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plural form of LAUGHTER?



 
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plural form of LAUGHTER? #1 (permalink) Mon Jul 19, 2010 18:56 pm   plural form of LAUGHTER?
 

I checked the dictiontionary and saw LAGHTER is an uncountable noun, though, i have seen in many texts LAUGHTERS as a the plural form of it. How is this possible? Can we say JOYFUL LAUGHTERS?

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plural form of LAUGHTER? #2 (permalink) Mon Jul 19, 2010 23:13 pm   plural form of LAUGHTER?
 

I'd think it's basically an uncountable such as in "burst into laughter", denoting the act of laughing. However, if you want to emphasize that more than one sound is produced by more than one person in laughing, then such as "JOYFUL LAUGHTERS" is possible, denoting the different sounds of laughter but not the number: such as "*two laughters" is still incorrect regardless of its countability.
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plural form of LAUGHTER? #3 (permalink) Tue Jul 20, 2010 0:07 am   plural form of LAUGHTER?
 

If you have seen laughter written as plural, it is incorrect (even when more than one person is producing different types of laugh.)
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plural form of LAUGHTER? #4 (permalink) Tue Jul 20, 2010 2:46 am   plural form of LAUGHTER?
 

I came across such a one out of many:

Quote:
When she, after so long trying, finally solved the riddle of my troubles, how her face crumpled with laughter at it. A quick hard hug, and she left me standing all damp and puzzled as she capered into the bedroom where there was movement and low voices, then a pair of laughters.
-Chicago Review
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plural form of LAUGHTER? #5 (permalink) Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:00 am   plural form of LAUGHTER?
 

That's grammatically incorrect.

In fact, it's absolutely diabolical.

Chicago Review is a student-run magazine of literature and critical exchange, published quarterly in the Division of the Humanities at the University of Chicago since 1946. CR regularly features established and emerging voices in poetry, fiction and criticism from the U.S. and abroad;
My guess would be that this is a work of fiction by a non-native speaker or a native speaker who pays no heed to correct grammar. I can only access the first page of 'Moonchild Learns About Angels' by Heather Reyes but there are more grammatical errors on that page too.
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