diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/string/inflections.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/string/inflections.rb
index efa2d43f20e9e116ddff303cd3f4318d6952ffbb..6edfcd749315d11b8f35c83eadcb6128ca41a73e 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/string/inflections.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/string/inflections.rb
@@ -13,6 +13,11 @@ class String
   # the singular form will be returned if <tt>count == 1</tt>.
   # For any other value of +count+ the plural will be returned.
   #
+  # If the optional parameter +locale+ is specified,
+  # the word will be pluralized as a word of that language.
+  # By default, this parameter is set to <tt>:en</tt>.
+  # You must define your own inflection rules for languages other than English.
+  #
   #   'post'.pluralize             # => "posts"
   #   'octopus'.pluralize          # => "octopi"
   #   'sheep'.pluralize            # => "sheep"
@@ -21,15 +26,23 @@ class String
   #   'CamelOctopus'.pluralize     # => "CamelOctopi"
   #   'apple'.pluralize(1)         # => "apple"
   #   'apple'.pluralize(2)         # => "apples"
-  def pluralize(count = nil)
+  #   'ley'.pluralize(:es)         # => "leyes"
+  #   'ley'.pluralize(1, :es)      # => "ley"
+  def pluralize(count = nil, locale = :en)
+    locale = count if count.is_a?(Symbol)
     if count == 1
       self
     else
-      ActiveSupport::Inflector.pluralize(self)
+      ActiveSupport::Inflector.pluralize(self, locale)
     end
   end
 
   # The reverse of +pluralize+, returns the singular form of a word in a string.
+  # 
+  # If the optional parameter +locale+ is specified,
+  # the word will be singularized as a word of that language.
+  # By default, this paramter is set to <tt>:en</tt>.
+  # You must define your own inflection rules for languages other than English.
   #
   #   'posts'.singularize            # => "post"
   #   'octopi'.singularize           # => "octopus"
@@ -37,8 +50,9 @@ def pluralize(count = nil)
   #   'word'.singularize             # => "word"
   #   'the blue mailmen'.singularize # => "the blue mailman"
   #   'CamelOctopi'.singularize      # => "CamelOctopus"
-  def singularize
-    ActiveSupport::Inflector.singularize(self)
+  #   'leyes'.singularize(:es)       # => "ley"
+  def singularize(locale = :en)
+    ActiveSupport::Inflector.singularize(self, locale)
   end
 
   # +constantize+ tries to find a declared constant with the name specified
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/inflections.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/inflections.rb
index ca2d8cb270e4a0db935de0c90dd516a2ca896cfe..ef882ebd0966ece4cf4afaa43a5ee905077efc7f 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/inflections.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/inflections.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 require 'active_support/inflector/inflections'
 
 module ActiveSupport
-  Inflector.inflections do |inflect|
+  Inflector.inflections(:en) do |inflect|
     inflect.plural(/$/, 's')
     inflect.plural(/s$/i, 's')
     inflect.plural(/^(ax|test)is$/i, '\1es')
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/inflector/inflections.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/inflector/inflections.rb
index c9e50a946296a60224f4be19267aaad4553c309b..091692e5a4a73066a5744c2d31f3c9a099672329 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/inflector/inflections.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/inflector/inflections.rb
@@ -1,13 +1,15 @@
 require 'active_support/core_ext/array/prepend_and_append'
+require 'active_support/i18n'
 
 module ActiveSupport
   module Inflector
     extend self
 
     # A singleton instance of this class is yielded by Inflector.inflections, which can then be used to specify additional
-    # inflection rules.
+    # inflection rules. If passed an optional locale, rules for other languages can be specified. The default locale is
+    # <tt>:en</tt>. Only rules for English are provided.
     #
-    #   ActiveSupport::Inflector.inflections do |inflect|
+    #   ActiveSupport::Inflector.inflections(:en) do |inflect|
     #     inflect.plural /^(ox)$/i, '\1\2en'
     #     inflect.singular /^(ox)en/i, '\1'
     #
@@ -20,8 +22,9 @@ module Inflector
     # pluralization and singularization rules that is runs. This guarantees that your rules run before any of the rules that may
     # already have been loaded.
     class Inflections
-      def self.instance
-        @__instance__ ||= new
+      def self.instance(locale = :en)
+        @__instance__ ||= Hash.new { |h, k| h[k] = new }
+        @__instance__[locale]
       end
 
       attr_reader :plurals, :singulars, :uncountables, :humans, :acronyms, :acronym_regex
@@ -160,16 +163,18 @@ def clear(scope = :all)
     end
 
     # Yields a singleton instance of Inflector::Inflections so you can specify additional
-    # inflector rules.
+    # inflector rules. If passed an optional locale, rules for other languages can be specified.
+    # If not specified, defaults to <tt>:en</tt>. Only rules for English are provided.
+    # 
     #
-    #   ActiveSupport::Inflector.inflections do |inflect|
+    #   ActiveSupport::Inflector.inflections(:en) do |inflect|
     #     inflect.uncountable "rails"
     #   end
-    def inflections
+    def inflections(locale = :en)
       if block_given?
-        yield Inflections.instance
+        yield Inflections.instance(locale)
       else
-        Inflections.instance
+        Inflections.instance(locale)
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/inflector/methods.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/inflector/methods.rb
index c14a43de0d3a73f7d0515d00b9a9343c786864a3..44214d16fa70f0ff20e76c885cf780783094c1f5 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/inflector/methods.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/inflector/methods.rb
@@ -10,31 +10,41 @@ module ActiveSupport
   #
   # The Rails core team has stated patches for the inflections library will not be accepted
   # in order to avoid breaking legacy applications which may be relying on errant inflections.
-  # If you discover an incorrect inflection and require it for your application, you'll need
-  # to correct it yourself (explained below).
+  # If you discover an incorrect inflection and require it for your application or wish to
+  # define rules for languages other than English, please correct or add them yourself (explained below).
   module Inflector
     extend self
 
