"Species" the plural form

[B. J. Tindall]

The problem with adding names of latin of pseudolatin origin is not
confined to genus or species. In microbiology trivial names are usually
derived from generic names or vice versa i.e. we have "bacillus" (plural
"bacilli) = rod, which gave us the genus Bacillus, while the genus
Staphylococcus has given rise to the trival name "staphylococcus" (plural
"staphylococci"), and there is "enterobacterium" (plural "enterobacteria")
The English language is a wonderful assortment of words derived from Latin,
French, old German; one even finds old Norse in certain words. The Scots,
Welsh and Irish also have their own words and phrases which you often
cannot find in an "English" dictionary. The major problem is a failure to
appreciate the roots of a language. Judging from the last e-mail are we to
expect "specieses", "staphylococcuses", "enterobacteriums" and
"informations" in the literature?
Best wishes
Brian Tindall

 At 09:08 01.12.99 -0500, you wrote:
>WED 1 Dec 902am
>
>Friends:
>
>        My colleague and student of Anglo-Saxon linguism offers these
thoughts
>on "Specie"/"Species", with an additional idea that anybody worried
>about this sort of thing ought to expect to see "specie" as the singular
>for "species" more and more in the future. And, that the word
>"specieses" may eventually arise as a plural of "species"!
>
>        later JOHN NELSON, USCH
>
>-------- Original Message --------
>From: "Scott J. Gwara" <gwaras at garnet.cla.sc.edu>
>Subject: Re: [Fwd: Specie - species]
>To: nelson at sc.edu
>
>John,
>The Latin word species is, like dies 'day', a fifth-declension noun,
>with a plural form species.  When borrowed into English in the late
>sixteenth century, the word was not fully assimilated.  By analogy
>(ignorance), commoners think that it's a plural form and that specie
>is singular.  In fact, specie is the ablative form of species borrowed
>from the prepositional phrase "in specie," and it entered English
>separately around the same time as species.  English generally forms
>plurals by adding <s> to the ends of words, and species falls under this
>rule, reinforced by the competing term specie, which seems to have a
>special function.  I think that, because scientists like to be
>linguistically accurate, they use the proper Latin form which represents
>a direct (ill-fitting) borrowing from Latin.
>S.
>
>


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