Anybody here have any knowledge of Ancient Greek?

[Anuan]

I need to know the plural of Pterippus. At first I thought Pterippi, but then I realised that I've got absolutely no basis for that. So...yeah.
Halp?

[Kneenibble]

That'd be Pterippoi, honeybuns.
Rhymes with boytoy.

You don't often see the real Greek plurals though. I mean strictly speaking the singular Πτεριππος should be transcribed Pterippos, not -us, but if you have the Latinized -us ending then -i as a plural is acceptable. cf. Colossus, from the Greek Κολοσσος: most people would say Colossi, when technically it's Colossoi.

[Anuan]

:smallbiggrin: Thanks, Kneenibble.
<gives bird-treat. Also, a hug.>
I will take these facts into consideration.

[Hazyshade]

most people would say Colossi, when technically it's Colossoi.

How could you tell which one they were saying? Were they pronounced differently from each other in Ancient Greek?

[Crimmy]

most people would say Colossi, when technically it's Colossoi.

:smallbiggrin:

[absolmorph]

That'd be Pterippoi, honeybuns.
Rhymes with boytoy.

You don't often see the real Greek plurals though. I mean strictly speaking the singular Πτεριππος should be transcribed Pterippos, not -us, but if you have the Latinized -us ending then -i as a plural is acceptable. cf. Colossus, from the Greek Κολοσσος: most people would say Colossi, when technically it's Colossoi.
Hm... I think I will keep this in mind.
I like Greek mythology, and language, but don't know much about it.
Intriguing...

[Kneenibble]

How could you tell which one they were saying? Were they pronounced differently from each other in Ancient Greek?

The Latin -i plural ending is pronounced popularly to rhyme with the word eye (like if you think of the way people say the word cacti); it is pronounced correctly to rhyme with the word knee.

The Greek -oi plural ending is pronounced to rhyme with toy.

"Correct" is relative and is dictated by usage, of course, but I am speaking pedantically.

[Hazyshade]

The Greek -oi plural ending is pronounced to rhyme with toy.

"Correct" is relative and is dictated by usage, of course, but I am speaking pedantically.

Pedantry is essential in linguistic debates :smallsmile:

A speaker of Modern Greek would pronounce it -ee. I wonder if it was because they got tired of people telling them they were using the wrong plural form, and decided to make them all sound the same so no-one would notice...

[Strawberries]

The Latin -i plural ending is pronounced popularly to rhyme with the word eye

Not where I'm from it isn't :smalltongue:.

Technically colossus is also a latin word, so colossi would be acceptable.

[Kneenibble]

Technically colossus is also a latin word, so colossi would be acceptable.

No, sweetie, technically colossus is a direct loanword from Greek with very few uses in extant Latin literature.

But that's my exact point, if you read my first post in this thread: of course colossi is acceptable. I've been saying how Greek words get Latinized when they're brought into English, whether or not they have a previous Latin precedent for transcription.

[Shades of Gray]

Octopi should be Octopodes! Octopodes!

Silly English.

[Syka]

This thread warms my heart as a Classicist. :smallsmile:

[Anuan]

According to wiki, it's octopuses, and octopi is a common but incorrect assumption...

[Kneenibble]

If octopus were transcribed properly as octopous, since the singular of foot is πούς in Greek, then I would be all for using the correct Greek plural, octopoussoire.

Since it is octopus, however, then we must resort to the English plural of octopussies.

We can always mock cruelly the fools who tote their fraudulent octo-pie, of course.

[Claudius Maximus]

If octopus were transcribed properly as octopous, since the singular of foot is πούς in Greek, then I would be all for using the correct Greek plural, octopoussoire.

I have never seen a word end like that, at least in Ancient Greek. As far as I know, πούς declines into ποδός and eventually into πόδες, which would be the plural nominative form. Therefore the plural of octopous would be octopodes.

[Eldan]

You have been confounded by the rare and elusive linguistic technique known as "joke", mate.

"Octopuses" seems to be the accepted english form, with no precedent in either latin or greek, of course.