In the first place it is a double plural: the -en being the -en in oxen, whilst the simpler form child-er occurs in the old English, and in certain provincial dialects.
Now, what is the -er in child-er?
In Icelandic, no plural termination is commoner than
that in -r; as geisl-ar=flashes, tung-ur=tongues, &c. Nevertheless, it is not the Icelandic that explains the plural form in question.
Besides the word childer, we collect from the other Gothic tongue the following forms in -r.—
| Hus-er, | Houses. | Old High German. |
| Chalp-ir, | Calves. | ditto. |
| Lemp-ir, | Lambs. | ditto. |
| Plet-ir, | Blades of grass. | ditto. |
| Eig-ir, | Eggs. | ditto. |
and others, the peculiarity of which is the fact of their all being of the neuter gender. The particular Gothic dialect wherein they occur most frequently is the Dutch of Holland.
Now, the theory respecting the form so propounded by Grimm (D. G. iii. p. 270) is as follows:—
1. The -r represents an earlier -s.
2. Which was, originally, no sign of a plural number, but merely a neuter derivative affix, common to the singular as well as to the plural number.