moniopluralimuoto

Moniopluralimuoto is a linguistic term used to describe a noun that can take more than one plural form within a language. The concept highlights cases where plurality is expressed in several distinct ways, rather than by a single, uniform plural. While the exact term is not universally standardized, it is employed in discussions of irregular, semi-regular, or context-dependent plurals to distinguish them from simple, regular plural inflection.

In practice, moniopluralimuoto arises when a word has multiple acceptable plural realizations that depend on factors such as meaning, dialect, or historical usage. For example, English has nouns whose plurals vary by sense or community. The word fish can be pluralized as fish or fishes, with fish often serving as a general plural and fishes used in contexts involving species or varieties. The noun octopus is another case, commonly pluralized as octopuses, but octopi or octopodes are also encountered in different communities or texts. Such variation reflects semantic nuance, register, or borrowings from different linguistic traditions.

Classification and usage can be nuanced. Not all speakers or sources agree on which plural forms are acceptable, and some alternatives may be rare or stylistically marked. For lexicographers and language learners, recognizing moniopluralimuoto helps explain why some nouns do not follow a single, predictable plural pattern and why dictionaries often list multiple plural forms with usage notes.

See also: plural, irregular plural, pluralia tantum, countable vs uncountable nouns, dialectal variation.