medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On Tuesday, March 13, 2007, at 3:34 pm, Anne Willis wrote:
> And should the plural of piscina be piscinae,
> rather than piscinas?
The choice between an attested plural in a loan word's own language and the general English-language plural in '-s' strikes me as a matter of personal style and comfort, plus of course of one's sense of one's audience. _En famille_, I use 'nasturtia' as an English-language plural of 'nasturtium'. But in a garden club that usage might only cause puzzlement and annoyance.
Someone who is willing to insist on 'pyxides' as the plural of 'pyx' will have no difficulty in demanding 'piscinae' rather than 'piscinas', no matter how many anathemas this may provoke from others. And perhaps even from others who use 'anathemata' as the plural of 'anathema' in the sense of 'imprecation' (to me, 'anathemata' are votive offerings).
Best,
John Dillon
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