Magnae Cartae
Dec. 6th, 2007 02:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smeadSo I was reading news stories this morning and ran across the following, regarding multiple copies of the Magna Carta that are going on display.
My search also turned up this great article, titled What is the plural of "penis"?, which gives a "brief" synopsis of Latin plurals. I'll freely admit that I occasionally like to use Latin plurals for sort of a faux highbrow (and hopefully humorous) effect. I'll even use pseudo-Latin plurals if I'm confident that my audience is in on the joke.
"These three 1217 charters are a unique historical collection," said librarian Sarah Thomas. "No other institution can boast such a concentration of Magna Cartae."Now there's a plural you don't see very often! It didn't seem quite right, though. I've never formally studied Latin, but I am a bit of a language dilettante and I thought I remembered something about adjective and noun agreement. A quick Googling confirmed that the preferred plural should be Magnae Cartae. If you want to be really snooty, you could even write Magnæ Cartæ, though my brief research suggests that Classical Latin really didn't use the ligature and that it was more of a mediæval affectation.
My search also turned up this great article, titled What is the plural of "penis"?, which gives a "brief" synopsis of Latin plurals. I'll freely admit that I occasionally like to use Latin plurals for sort of a faux highbrow (and hopefully humorous) effect. I'll even use pseudo-Latin plurals if I'm confident that my audience is in on the joke.
