'Rooves' was the plural I was taught back in the 1970s - like 'hoof' and 'hooves' - but I think 'roofs' is more common now.
Thus Dunlop on another thread. How interesting. Fowler's Modern Engish Usage (1926) recognizes only 'roofs'. I must say I've never come across 'rooves' before, even though I learnt my spelling even longer ago than Dunlop.
I did however find this on WikiAnswers:
Quote:
The plural of roof is roofs or rooves. "Rooves" is an older form of the word and rarely used these days. Australian children right up to the 1980s, for example, were brought up with the word "rooves" rather than roofs, and it is still an accepted form in Australia today (though uncommon). Also, despite New Zealand English developing from UK English, it should be noted that in NZ, the plural of roof is rooves, in both its written and spoken form.
The accepted plural is "roofs". The Oxford English Dictionary lists "rooves" as an alternate, one of several outdated spellings used in the UK, and in New England as late as the 19th c
Perhaps Dunlop was brought up in the Antipodes?
My wife and I disagree on how the word should be pronounced. She (posh Cornwall) makes the u short (as in the Northern pronunciation of 'puff'). I (middle class Midlands) make it long (as in 'coot') and the OED seems to support this.
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