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Old 06-Jun-2005, 05:26
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Default Generalization of uncountable nouns is possible?

Is generalization of uncountable nouns possible?
I think it is partly 'yes'.

(1)Nouns that end with '-ity' tend to be uncountable.
eg. utility, productivity

(2)Nouns that end with '-ism'' tend to be uncountable.
eg.globalism, agism

(3)Nouns that end with '-tion' tend to be uncountable,
but there are many exceptions.
eg.confusion, corruption

(4)Nouns that end with '-ization' tend to be uncountable,
but I'm not sure if this is correct.
eg. globalization, democratization

Are the above rules correct?
Is there any other rule about uncountable nouns?
Thank you.

Last edited by peppy_man; 06-Jun-2005 at 07:29.
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Old 06-Jun-2005, 06:14
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Default Re: Generalarization of uncountable nouns is possible?

These are generalisations, so they do have exceptions- 'utilities' exists, meaning electricity and water comapnies, and 'witticism' is countable. You could add -ology to the list.
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Old 06-Jun-2005, 08:50
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Default Re: Generalarization of uncountable nouns is possible?

Thank you for your reply, tdol.
'-logy' also tends to be uncountable, OK.

By the way, does any semantic category have a tendency to be uncountable?

According to my observation, environmental terms tend to be uncountable such as 'global warming', 'environmental destruction', 'air pollution' and 'desertification'
. Is there any other semantic category that tends to be uncountable?

  #4  
Old 06-Jun-2005, 09:22
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Default Re: Generalarization of uncountable nouns is possible?

The words that are derived from Latin and Greek tend to be more technical, so they cover more subjects, concepts, etc, which is why many are uncountable.
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