posted
I reckon "Horcruces", my friend thinks that "Horcruxes". My argument is that it's a Latin word, so it needs a Latin conjugation (index - indeces, appendix - appendices); his argument is the example of box - boxes.
But "box" existed in OE, even if it did originate in Latin ("pux" or something, no?), so that means it was an old-enough word, integrated enough in English to be regarded as an "English" rather than Latin word.
But Horcrux was recently coined, so it ought to be "Horcruces", nay?
Posts: 2978 | Registered: Oct 2004
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My vote is for Horcruxes, because it is an available option, and we are making the plural in English. To adopt another language's pluralization when there is a native pluralization available seems like an affection.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
Rowling says horcruxes, so that's the plural. When you make up a word, you get to make up the plural, too.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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My vote is for Horcruxes, because it is an available option, and we are making the plural in English. To adopt another language's pluralization when there is a native pluralization available seems like an affection.
posted
The plural of index is indices, except in databases, when the plural of index is indexes.
What's the plural of prefix? Of suffix? In software, "fix" can be a noun. "Have you implemented the fix yet?" What's its plural?
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
For index and appendix, the regular English plurals are more common. The Latin plurals are commonly used in more technical contexts. As for fix, prefix, and suffix, you could always consult a dictionary.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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quote:Limits which have not even been approached in this case.
Very true--didn't mean to imply that you hadn't. Actually I had a sort of involved post having to do with made up words with plurals that bore absolutely no resemblance whatsoever to the singular form, but in the end it just wasn't funny enough, so I deleted it and posted my single line instead.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
I would have liked to see those. I tried to think of some to respond to your post, but couldn't find any funny enough, either.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
Yeah, but that's nothing compared to my gaffe in the "Toward More Picturesque Speech" thread. (Where I misspelled "Speech" . . . twice.) Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
Well, it makes senseāspeak and speech are related, after all. I guess you were just thinking etymologically. Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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posted
In the book, it says "Horcruxes." Since it's a fictional object, I'm assuming JK Rowling knows what she's talking about!
Posts: 7877 | Registered: Feb 2003
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quote:I would have liked to see those. I tried to think of some to respond to your post, but couldn't find any funny enough, either.
Yeah, it seems to be one of those ideas that appears to be rich with comic potential until you actually start trying to come up with something specific, doesn't it?
So Karl, I assume you spelled it "Speach"?
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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"Indexes" and "appendixes" are only more recently used, and if I'm not mistaken, it originated in the US. My father was taught to write "plateux", and if you check the MS Word Spell Checker (yes, I know its reliability), the English (or at least the Australian) Dictionary accepts it, the US one does not.
Posts: 2978 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Gansura, don't mind Jonathan. He operates on a different plane than most of us, and what is apparent to him is incomprehensible to the rest of us. You get used to it.
And Jonathan, you've got to know that I really like your contributions here. And you seem like more and more the mentch every day. Just so you know that I've noticed.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
The stem of a third desclension noun is determined by removing the ending from the genitive. Since 'crux, crucis' is the dictionary entry (listing the nominative then the genitive) the plural nominative would be cruces, if we assume that horcrux is conjugated like crux (which means gallows or frame on which to kill prisoners btw) then the latin plural of horcrux would be horcruces. But, since Rowling invented the word, I think she ought to have the final say on how to pluralize it, and it ought to be referred to as horcruxes in English.
Posts: 349 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
In my humble opinion, horcrux should be pluralized as Horcruxi. Yeah, awsome plural form if you ask me.
Posts: 3389 | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
Tante - "tux" is short for "tuxido", and "sox" is this weird AOL-styled mangling of "socks". It's NOT "tucesidoes" and NOT "soces".
I agree with kq. It's like "horcruxii" - that's why I shouted "mine iyes". But, to credit Alt, she said "in my humble opinion". I encourage these things!
Horcruces. I am studying a little Latin, and I can't face "indexes" and "appendixes", personally. Somehow, I can live with "plateaus"... Maybe 'cause that's how I first saw the word.
Posts: 2978 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
You are also studying English. Why are you adopting the Latin ending for an English pluralization?
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Jonathan Howard: Tante - "tux" is short for "tuxido", and "sox" is this weird AOL-styled mangling of "socks". It's NOT "tucesidoes" and NOT "soces".
Yeah. I was joking around. And, by the way, if I recall correctly, the Red Sox and the White Sox, American baseball teams, both anteceded AOL by a few years.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Jonathan Howard: Tante - "tux" is short for "tuxido", and "sox" is this weird AOL-styled mangling of "socks".
AOL-styled? O_o
Latin was never murdered, Jonathan. It simply evolved. And you can be sure that 2500 years ago, people were making the same complaints about language that you're making now.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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posted
Great, kq, butcher the spelling of words I never use! But the hair-gel I use still is used for "hair-stailing".
I don't know where the word "tuxedo" emerged from, so I can't really know the plural.
JB - AOL-styled because "cks" is condensed into "x". Besides, "socks" is plural anyway - and that's what "Red Sox" is! Latin tradition is murdered when people call it "horcruxii" *flinch* . And yes, people were quarreling about language just the same back then.
quote: You are also studying English. Why are you adopting the Latin ending for an English pluralization?
Because that's the way I was brought up to write. I still prefer to write "oktopos" and "oktopodes". Posts: 2978 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
You were brought up to prefer a couple of dead languages to your own? I find that rather sad, to be honest.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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I have two languages, one of which was semi-dead for two thousand years, I study dead languages for school, and I read dead forms of living languages.
posted
"Dead forms of living languages" makes no sense. It's like saying your great-grandparents are dead forms of you.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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quote:Because that's the way I was brought up to write.
You should have a better reason for your actions than "My mother told me to." Surely you can come up with some sort of justification. Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Tante Shvester: Makes sense to me. There are ancient languages that have modern version, but are incomprehensible to the modern speaker.
Yes, I know.
Would you call Australopithecus a dead version of living people? It may be related to living people, but it's not merely a dead version of them.
quote:That's why people read the translation of Beowolf, even though it is written in English.
It's arguable whether you could still call it English.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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