密歇根新闻广播 拉丁语名词

 

A new high school in Utah is worried about the plural¹ form of their mascot², the phoenix³.

Sure, "phoenixes⁴" is perfectly⁵ innocuous. But parents were concerned about the other option: phoenices.

If you don't see the issue, go ahead and say that one out loud.

The school's principal said the team name would always be singular, similar to the Miami Heat or the Orlando Magic. Still, this got us wondering about other Latin plurals⁶.

Just like phoenix, there's no reason you can't put "es" on the end to get "indexes." In fact, that's what you'll see in most common usage. But if we're talking Latin plurals, "index" becomes "indices."

Not a fan? You're not alone. In his guide, Modern American Usage, Bryan Garner⁷ says "indices" is "high falutin and pretentious⁸." It's not quite as pretentious as using "fora" as the plural form of "forum," Garner says, but he still doesn't like it.

Despite Garner's charming assessment⁹, "indices" is still pretty common in scientific usage. For example, in statistics, if you're comparing a value to a standard, you'll get indices. In math, indices are a way to express large numbers.

Here's another one -- how do you make "focus" plural? Again, adding the "es" suffix¹⁰ is perfectly acceptable. But most standard dictionaries include both "focuses" and the Latin plural "foci."

That presents another question -- how do you say "foci"?

If you pronounce it with an "s" sound in the middle and a long "i" sound at the end, you're right. If you pronounce it with a "k" sound in the middle and a long "i" at the end, you're also right. Just like the two plural forms, most standard dictionaries include both pronunciations.

Are there other words that give you pause when it comes to pluralization? Let us know [email protected]@umich.edu.

1 plural   

n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的

参考例句：

• Most plural nouns in English end in's '.英语的复数名词多以s结尾。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。

2 mascot   

n.福神，吉祥的东西

参考例句：

• The football team's mascot is a goat.足球队的吉祥物是山羊。
• We had a panda as our mascot.我们把熊猫作为吉详物。

3 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

4 phoenixes   

凤凰，长生鸟（神话中的鸟，在阿拉伯沙漠中，可活数百年，然后自焚为灰而再生）( phoenix的名词复数 )； 菲尼克斯 （美国城市）

参考例句：

• Dragons beget dragons,phoenixes beget phoenixes. 龙生龙，凤生凤。
• "Dry mulberry-trees, old cypresses, trembling in its chill. There are nine Baby phoenixes, outcrying one another;" 枯桑老柏寒飕飗，九雏鸣凤乱啾啾。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学

5 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

6 plurals   

n.复数，复数形式( plural的名词复数 )

参考例句：

7 garner   

v.收藏；取得

参考例句：

• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals.他的提议得到了广泛的支持。
• Squirrels garner nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬储存松果。

8 pretentious   

adj.自命不凡的，自负的，炫耀的

参考例句：

• He is a talented but pretentious writer.他是一个有才华但自命不凡的作家。
• Speaking well of yourself would only make you appear conceited and pretentious.自夸只会使你显得自负和虚伪。

9 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

10 suffix   

n.后缀；vt.添后缀

参考例句：

• We add the suffix "ly" to make the adjective "quick" into the adverb " quickly ".我们在形容词“ quick”后加“ly” 构成副词“quickly”。
• It described the meaning of suffix array and also how to built it.它描述的含义，后缀数组以及如何建立它。