Hmmm, in mathematics we don't call 40% "irregular," but admit an absense of
correlation.
I discuss at http://vadimcherny.org/hebrew/affix_hey_direction.htm and http://vadimcherny.org/hebrew/affixes.htm the most common difference
between -ot and -im.
-im relates countable, -ot - uncountable plurality. There is no particular
reason for noun and adjective, or both members of constructus to have the
same concept of plurality.
Vadim Cherny
> Can anyone shed some light on why and how so many Hebrew nouns (it
> seems like as many as
> 40%)came to be irregular in regards to gender? I am refering to nouns
> that take plural
> endings of one gender and modifiers of the opposite gender.
>
> Jill
> Quoting Yitzhak Sapir <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>:
>
> > On 9/27/06, Yonah Mishael wrote:
> >> I have never heard of this book, and I don't know where I could get my
> >> hands on it. What different light could this book shine on what
> >> "gender" means (beyond just "feminine")? Generally it has to do with
> >> agreement between a noun and its modifiers, regardless of the natural
> >> gender of the given noun -- que yo sepa.
> >>
> >> $LWM,
> >> Yonah
> >
> > Perhaps this link would be of help:
> > https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/b-hebrew/2000-January/006407.html
> >
> > Yitzhak Sapir
> > _______________________________________________
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> > b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
> >
>
>
>
>
>