The Latin Neuter Plurals in Romance - Page ON

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Meyer-Lübke (Schicks., pp. 52-53) gives examples of its extension in
Istro-Rumanian, where it would seem that -e and -i have fallen together, to
masculine nouns denoting animate beings (apparently keeping masculine
concord) alongside forms in -i, this being the case with amic, frate, porc, preot.
The last development to be noted is that of new singulars formed from the
plural stem; here we have already observed Rum. lature, Ńărmure, ramură and
armur(e), while Italian has, besides the plural forms used as singulars, such as
pecora, dial. ficora, acura, new singular forms such as Calab. amuru ‘hook’
from amora, tripuru, grubbaru ‘hole’ from tripura, grubbura, and Moden.
logher, Ancon. nodero, Romagn. egur from locora, nodora, acora. All in all,
we can say that the -ORA ending has enjoyed a wide lexical extension within a
limited geographical area, becoming a rival to -i and -e in Rumanian, where it
almost constitutes a new neuter gender, and being used as an alternative
masculine ending in southern Italian dialects. That its extension beyond its
original territory goes back to common Romance times is shown first by the
creation of new neuter nouns in -US, -ORA in late Latin, and secondly by the
agreement between Lombard Latin and Rumanian over a certain core of new
formations such as campora, ventora, câmpuri, vânturi. Not much can be
learnt from the Western Romance languages, which only have scant traces of
-ORA forms used as singulars or of derivatives based on the extended stem
containing -R-, including derivatives of those words which joined the -US,
-ORA type in late Latin.
11. Neuters in -MENTA, -ALIA etc.
a) Having looked at -ORA, this would seem to be a good point at which
we may examine other neuters which can be classified according to their
formation, namely those formed with collective morphemes such as -MENTA,
-ALIA, -ILIA, -ARIA, -ORIA, -ANEA (of which the reflexes have not always come
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