Mouse and louse were similarly mūs /muːs/ and lūselūs /luːs/ (like moose and loose) in Old English, but their plurals were mȳs /myːs/ and lȳs /lyːs/, respectively.
- hūsa- > hūsō // mūs > mūsiz (pre-English/Proto-Germanic: starting point) 2. hūsa- > hūso // mūs > mȳsi(z) (pre-English,: i-mutation, final syllables weakened) 3. hūs > hūs // mūs > mȳs (~ Old English,: loss of final syllables) 4. hūs > hūs // mūs > mīs (late Old English,: unrounding of /y/ to /i/) 5. həus > həus(en/es) // məus > məis (Middle/Early Modern English,: Great Vowel Shift diphthongisation, of /uː/ and /iː/ to /əu/ and /əi/; house starts getting an explicit plural) 6. haʊs ⟨house⟩ > haʊzəs ⟨houses⟩ // maʊs ⟨mouse⟩ > maɪs ⟨mice⟩ (Modern English,: diphthongisation completecontinued to /aʊ, aɪ/; alternative plurals of house hasdisappear, leaving just one, regular plural)