For a) it would be good to see an example. For b), “should only ever be used” of course sounds prescriptivist; nevertheless, the distinction exists, even if it’s often blurred, and countable v uncountable is the right (and only) way to explain it.
One common linguistic treadmill is → → . The clearest example in English is ‘agenda’ (originally the plural of ‘agendum’, an obsolete word in place of which we now use ‘agenda item’), which has now generated its own plural. Other examples: ‘algae’ (still the plural of ‘alga’ to biologists but a mass noun to layfolk) and ‘virus’ (which went backwards when we learnt more about the subject; originally a mass noun, now a count noun with a plural).
Any specific usage can be justified on its own terms, but the whole process is the old philosophical problem of distinguishing a set of things from the things themselves.
For a) it would be good to see an example. For b), “should only ever be used” of course sounds prescriptivist; nevertheless, the distinction exists, even if it’s often blurred, and countable v uncountable is the right (and only) way to explain it.
One common linguistic treadmill is → → . The clearest example in English is ‘agenda’ (originally the plural of ‘agendum’, an obsolete word in place of which we now use ‘agenda item’), which has now generated its own plural. Other examples: ‘algae’ (still the plural of ‘alga’ to biologists but a mass noun to layfolk) and ‘virus’ (which went backwards when we learnt more about the subject; originally a mass noun, now a count noun with a plural).
Any specific usage can be justified on its own terms, but the whole process is the old philosophical problem of distinguishing a set of things from the things themselves.