Re:Octopuses caught on camera throwing things at each other
by daveslash on Thursday November 10, 2022 @01:54PM
(#33551305)
Ironically, when not used as a word ending, but as a single word... "I" is a singular way to talk about a person (namely, oneself), where as "us" is a plural way to talk about multiple people.
Re:Octopuses caught on camera throwing things at each other
by jacobmartin on Thursday November 10, 2022 @02:15PM
(#33551563)
Maddeningly, it doesn't even apply to all Latin -us nouns. For instance, the plural of apparatus should be apparatūs if we're applying the Latin rules. Apparati, as it might seem, makes no sense! So even when the pattern match correctly identifies the language, it can be misleading.
--fellow Latin nerd
Re:Octopuses caught on camera throwing things at each other
by jjtheblunt on Thursday November 10, 2022 @03:45PM
(#33553060)
4th or 5th declension esoterica ftw!
Re:Octopuses caught on camera throwing things at each other
by jjtheblunt on Saturday November 12, 2022 @09:49PM
(#33579460)
apparatus is a past participle from apparare, so as an adjective plural would follow second declension, not fourth, i thought.
used as a noun, it's an (implicit thing) prepared (which preparatus would describe, but i guess we don't have any other word in English other than apparatus.
i don't have a Latin dictionary though
Re:Octopuses caught on camera throwing things at each other
by jacobmartin on Monday November 14, 2022 @03:21PM
(#33600413)
apparatus is first/second as a past participle. I suppose it could be used as a substantive, but there is also a fourth declension noun with the same lemma meaning implements, tools, etc.: https://logeion.uchicago.edu/apparatus
It's a pattern matching phenomenon.
It would be less weird if there were not spelling irregularities, since the -pus is meant to be foot (like pes, pedes...in Latin, or pos, podes,... in Greek).
Basically, the spelling irregularity triggers a sensible pattern match, which happens to of course not honor the spelling irregularity.
And then nerds like me write too much about such, but i had years of Latin for something!