Re: YAEPT: uu/ii (< Quick Latin pronunciation question)

Quoting Eugene Oh <un.doing@...>:

> On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 10:51 PM, caeruleancentaur
> <caeruleancentaur@...> wrote:
>
> > In the first declension, overwhelmingly feminine, there are a few
> > masculine words, e.g., "poeta," poet.  The plural is the normal -ae of
> > the first declension, "poetae," not the -i of the second.
> >
> > By analogy, wouldn't the hypothetical plural of "virus," even though
> > neuter, be the "viri" of the second declension?  Why would a third
> > declension ending, "vira," be introduced?
> >
>
> There is an overriding rule in Latin that all neuter nominatives,
> accusatives and vocatives end in -um in the singular and -a in the
> plural, whichever declension pattern they belong to. Hence oppidum,
> oppida; tempus, tempora; opus, opera; animal, animalia; etc.
As Eugene's own examples show, there is no such rule in the singular (further
counterexamples: cornu, pl cornua; nomen, pl nomina; systema, pl systemata). The
rule for the plural is nevertheless accurate.


--
Andreas Johansson

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