The Old Weak Plurals -n

In the Early Modern period the {-n} decreased in most nouns. To use this form in nouns was not modern enough and was regarded as “provincial”. All plural types that add an {-n} were called “weak plurals”. Words that contained this weak plural were the nouns oxen, eyen. Next to this diminution of plural forms with {-n}, another plural form developed. The plural noun form mostly used became –(e)s. Still today we use this dominant plural noun form. Eg.: book – books, prince – princes