Greek and Latin irregular plurals-rules to change number

Greek Latin irregular plurals :

The source of  information in the following table is Wikipedia.

English has borrowed a great many words from Latin and  Greek. The general trend with loan words is toward what is called Anglicization or naturalization, that is, the re-formation of the word and its inflections as normal English words. Many nouns have settled on, or acquired a modern form from the original (usually Latin). Other nouns have become Anglicized, taking on the normal “s” ending. In some cases, both forms are still competing.

The choice of a form can often depend on context: for a scholar, the plural of appendix is appendices (following the original language); for some physicians, the plural of appendix is appendixes. Likewise, a radio or radar engineer works with antennas, but an entomologist deals with antennae. The choice of form can also depend on the level of discourse: traditional Latin plurals are found more often in academic and scientific contexts, whereas in daily speech the Anglicized forms are more common. In the following table, the Latin plurals are listed, together with the Anglicized forms when these are more common.


Easy way to remember Greek and Latin words. See the explanation below.


GREEK ma-ta is-(j)es us-des IES on-a?

Telugu:   గ్రీక్ మాట జీసస్ డెసిషన్ ఆ? 

(Meaning in Telugu: గ్రీక్ మాట జీసస్ నిర్ణయమా?)


Explanation:

1st sound : ‘ma-ta‘ in Telugu may mean ‘word’/‘sentence’/’statement’. (Rule: Final ‘ma’ becomes ‘ta’)

2nd sound : ‘is’ – (j)es (English word) (Rule: Final ‘is’ becomes ‘es’)

          I added ‘j’ here to get the name ‘Jesus’ when joined by the next ‘us’

3rd sound : us-des (Rule : Final ‘us’ becomes ‘des’) The sound ‘des’ is part of the sound ‘decision’. Try to say ‘Des-IES-On’ quickly. It sounds like the word ‘decision’ in English.

4th sound : IES (Rule: Final ‘ies’ does not change.

5th sound : ‘on-a’ (Rule: Final ‘on’ becomes ‘a’


***** If you like this idea or if you want to suggest anything, please mention it in the comments section.*****


Do an exercise now.

[WpProQuiz_toplist 15]

[WpProQuiz 15]

One Response

  1. Ramakrishna 24/03/2020

Leave a Reply