Re: Bad Latin

On Tue, Feb 13, 2001 at 07:15:14PM +0000, Raymond Brown wrote:
> At 11:37 pm +0000 12/2/01, kam@CARROT.CLARA.NET wrote:
> >I may have missed it, but has anyone mentioned "octopi" ("octopii" ??)
> >yet?
>
> Nope - but it's yet another example of bad Latin.  The actual Latin plural
> is _octopodes_
It may be "bad" Latin, but it was used sometimes by actual Latin speakers,
who didn't realize it was a special case.

> >Somehow adding the English -s plural to words that already end in <s>
> >seems a bit messy and uncertain.
>
> buses, asses, businesses, crosses, bosses, compasses,
> Christmases, caucuses, trespasses.........
>
> Don't see the problem.
I believe the idea is with adding -s to words ending in /@s/ (unstressed of
course), like circuses, campuses, etc. Those sound awkward to me. Businesses
on the other hand doesn't; I think I have a different sort of internal
reporesentation of the final syllable of business than I do of circus,
campus, etc.

And of course we've already talked about possessives like Jesus's, Moses's,
Jones's (and for that matter, the plural Joneses).

>
> >I always want to keep duplicating the
> ><s> -- octopusississis ...
That's a fairly common comedic device.

--
Eric Christopherson / *Aiworegs Ghristobhorosyo
Conlang code:
CU !lh:m cN:R:S:G a+ y n2d:1d !R* A-- E L* N1 Id:m k- ia- p+ m- o+ P-- d* b+++ lainesco