wow - good thing I didn't say I thought it was 4th declension. but then I don't trust most 50yr old memories even those from Latin School. I toured my high school 2 yrs ago during 50th reunion and the thing looks a lot smaller inside than I remember. It was nice to see places in the building that had never been remodeled :-)
IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu> wrote on 04/12/2011 07:53:45 PM: > We have been around this way before. The latin word 'virus' is an > uncommon 2nd-declension neuter noun. (Most 2nd-declension neuter > nouns end in 'um' in the nominative singular.) Thus 'virus' has no > latin plural. If one is needed in English 'viruses' is available. > The very common latin word 'vir', man, has the nominative plural > 'viri', men. Moreover, 'ii' is impossible qua suffix: it can occur > only when a stem ends in 'i', as in radius==>radii. > Latin dropouts would indeed be well advised to avoid attempting to > form the plural of -us words. They are too problematic: the > singular 'opus' has the plural 'opera'; the singular 'octopus' has > the plural 'octopodes', etc., etc. It is far better, albeit > subliterate, to speak of octopuses than of octopi. > John Gilmore Ashland, MA 01721-1817 USA ----------------------------------------- The information contained in this communication (including any attachments hereto) is confidential and is intended solely for the personal and confidential use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error and that any review, dissemination, copying, or unauthorized use of this information, or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail, and delete the original message. Thank you ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
