I think I see the difference: there is an extra mark at the end to indicate plurality, the mark that looks like the letter “C” reversed; and written in English, I believe this is represented as the dash above the letter a: ā.
If this is the case, then does it apply to nouns ending in vowels other than a, such as:
1 bikkhu –> many bhikkhū
1 bikkhuni –> many bhikkhunī
Back to the word “dhamma”. Is it true to say that:
“dhamma” as in what one bears is always plural: dhammā
“dhamma” as in buddha dhamma is singular: dhamma
Thank you
Lang