Can 達 be used to pluralize inanimate things?


インターネットを見ていて、「[これは便利だと思ったiOSアプリたち](http://rnx9.hatenablog.com/entry/2016/01/08/223912)」という記事を偶然読みました。「たち」は人間など[有生]{ゆうせい}のものを指している名詞にしか付かないと思っていましたが、このタイトルは反例ではないとは思えません。

「たち」をこういう使い方で使うのは本当に普通ですか。複数性を強調する場合、有生でないものには「等｛ら｝」を付けるのが普通だと思っていましたが…




I agree with you that たち is normally used with animate objects. One obvious
exception for this rule is when explicit personification is involved. For
example, sentences like 山たちが私に語りかけてきた, 乱暴に扱われた本たちが悲しんでいる are perfectly fine.

In your question, I think this アプリたち doesn't look that weird to me. Of course
I'm not saying アプリたち is a kind of personification, but I feel something
related is happening here. This title looks okay to me because the author has
an personal attachment to those apps, and he wants to introduce them friendly
and favorably.

I have seen similar expressions like 道具たち, ぬいぐるみたち and 曲たち many times, and
such expressions are usually used by those who love them. I can easily find
articles about 車たち written by car fans, articles about リンゴたち written by
farmers, and so on. I'm not particularly interested in cars, so I probably
haven't used 車たち in my entire life.

On the other hand, これは便利だと思ったiOSアプリ **ら** sounds clearly unnatural to me,
because -ら doesn't have such "friendly" nuance at all. If showing plurality
were the only purpose here, we just wouldn't need it in the first place.




I agree with you that たち is normally used with animate objects. One obvious
exception for this rule is when explicit personification is involved. For
example, sentences like 山たちが私に語りかけてきた, 乱暴に扱われた本たちが悲しんでいる are perfectly fine.

In your question, I think this アプリたち doesn't look that weird to me. Of course
I'm not saying アプリたち is a kind of personification, but I feel something
related is happening here. This title looks okay to me because the author has
an personal attachment to those apps, and he wants to introduce them friendly
and favorably.

I have seen similar expressions like 道具たち, ぬいぐるみたち and 曲たち many times, and
such expressions are usually used by those who love them. I can easily find
articles about 車たち written by car fans, articles about リンゴたち written by
farmers, and so on. I'm not particularly interested in cars, so I probably
haven't used 車たち in my entire life.

On the other hand, これは便利だと思ったiOSアプリ **ら** sounds clearly unnatural to me,
because -ら doesn't have such "friendly" nuance at all. If showing plurality
were the only purpose here, we just wouldn't need it in the first place.

