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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Linguistics Studies
corpus/corpora - ethymology
0 When the plurals of fung 01 b 00 us 02 b 00 and cact 01 b 00 us 02 b 00 are fung 01 b 00 i 02 b 00 and cact 01 b 00 i 02 b 00 (or cactuses), why 01 b 00 the plural of corpus 02 b 00 is not corpi but 01 b 00 corpora 02 b 00 (or corpuses)? 02 br
00 I know it would sound strange, but by analogy it should be similar to the previous ones. 0-
00 I know it would sound strange, but by analogy it should be similar to the previous ones. 0-
Top answer
0 It depends on the nature of the originating language: 02 br 02 br 00 Cactus derives from the Greek "o kaktos", plural = "kaktoi" [masculine noun] 02 br 02 br 00 Fungus derives from the Latin "fungus", plural = "fungi" [masculine noun] 02 br 00 Corpus derives from the Latin "corpus", plural = "corpora" [neuter noun] 0-
- 0 It depends on the nature of the originating language: 02 br 02 br 00 Cactus derives from the Greek "o kaktos", plural = "kaktoi" [masculine noun] 02 br 02 br 00 Fungus derives from the Latin "fungus", plural = "fungi" [masculine noun] 02 br 00 Corpus derives from the Latin "corpus", plural = "corpora" [neuter noun] 0-
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4 Answers
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0 It depends on the nature of the originating language: 02 br
02 br
00 Cactus derives from the Greek "o kaktos", plural = "kaktoi" [masculine noun] 02 br
02 br
00 Fungus derives from the Latin "fungus", plural = "fungi" [masculine noun] 02 br
00 Corpus derives from the Latin "corpus", plural = "corpora" [neuter noun] 0-
02 br
00 Cactus derives from the Greek "o kaktos", plural = "kaktoi" [masculine noun] 02 br
02 br
00 Fungus derives from the Latin "fungus", plural = "fungi" [masculine noun] 02 br
00 Corpus derives from the Latin "corpus", plural = "corpora" [neuter noun] 0-
00
0 Hi, 02 br
02 br
00 The short answer would be: such question are dangerous, try and learn them by heart! 05 0 02 br
00 The long answer is: in Latin, they have different inflected forms because they belong to two different "classes": 05 1 00 : 02 br
02 br
01 u 01 i 00 Fungus 02 i 02 u 00 (same inflected forms in "cactus"):
02 br
00 The short answer would be: such question are dangerous, try and learn them by heart! 05 0 02 br
00 The long answer is: in Latin, they have different inflected forms because they belong to two different "classes": 05 1 00 : 02 br
02 br
01 u 01 i 00 Fungus 02 i 02 u 00 (same inflected forms in "cactus"):
00
0 It's all to do with gender. Cactus and fungus are masculine nouns of which the proper plural ends in -i. Corpus is actually a neuter noun. Hence, the proper plural (nominative case) ends in -a. 02 br
00 It's 'corpora' rather than 'corpa' because the genitive singular case defines the stem of the noun. The genitive singular case of corpus is 'corporis'. 0-
00 It's 'corpora' rather than 'corpa' because the genitive singular case defines the stem of the noun. The genitive singular case of corpus is 'corporis'. 0-
00
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