#Styles of styli
10 messages in this thread
David,
<<I did mean styli or styluses. Seems strange that a word can have 2 valid
plurals!
>>
Actually, the reason is pretty straightforward. Stylus is a Latin word,
and in Latin the plural of a -us noun is -i. However, when words migrate
into English we frequently cram their morphology into the square peg ->
round hole of English, which generally prefers an ending of -s or -es. So,
if you are corresponding with a classical scholar, she or he might (if rude
enough) correct your use of "styluses" but most English speakers would
understand what you meant. However, many English speakers are likely to
not understand "styli." You have to make a choice sometimes between being
"correct" and being able to communicate.
Kathy <<– BA, Linguistics, Univ. of Hawaii, 1985
Thanks Kathy,
I certainly wouldn't argue with a BA in Linguistics! I did 4
years of Latin in High School (15 years ago) but must have pressed the
erase button straight after the exams.
Your explanation also explains another point that came up:
hippopotamus – hippopotami
rhinoceros – rhinoceroses
I might have to get this OED after all.
Dave.
Dave,
I don't think you could go wrong with the OED. Wish I could afford it! It
is considered THE definitive resource on English lexicography by every
linguist I know. I've heard the user interface for the CD-ROM version is
very good, too.
Sorry I can't agree with Jan that Oxford Press ought to be pressured into
discounting it, though. Discounts and such are market driven, and the OED
is in high enough demand that there is no incentive for them to mark it
down. As it is, given the amount of scholarship and programming effort
that went into the production, they are probably losing money on it in the
short term. The up side is that this document will be a valuable resource
for a long time, and will eventually pay for itself. Would it be so
terrible if they make a profit? If they do, maybe they'll put some of it
into future projects. I'd really like to see the Oxford Press Liddel &
Scott Greek Lexicon on CD! I've got the paper version, and it weighs a
ton, is about 5" thick, and has very tiny print.
PS 'rhinoceros' is from Greek, not Latin, but I think the -es ending you
cited is an Anglicized one. I've forgotten as much of my Greek as you
claim to have forgotten Latin, I'm afraid!
Kathy
Kathy,
from a selfish point of view I would like to see the price of the
OED come down to an affordable level, but I can understand that it won't
while they can make a profit at the current price. It's a pity that the
average man-in-the-street won't be able to afford a copy, but I guess he
couldn't afford a copy of the book version anyway – someone has to pay for
the 65 years of effort that went into making this edition!
Dave
Katherine, liked your reply on Latin-into-English — then to complicate
things more there's English and American, with we Canadians stuck somewhere
in mid-Atlantic. I use cheque, centre and theatre as well as color and
labor, pronounce lieutenant "leftenant," Z as "zed" and still occasionally
que up in theatre lines or for the bus. On the other hand (the far-right
one <G>) I have a car hood and not a bonnet, carry luggage in the trunk and
not the boot — and I haven't knocked anyone up for breakfast in years.
Cheers!
Jim,
You may not know that my company's home office is in Calgary. One of my
favorite Canadianisms is "project" with a long 'o' instead of 'ah' sound —
I now use that pronunciation to distinguish the special R&D stuff we're
interested in from ordinary jobs.
Kathy <<– The One-Off CD Shop MidSouth, Inc.
Actually I do know your company's in Calgary — or rather I should have
known, Katherine. As I recall we first "met" when there was a thread about
the legal use of electronic records and an Ontario case. You advised me to
speak with someone up here and to look for the booth at COMDEX. I did,
picked up my "Roll-My-Own CD-ROM" and later got a very friendly and
informative phone call from someone (name escapes me now) in Calgary and
now am on the press list for mail.
Never thought of pr"o"ject, although that is the way I pronounce it as
well. Some of my U.S. friends get a kick out of my soft "shedule" for
schedule.
When Southerners or people from places like Baah-ston or Taahn-awanda, NY,
kid me about my accent I point out that I talk just like Pa Cartright,
Captain Kirk, Abraham Lincoln (in the famous film), Peter Jenkins and
Morely on 60 Minutes, among others.
And they usually tell me they have trouble understanding them too <G!>
That's ok. I have trouble understanding people from "Bahstaan" too — and
I married one! Being a "double Southerner" from your viewpoint, ah have
mah own ahdeahs 'bout how the langwidge shud soun' <g>.
Using "Pa Cartwright" as an example was cheating, though. Wasn't he
Canadian? And Morley Safer is just trying to sound like Peter Jennings
(also Canadian). That's ok, I think the Canadian English accent is one of
the more pleasant to hear (after Southern — like from around Atlan'a — of
course).
Glad to hear you had a good experience with the "OOCDS International" crowd
at COMDEX. You probably heard from Glenn afterwards, since he does the
marketing thing, although our president, Neil, does know how to use a
phone, too. In fact, we kid him about having his portable grafted to his
left hand.
Kathy
Heh, heh. Actually everyone I mentioned — including Morley and Lincoln
star Raymond Massey — is Canadian, Katherine. We don't battle — we
infiltrate. Cheers!
I kind of suspected that, but the ones I mentioned were the only ones I was
sure of. After dealing with some of your countrymen for some time now in
conjunction with the One-Off CD Shops, I've realized that finesse is very
characteristic. That's ok, I won't hold it against you! <g>
Kathy