     # Returns the plural form of the word in the string.
     #
+    # If passed an optional +locale+ parameter, the word will be
+    # pluralized using rules defined for that language. By default,
+    # this parameter is set to <tt>:en</tt>.
+    #
     #   "post".pluralize             # => "posts"
     #   "octopus".pluralize          # => "octopi"
     #   "sheep".pluralize            # => "sheep"
     #   "words".pluralize            # => "words"
     #   "CamelOctopus".pluralize     # => "CamelOctopi"
-    def pluralize(word)
-      apply_inflections(word, inflections.plurals)
+    #   "ley".pluralize(:es)         # => "leyes"
+    def pluralize(word, locale = :en)
+      apply_inflections(word, inflections(locale).plurals)
     end
 
     # The reverse of +pluralize+, returns the singular form of a word in a string.
     #
+    # If passed an optional +locale+ parameter, the word will be
+    # pluralized using rules defined for that language. By default,
+    # this parameter is set to <tt>:en</tt>.
+    #
     #   "posts".singularize            # => "post"
     #   "octopi".singularize           # => "octopus"
     #   "sheep".singularize            # => "sheep"
     #   "word".singularize             # => "word"
     #   "CamelOctopi".singularize      # => "CamelOctopus"
-    def singularize(word)
-      apply_inflections(word, inflections.singulars)
+    #   "leyes".singularize(:es)       # => "ley"
+    def singularize(word, locale = :en)
+      apply_inflections(word, inflections(locale).singulars)
     end
 
     # By default, +camelize+ converts strings to UpperCamelCase. If the argument to +camelize+
diff --git a/activesupport/test/inflector_test.rb b/activesupport/test/inflector_test.rb
index 1f32e4ff924232b8dbb6c5f6ccfecf1bec088b46..cd9100214705eda2083b1cb57ae726d17df03e23 100644
--- a/activesupport/test/inflector_test.rb
+++ b/activesupport/test/inflector_test.rb
@@ -354,6 +354,35 @@ def test_clear_#{inflection_type}
     RUBY
   end
 
+  def test_inflector_locality
+    ActiveSupport::Inflector.inflections(:es) do |inflect|
+      inflect.plural(/$/, 's')
+      inflect.plural(/z$/i, 'ces')
+
+      inflect.singular(/s$/, '')
+      inflect.singular(/es$/, '')
+      
+      inflect.irregular('el', 'los')
+    end
+
+    assert_equal('hijos', 'hijo'.pluralize(:es))
+    assert_equal('luces', 'luz'.pluralize(:es))
+    assert_equal('luzs', 'luz'.pluralize)
+
+    assert_equal('sociedad', 'sociedades'.singularize(:es))
+    assert_equal('sociedade', 'sociedades'.singularize)
+
+    assert_equal('los', 'el'.pluralize(:es))
+    assert_equal('els', 'el'.pluralize)
+
+    ActiveSupport::Inflector.inflections(:es) { |inflect| inflect.clear }
+
+    assert ActiveSupport::Inflector.inflections(:es).plurals.empty?
+    assert ActiveSupport::Inflector.inflections(:es).singulars.empty?
+    assert !ActiveSupport::Inflector.inflections.plurals.empty?
+    assert !ActiveSupport::Inflector.inflections.singulars.empty?
+  end
+
   def test_clear_all
     with_dup do
       ActiveSupport::Inflector.inflections do |inflect|
@@ -467,7 +496,7 @@ def test_clear_with_default
   # there are module functions that access ActiveSupport::Inflector.inflections,
   # so we need to replace the singleton itself.
   def with_dup
-    original = ActiveSupport::Inflector.inflections
+    original = ActiveSupport::Inflector::Inflections.instance_variable_get(:@__instance__)
     ActiveSupport::Inflector::Inflections.instance_variable_set(:@__instance__, original.dup)
   ensure
     ActiveSupport::Inflector::Inflections.instance_variable_set(:@__instance__, original)
diff --git a/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/app/templates/config/initializers/inflections.rb b/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/app/templates/config/initializers/inflections.rb
index 5d8d9be237b28d4ebdad9cec9510764ab88154e6..9262c3379f8184094dbdb5af955309db83b9fd62 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/app/templates/config/initializers/inflections.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/app/templates/config/initializers/inflections.rb
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 # Be sure to restart your server when you modify this file.
 
-# Add new inflection rules using the following format
-# (all these examples are active by default):
-# ActiveSupport::Inflector.inflections do |inflect|
+# Add new inflection rules using the following format. Inflections
+# are locale specific, and you may define rules for as many different
+# locales as you wish. All of these examples are active by default:
+# ActiveSupport::Inflector.inflections(:en) do |inflect|
 #   inflect.plural /^(ox)$/i, '\1en'
 #   inflect.singular /^(ox)en/i, '\1'
 #   inflect.irregular 'person', 'people'
@@ -10,6 +11,6 @@
 # end
 #
 # These inflection rules are supported but not enabled by default:
-# ActiveSupport::Inflector.inflections do |inflect|
+# ActiveSupport::Inflector.inflections(:en) do |inflect|
 #   inflect.acronym 'RESTful'
 # end