Re: Plurals of English words derived from Latin (with -um endings in singular).
Lather, I thought I would go into this issue here, rather on the thread where you used "musea" (rather than the accepted "museums") as a plural for "museum." This is not a "gotcha" exercise, but a look at something that trips all of us up from time to time.
Such a fuss is made over such things as the datum/data confusion that many people, to be "on the safe side," always use the Latin ending "a" for any Latin-derived word ending in "um." Well, of course, some do end in -a, but some don't. There is no rational rule for explaining why some do and some don't; it is just a matter of haphazardly evolving usage.
The 2nd edition of Fowler's Modern English Usage (and maybe the other editions, too) gives a handy list of those nouns that have anglicized the plural to -ums (it includes "museum"); those that retain the Latin plural "a"; and those that have not made up their own minds. Here is the relevant passage:
..Three selections follow of nouns (1)that now always use -ums, either as having completed their naturalization (as it is to be hoped the rest may do in time), or for special reasons; (2) that show no signs at present of conversion, but always use -a; (3) that vacillate, sometimes with a differentiation of meaning, sometimes in harmony with the style of writing, and sometimes unaccountably. In deciding between the two forms for words in the third list, it should be borne in mind that, while anglicization is to be desired, violent attempts to hurry the process along actually retard it by provoking ridicule.
1. Plural in -ums only. (Those marked with an asterisk are not Latin nouns, and the -a plural for them would violate grammar as well as usage.) albums; antirrhinums [!?]; asylums; conundrums*; decorums; delphiniums; Elysiums; factotums*; forums; harmoniums; laburnums; lyceums; museums; nasturtiums; nostrums; panjandrums*; pendulums; petroleums; pomatums; premiums; quorums; targums*; vellums*.
2. Plural in -a only: agenda; bacteria (and many scientific terms); crania; curricula; desiderata; dcta; errata; maxima; minima; momenta; quanta; scholia (and other such learned words); strata; succedenea; vela.
3. Words with either plural: aquarium (usually -ums); compendium; emporium; encomium (usually -a); exordium; honorarium (usually -a); interregnum (usually -ums); lustrum (usually -a); medium; memorandum (usually -a); millenium; nostrum (usually -a); spectrum (usually -a); speculum (usually -a); stadium (-ums gaining); trapezium (usually -a); ultimatum (-ums better).
Fowler's has similar discussions of words ending in -us, -ex, -ix, and -trix, as well as a nice little discussion of Latin plurals in general.
Joan |
