The use of Latin plurals seems to be universally declining, no matter which declension the noun belongs to. Except, of course, when the plural is the word we use regardless of its number.
Therefore this thread is VERY academic. While I don't necessarily agree with Faldage's "bleeped rats", the way that Latin was pronounced is, in my opinion, still not completely sorted out and probably never will be. I'm sure that Ol' Nick has the formal pronunciation correct. His description of that is exactly what I was taught. My Latin teacher had spent years wandering around Europe retracing some obscure facet of Roman life for his PhD, and had some very interesting comments on Roman daily life. But he thought that the "upper class" pronunciation of Latin as taught was probably correct.
But what fascinates me (based on the discussions of grafitti and what have you that the Latinists have indulged in over the years and which I've followed in a rather desultory fashion) is how Marcus the Fishmonger spoke it. I don't believe that we do completely understand what the vernacular usage was. Dr Bell (my Latin teacher) started me off down this path some thirty-odd years ago, damn him!
