Neuter and feminine

From: HÃ¥kan Lindgren
Message: 2755
Date: 2000-07-04

The present discussion about neuter plurals and case endings made me want to ask: are the neuter plural and feminine singular nominative endings related in any way? When I studied Latin it struck me that they were always the same, and now I see that they are considered to have been the same also in Proto-IE. According to Babaev's essay Gender category in Indo-European some feminine singular words in -a were originally neuter collective plurals, like aqua "waters". Perhaps there is an interesting story waiting to be told here.....
Hakan