The moor(s)

[Walt Whitman]

The moorland that Emily Brontë describes in her novel “Wuthering Heights” is a combination of areas that she knew such as the moor around Haworth, the village where she was born.
I have read a lot of critical studies on the novel which, when referring to the moor around Wuthering Heights (the protagonist’s home), employ both “the moor” and “the moors”. I was wondering if they can be used indifferently, if it is just a matter of personal choice.

Thanks

WW

 

[Barque]

They normally refer to the same thing. You could think of it as one unbroken expanse (the moor) or a collection of contiguous lands that are all moorland but with boundaries between them and/or slight differences (the moors).

 

[jutfrank]

Where 'moor' is singular, referring to one moor, 'moors' is plural, referring to multiple moors. There's not just one moor around Haworth. I suppose that if she writes about 'the moors', she's referring to the wider Yorkshire Moors area.

 

[Rover_KE]

I was wondering if they can be used indifferently interchangeably.