tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post8853969739702604733..comments2024-02-28T05:25:12.859-05:00Comments on English, Jack: What's the plural of Prius?Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02870575277556244419noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post-61759766510839639022011-02-01T01:16:17.958-05:002011-02-01T01:16:17.958-05:00"Prius" is either the neuter comparative..."Prius" is either the neuter comparative adjective or the comparative adverb. So the plural would be "Priora."Lukenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post-18497331936852947142011-01-27T19:48:07.359-05:002011-01-27T19:48:07.359-05:00But he starts with "if we were going to be et...But he starts with "if we were going to be etymologically exact," which strikes me as fair enough. Either way, it's certainly an issue to be aware of.Bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02870575277556244419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post-39567693803433131302011-01-27T19:42:57.042-05:002011-01-27T19:42:57.042-05:00He's expressing his preference, yes, but he co...He's expressing his preference, yes, but he couches it in terms of preferring a "plain English" plural (following rule-family #1) over a "fake Latin plural" (following rule-family #3).Ranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01369980917358096502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post-68051706018853093562011-01-27T17:58:07.659-05:002011-01-27T17:58:07.659-05:00I think Liberman's just expressing his prefere...I think Liberman's just expressing his preference, isn't he? Even descriptivists are allowed to offer advice.Bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02870575277556244419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post-34213248520096122972011-01-27T17:38:56.257-05:002011-01-27T17:38:56.257-05:00One example: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/...One example: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2684Ranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01369980917358096502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post-69593916282470961672011-01-27T17:22:06.511-05:002011-01-27T17:22:06.511-05:00Ran, I raised a similar point in my discussion or ...Ran, I raised a similar point in my discussion or <a href="http://english-jack.blogspot.com/2009/02/thesaurusi-or-how-descriptivist-can-you.html" rel="nofollow">thesaurusi</a>. Which descriptive linguists are saying a particular plural is wrong?Bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02870575277556244419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post-80748551525949767902011-01-27T17:12:30.489-05:002011-01-27T17:12:30.489-05:00It seems to me that people frequently set up a fal...It seems to me that people frequently set up a false dichotomy in these discussions: either you use the regular English plural (in this case "Priuses"), or you use the etymologically purest Latin or Greek nominative plural (in this case "Priora"), or else you're in error. What's odd is, trained, descriptivist linguists seem to fall into this trap just as much as anyone else.<br /><br />The reality, of course, is that English has a bunch of rules for forming plurals. The -s/-es/-'s family of rules (call it #1) is extremely common, and the use-something-relevant-from-the-source-language family of rules (call it #2) is also fairly common and salient — but -us → -i and -is → -es and so on are also a fairly common and salient family of rules (call it #3). #2 and #3 aren't always distinguishable, and some instances of #3 may be used by some speakers who think they're instances of #2 … but who cares? Why does that make #3 "wrong"?<br /><br />Proscription of the very common "octopi" as a "hypercorrection" (for example) is the very sort of prescriptivism that descriptivists usually denounce.Ranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01369980917358096502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post-27966307619293008402011-01-27T13:17:49.801-05:002011-01-27T13:17:49.801-05:00Quite so: I got it from Harry Mount, author of &qu...Quite so: I got it from Harry Mount, author of " Carpe Diem: Put a Little Latin in Your Life." "Yes, it's Priora," he told me, "because it's neuter plural. But if you cheated a bit and made the car masculine or feminine - and I do think of cars as female - then it would be Priores. And Priores has nice undertones of grandness - Virgil used it to mean 'forefathers' or 'ancestors.' "<br /><br />Lots more recent comment at <a href="http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/blogexcerpts/2581/" rel="nofollow">Visual Thesaurus</a> ...Janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01579983806826643000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post-25049075850729828852011-01-27T11:11:49.746-05:002011-01-27T11:11:49.746-05:00The naming & branding blogger Fritinancy has b...The naming & branding blogger <a href="http://nancyfriedman.typepad.com/" rel="nofollow">Fritinancy</a> has been posting and tweeting about this issue for awhile <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=prius+site:http://nancyfriedman.typepad.com/&hl=en&num=10&lr=&ft=i&cr=&safe=images&tbs=" rel="nofollow">here</a>.<br /><br />She quotes Jan Freeman as siding with <i>Priora</i> <a href="http://nancyfriedman.typepad.com/away_with_words/2008/01/whats-the-plura.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09558846279006287148noreply@blogger.com