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#5624 08/25/00 10:15 AM
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>the plural is viri in latin...
yes, but that is the plural of vir (=man), whereas virus is of neuter gender, and therefore has the plural vira, see
http://lysy2.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/WORDS.EXE?vira
I must admit I never saw this plural in contemporary use. To me, it sounds vastly more elegant than viruses, not to speak of virii, which we should rather not put into circulation.


#5625 08/25/00 01:37 PM
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well, maybe we should compromise with octopodes then...

I'd have to say that I prefer octopi.


#5626 08/25/00 03:06 PM
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what's archaic about octopuses?
i've never heard octopodes in my life. was it meant to be a joke?


#5627 08/26/00 01:01 AM
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Goodness me! william, you're right--take a day off and who knows what you'll find when you return.
Such agonizings, over what was plainly stated as a made-up-in-total-subjectivity word, though it did lead, as these things so often seem to do here, to other interesting items.

Max, have you ever considered moving to Hawaii? Just think of how often you'd get to see and use that lovely ii.


#5628 08/26/00 01:26 AM
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>i've never heard octopodes in my life. was it meant to be a joke?

not at all. YCLIU


#5629 08/26/00 02:05 AM
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#5630 08/26/00 03:23 AM
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Max, my NZ connection told me that the two languages originated in the same area. (What he based this on, I don't know.) Interestingly, he said he gets Maori words by studying the vowel structure. I don't speak or read Hawaiian, but I know it is a language brimming with vowels.
He taught me how to pronounce Aotearoa. One of the Hawaiian islands is Oahu: three syllables!


#5631 08/26/00 04:16 AM
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humuhumunukunukuapuaa - a *small* Hawaiian fish


#5632 08/26/00 07:05 AM
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#5633 08/26/00 07:11 AM
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