Talk:zoa

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This needs checking as while it purports itself to be the plural of zoon the alternative spelling entry zoön gives zoöns as a plural. 50 Xylophone Players talk 19:35, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

(deprecated template usage) zoa is fine (though (deprecated template usage) zoons may exist too; not sure). I suppose the plural of (deprecated template usage) zoön would be (deprecated template usage) zoä? Equinox ◑ 21:31, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

No, the plural of zoön would be zoa, too; in English, <oo> usually denotes the vowel [u(ː)] (o͝o or o͞o; Template:X-SAMPAchar), so the diæresis is needed to specify the pronunciation of two distinct vowels as [əʊ.ɒ] (ō.ŏ; Template:X-SAMPAchar), whereas <oa> usually (though not always; consider coal: [kəʊl]) denotes two distinct vowels (pronounced [əʊ.ə]; ō.ə; Template:X-SAMPAchar; &c., depending upon vowel quantity), so in the latter case, the diæresis is unnecessary. † ﴾^(u):Raifʻhār ^(t):Doremítzwr﴿ 14:18, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Ok, thanks at least now I can fix up the entries while we wait and see if zoons is also a valid plural of the English word. 50 Xylophone Players talk 15:14, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Well, zoöns exists, so so, probably, does zoons (vide Google Book Search). † ﴾^(u):Raifʻhār ^(t):Doremítzwr﴿ 15:52, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

In re the prescription of plurals:

1. The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language (4^th Ed.; © 2000, updated 2003) gives (deprecated template usage) zoons and (deprecated template usage) zoa
2. Dictionary.com Unabridged (© 2009) gives only (deprecated template usage) zoa
3. The Free Dictionary (regurgitating Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)) gives only (deprecated template usage) zoa
4. MyWord.info seems only to allow (deprecated template usage) zoa
5. The Oxford English Dictionary (2^nd Ed.; 1989) gives only (deprecated template usage) zoa
6. The Random House Unabridged Dictionary (© 1997) gives only (deprecated template usage) zoa
7. Webster’s New World College Dictionary (© 2005) gives only (deprecated template usage) zoa

So, of the seven authorities I could find that actually mentioned something about the plural form, all of them gave (deprecated template usage) zoa, but only one (the AHD) allowed (deprecated template usage) zoons. Shall we mark (deprecated template usage) zoons as {{US}}? † ﴾^(u):Raifʻhār ^(t):Doremítzwr﴿ 16:42, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Chambers has both plurals. Equinox ◑ 18:43, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Striking, rfv resolved and passed. 50 Xylophone Players talk 11:47, 13 July 2009 (UTC)