Here’s Dictionary.com’s take on the virus pluralization situation. It doesn’t say much besides that it’s not viri/virii. The former is in fact the Latin word for “men.”
What is the OP referring to? I’ve only seen “penii” used as a joke. Do you have a link?
In Latin, the nominative masculine is usually spelled with “-us” on the end. The plural of this is spelled “-i.”
Thus, the word “denarius” (a coin) would become “denarii” (coins.) “Viri” is actually the plural of “vir” (man.)
Unfortunately, “penis” does not have the telltale “-us” on the end, which would indicate that it was decendant from Latin. Thus, the spelling “penii” would be incorrect. (It would be pronounced “pee-nee-ee” in English.)
Another reason why a plural could contain a “-i” on the end would be in cases such as grafitti, scampi, or spaghetti. But in such cases, the singular ends in “-o” (grafitto, scampo, and spaghetto,) so our hapless penis doesn’t fit in this catergory either.
Alas. Penises looks like the best choice.
Even worse, how did I manage to fuck up spelling Latin?
:smack:
So does one of our linguists want to explain why exactly virus doesn’t pluralize as viri, and which types of -us words become -i and which don’t?
I have nothing of real worth to contribute here, except to mention that this is very likely gonna get snatched up as someone’s sig before the day’s through.
Well, for one thing, viri is the plural of vir, meaning man, according to the link provided by Speaker for the Dead.
This page has a detailed table of Latin noun declensions.
You’d have to ask a linguist, not just a lowly Latin student. Words branch out throughout history, taking on strange forms, and such.
This page linked from the Dictionary.com article has some good details virus in Latin.
The above page also mentions this as if it were significant. Are there no homonyms in Latin?
The quote in the previous post is actually from amore ac studio. My apologies.
Thank goodness I only have one penis.
Penis, if it’s prepared.
Hmm? This isn’t… oh. Right. Nevermind.
I have had more than one. I did let the men in my life carry them for me most of the time.
What ? Penises can get heavy !
The English word “virus” is derived from the Latin word “virus”, which means, loosely, “poison” - it’s the same root as “virulent”.
The Latin “virus” is a perfectly ordinary second declension noun, so the (nominative) plural is “viri”.
As matt_mcl points out, the English word “virus” has a normal everyday English plural, which is “viruses”.
“Virii” is just plain wrong whichever way you slice it.
The English word “penis” is derived from the Latin “penis” which means either “a male sexual organ” or “a tail”.
The Latin “penis” is a third declension noun, the third declension is a bit of a pig, but if memory serves the nominative plural should be “penes”.
And the English plural would be “penises”. And “penii” is just plain stupid.
Source: the Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, this online Latin dictionary, and hours of misspent youth spent poring over noun declensions in my Latin teacher’s Dormobile.
And that, folks, is how you kill a thread.
:: gives it one more whack over the head with an etymological dictionary to make sure, then saunters off into the sunset ::
Not if you say the right things to them. Then they stand up on their own and carry themselves quite well. 