maths sounds sooo funny! I guess its cuz I live in the US, but it just sounds weird. But really, we refer to the plural of science as sciences.
* * * NOTE FROM THE LINGUISTICS MODERATOR * * * In America we treat "mathematics" as a singular noun, like physics, avionics, ballistics, etc. So we shorten it to "math" with no S. Math is cool, mathematics is cool. Physics is cool, avionics is cool, ballistics is cool. Brits tend to treat nouns as plural which we don't. "The group are arriving at 10:00." We say the group is arriving. Just one of those little transatlantic idiosyncracies.
But you still say "maths is cool". Maths is singular, just as mathematics is singular. Do educated folk really say "The group are arriving" and consider it King's English? Odd.
I wonder when the first person went from maths to math? Or schedule (sch pronounced as in eschelon) to 'skedule'. I expect it was a corruption (as happens to all language in all places) and then the Americans retrospectively sort a rationale.
What makes you think that it didn't happen the other way around? I.e., that math and "skedule" were the original terms, and then someone in Britain changed it? From what I understand, linguists generally consider British English to have changed more than American English since they split apart, so, in general, odds are that the changes took place in Europe, not North America.
It's "Linguistics" Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Sorry, cheap shot. For newcomers to the thread, I've just moved these posts from a thread in the Physics and Math forum.
I use "mathmatics suck", because...math sucks. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I know that schedule comes from the French language and that it was pronounced shed. However, people who pronounce it sked try and point out how the French word came from a greek work which had a 'k' in it. I find this laughable because it is 'retrospectively finding a rationale' after realising a corruption. True there are verbal corruptions in the UK (such as 'litchrely' for literally). The point is American English changes artificially as well. The 'u' in colour was not lost through poor education but deliberately. I wasn't aware that math and maths developed separately but I can believe it. So long as no one tries to dig through some old greek books in search of a reason that they can say is 'why' they says things the way they do!
