![]() There are no standard rules with this class of nouns, so it is important to check with your preferred dictionary and style guide to ensure you get it right. In general use, cactuses is preferred, but in a botanical/scientific context, cacti is preferred (Fowler and Burchfield 815 Garner 2003, 122). Sometimes with words like cactus, the plural form depends on context. However, locus cannot be locuses nor can alumnus be alumnuses. While words in this classification can have the -i plural inflection in English, many, but not all, can also take on the -es ending, so we can have secondary English plurals like funguses and cactuses. The main one comes from differing opinions of what is “proper.” For example, Latin second-declension words ending in -us can generally be inflected with -i to make a plural form- Alumnus becomes alumni cactus, cacti fungus, fungi and locus, loci (Fowler and Burchfield 815). Making plurals from words ending with -us can be controversial for several reasons. (Fowler and Burchfield 2000, 442) Come with Us The real kicker, however, is that the application of these inflections seems to be randomly applied in English and for good reason: they are. to create a plural form (Green 2015, 30–1). In Latin, there are five telling us whether to add -i, -ae, -a, etc. First off, declensions are simply classifications of words that have certain inflections. But since most people weren’t subjected to the horrors I faced in secondary, I’ll go lenient. The nuts and bolts of getting on with today’s topic relies on knowing a bit about Latin declensions. While there is a bit about etymology, there are several other practical tips and bits that can be used daily with words derived from Latin. Then help pass around the sittybae, confident in your new role as the most popular kid in the class.Last week, I wrote about awkward plurals used in English, focusing mostly on the linguistic history related to why we say the things we do. You can help by pointing out that according to the Oxford English Dictionary the word syllabus is derived from a misreading of the Greek sittyba, so the plural should actually be sittybae. There's a moment at the beginning of every college course where the professor must decide whether to pass out the syllabuses or the syllabi. Sports fans are very impressed when you tell them about all the stadia you have visited. If you visit a football stadium and a baseball stadium, you have visited two stadia. She will be so impressed that she just might give it to you. If your mom says the onus is on you to keep your grades up and keep your room clean, tell her you will accept these onera for a slightly bigger allowance. Onus is already a pretty fancy Latin word for a burden or obligation. Why say enemas when the rules of classical Greek pluralizing let you say enemata instead? It's so much classier! Also, enigmata, aromata, glaucomata, and miasmata. You may know that in the plural, stigma becomes stigmata and schema becomes schemata, but this pattern also properly applies in the making of plurals that almost no one ever uses. "You should be a Cyclops for Halloween too! We'll make the cutest pair of Cyclopes!" You probably have even less of a chance to speak of more than one Cyclops, so you will have to create the occasion yourself. It was also used in the 1940s and 50s Kinsey reports on sexual behavior in reference to "multiple climaces." But it did get a bit of use in the 1800s in fancy writing about literary, musical, and dramatic climaces and anti-climaces. This Greek plural form for climax is usually found in discussions that also use the Greek meaning of the word-ladder. (You may also use this strategy for platypodes.)ĭoes the reasonable "rhinoceroses" sound unreasonable to you? You might be tempted toward rhinoceroi or rhinoceri, but the ancient Greek pedigree of the word commands us to use rhinocerotes, the use of which was considered annoyingly show-offy even in the classic-crazy 1800s. If you want to one-up the octopi people, point out that the pus in octopus comes from the Greek pous for foot, and not the Latin second declension masculine ending, making octopodes the correct form. This why those concerned with giving the word the proper weighty scientific ring usually turn to octopi. There is something about the normal plural "octopuses" that just feels wrong, even though it is correct English. You are better off using them in the fun way, though they are most likely to be received as confusing. ![]() Here are some uncommon but etymologically sound plurals that you may employ for petty pedantry at your own risk. ![]()
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