On Aug 13, 2014, at 5:22 AM, John Haxby <john.haxby@oracle.com> wrote:
On 13/08/14 02:03, Paul Eggert wrote:
Think of this as "TZ Classic" - the software has been set up not to break if - universal time shows up in its input, and the data has been left as is so as + universal time shows up in its input, and the data have been left as is so as not to break existing implementations.
English is a fluid language and while datum is the singular and data is the plural the use of datum has largely fallen out of favour (and favor) and "data" as both singular and plural (like "sheep" or "fish") is now the norm. In many cases "the data are" is as natural sounding as "the data is", in some cases one or the other sounds stilted. I often hear or read "a single data point" rather than "a datum" and it's the latter that sounds weird, not the former.
It depends on your background, and where you are. I suspect the opinions are different in the USA, where English is slaughtered/evolved ( :-) ) rather actively, than they would be in some other parts of the world. I’m used to seeing “data” treated as singular, but I don’t have the “weird” reaction when I see it constructed as plural. Having had Latin in high school is probably a contributing factor.
... The discussion ended with where this plural form came from: Latin words that end "um" for the singular end "a" for the plural. Bacterium, however, is Greek. And plural.
Greek, yes, sort of (a Latinized form of a Greek word, as you can see from its Latin ending). Plural, no. But that’s a bit off topic for this list.
I'd chose "data is" vs "data are" depending on which reads more naturally rather than sticking to the (almost archaic) view that it can only be used as a plural.
That seems reasonable. I see no objection to “data are” but it’s clear that “data is” has become acceptable, and for that reason would be a sensible choice. paul