On Thursday, November 25, 1999 at 9:00:00 AM UTC+1, Matthew Montchalin wrote:
On Thu, 25 Nov 1999, John Woodgate wrote:
| <NP6%3.9839$[email protected]>, LaLassa <[email protected]-
| klu.ac.at> inimitably wrote:
| >Can anyone tell me what the plural of the Latin word exodus is? Is it exodus
| >or exodi? And would the respective Latin plural form be appropriate in an | >English text at all?
| >
| It's not a Latin word, but a Greek word 'exodos', latinised. The plural
| *might* be 'exodoi', but I don't know enough Greek to be sure.
The Oxford Glossary of Late Latin to 600 A.D. indicates that the neuter exodum is yet another variation to exodus. Lewis & Short's Latin
Dictionary indicates that "exodus, i" is a second declension feminine noun derived from the Greek exodos, an exit or going out. It was probably considered feminine because of the implied 'historia' or maybe 'res
gesta.' The Latin version of exodos is "exitus, us" -- a masculine 4th declension noun.
The translator was seeking the plural of exodus. Depending on the nature
of the sentence, it is possible that no plural is to be used, nor should
be desirable. Can somebody post the sentence that is to be translated?
For instance, the following singular/plural formations are possible:
Singular Plural
exodus exodi (feminine)
exodum exoda (neuter)
exitus exitUs (masculine)
I think "exodus" is a second declension masculine noun. Which gives the long -i plural form.
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