Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: Adopting a plural

From:H. S. Teoh <hsteoh@...>
Date:Tuesday, October 5, 2004, 19:59
On Tue, Oct 05, 2004 at 10:57:56AM -0600, Muke Tever wrote:
> On Tue, 5 Oct 2004 09:35:44 -0700, H. S. Teoh <hsteoh@...> > wrote: > >>d) It means 2+, and is used on words that look like they come from the > >> other language (virii; octopi) > > > ><obligatory pedantic remark> > >"Octopus" really came from Greek, not Latin, so the "proper" plural > >would be "octopedes", not "octopi". > ></obligatory pedantic remark> > > ObAntipedantry: > That's why I made it an example under "words that _look like_ they come > from the other language". "Virus" doesn't take a plural in -ii either.
Yes I know. That's why I marked my comment as a pedantic remark. (Or should that be "ultra-pedantic"?)
> The correct spelling is actually |octopodes|, btw. |-ped-| is the Latin > spelling ;)
[...] Right, right, I was thinking about that, but didn't want to spend another second to think about a completely useless pedantic remark. :-) I guess I was transcribing how my Greek prof pronounced it ([Ak"tAp@di:s] - yes, it's Anglicized Greek. Talk about cross-language chaos). T -- "I'm not childish; I'm just in touch with the child within!"