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| Which do you use to pluralize "octopus"? |
| -i |
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70% |
[ 17 ] |
| -es |
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20% |
[ 5 ] |
| -odes |
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8% |
[ 2 ] |
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| Total Votes : 24 |
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cubanlord
Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Location: In Japan!
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 Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 4:56 am Post subject: The etymology of "Octopus" and its plurals |
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| Man, have I read more than I wanted to read about whether or not Octopus should be -i or -es. Wow. So, which do you prefer? For the sake of my students, I am going with -es, even though I tend to use -i a lot more. |
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crossmr
Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Location: Hwayangdong, Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 5:49 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
The plural octopi is hypercorrect, and comes from the mistaken notion that the -us in octopus is a Latin second declension ending. The word is actually treated as a third declension noun in Latin. The plural octopodes follows the Ancient Greek plural, ὀκτώποδες (oktōpodes).
Sources differ on which plurals are acceptable: Fowler�s Modern English Usage asserts that "the only acceptable plural in English is octopuses", while Merriam-Webster and other dictionaries accept octopi as a plural form. The Oxford English Dictionary lists octopuses, octopi, and octopodes (the order reflecting decreasing frequency of use), stating that the last form is rare.
The term octopod (either plural octopods and octopodes can be found) is taken from the taxonomic order Octopoda but has no classical equivalent, and is not necessarily synonymous (it can encompass any member of that order). The collective form octopus is usually reserved for animals consumed for food. |
Octopi is clearly wrong, but becoming "right". Much like I imagine "can't have" will be one day...
otherwise just flip a coin, roll a dice.. if the experts can't decide there is no point in forcing anyone. |
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Leslie Cheswyck
Joined: 31 May 2003
Location: University of Western Chile
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| Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 6:10 am Post subject: |
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| I want to say octovagina but that's probably not it. |
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ChopChaeJoe
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 6:15 am Post subject: |
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| Octopuses is correct, though it sounds silly. |
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Arthur Dent
Joined: 28 Mar 2007
Location: Kochu whirld
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| Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 6:18 am Post subject: |
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopi
I use octopi. 'es' is more fun though.
Amazing creatures. I used to dive for them. Had to stop, just too amazing an animal to fish. Beautiful to see though. Biggest I ever caught was about 20 + kilos. I saw a bigger one at about 30 metres. Wasn't going to mess with it. The beak is as hard as a birds beak. |
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andrewchon
Joined: 16 Nov 2008
Location: Back in Oz. Living in ISIS Aust.
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| Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:30 pm Post subject: |
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| I thought it was octopussy... |
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ReeseDog
Joined: 05 Apr 2008
Location: Classified
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| Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 11:48 pm Post subject: |
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| The word being of Greek rather than Latin origin, either octopus or octopuses is a correct plural. As has been pointed out upthread, though, through ignorance and popular use octopi is becoming acceptable as well. |
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toadhjo
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 12:16 am Post subject: |
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| crossmr wrote: |
| Much like I imagine "can't have" will be one day... |
Could you give me an example of this? Do you have "can't have" in place of "couldn't have"?
Because saying something "I can't have this madness going on my message boards!" seems grammatically correct to be, at least in an informal context (though I'm not a grammar master by any means). |
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yingwenlaoshi
Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Location: ... location, location!
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| Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 2:16 am Post subject: |
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| I want to be under the sea. |
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Straphanger
Joined: 09 Oct 2008
Location: Chilgok, Korea
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| Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:16 am Post subject: |
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| ReeseDog wrote: |
| The word being of Greek rather than Latin origin, either octopus or octopuses is a correct plural. As has been pointed out upthread, though, through ignorance and popular use octopi is becoming acceptable as well. |
All of you need to consult a dictionary.
| m-w.com wrote: |
Main Entry:
oc�to�pus Listen to the pronunciation of octopus
Pronunciation:
\ˈ�k-tə-pəs, -ˌpu̇s\
Function:
noun
Inflected Form(s):
plural oc�to�pus�es or oc�to�pi Listen to the pronunciation of octopi \-ˌpī\
Etymology:
New Latin Octopod-, Octopus, from Greek oktōpous
Date:
1758
1: any of a genus (Octopus) of cephalopod mollusks that have eight muscular arms equipped with two rows of suckers ; broadly : any octopod excepting the paper nautilus2: something that resembles an octopus especially in having many centrally directed branches |
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chris_J2
Joined: 17 Apr 2006
Lo |
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