Note (return) — Replies.
Reading edition
If the root ends in s or v preceded by a diphthong, or in a consonant +s[5] or +v preceded by a vowel, our derived words add e, as παῦσ-ις (paus-a), paus-e; caus-a, cause-e; næv-a, nav-e; puls-us, puls-e; dens-us, dens-e; ἁψ-ίς, aps-e; laps-us, laps-e; vers-us, vers-e; valv-a, valv-e; nerv-us, nerv-e.[6] The cause of this lies in the genius of our language, which totally rejects the ending v, and uses s (single) very sparingly in the singular number, except in the ending ous, the genitive case, the third person of the present tense, the obsolete wis, and was. Other words are, the interjection alas; pronouns or pronominal particles; proper names, as Thomas, Chaos; compounds, as Lammas, Christmas; plural adverbs, as towards, thereabouts; and the (perhaps) plural—it ought to be so—alms.[7]