/ is strictly uncountable and has no plural. /This book contains much information./ (/Many/ signals a countable noun, /much/ an uncountable noun.) -- SuStel http://trimboli.name