[Taxacom] ductus bursa or ductus bursae?

[Soowon Cho]

Dear Members,

First of all, thanks for commenting on "ductus bursae".

When describing the type of moth, the singular form is mainly used, such as
forewings, antennae, ocellus, and so on, but the plural form is also used
when there is a pair of moths, such as forewings, antennae, and hind legs.

Of course, as Stephen Thorpe points out, even if there is only one part per
moth to explain, we can still talk about "ductus bursae" in the general
plural sense.
So, as David Redei explained, it's really nice to know that "ductus
bursae", not "ductus bursa", is the correct singular form of the grammar.

Here I have two questions.
If "ductus" can be both singular and plural, what is the plural of "ductus
bursae"? Is it the same "ductus bursae"?
As Elisa Rost individually mentioned to me, if "corpus" can only be
singular (the plural is "corpora"), then what is the plural of "corpus
bursae" if "corpus bursae" is singular? "corpora bursae"?

Sincerely,

On Tue, Jul 20, 2021 at 11:50 AM David Redei via Taxacom <
taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu> wrote:

> Dear Soowon,
>
> *bursa *is the nominative singular of this Latin noun ("one bursa"). In the
> declension system of Latin nouns, both the nominative plural of *bursa
> *("one
> bursa, two bursae") and genitive singular of *bursa *(of the bursa =
> bursa's = bursae) are *bursae*. In the morphological term *ductus bursae*
> the noun *bursa *is in genitive singular, it means "the duct of the bursa",
> "the bursa's duct". "Ductus bursa" is grammatically wrong.
>
> With best regards,
>
> David Redei
>
> On Tue, 20 Jul 2021 at 10:11, Soowon Cho via Taxacom <
> taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu> wrote:
>
> > Dear members,
> >
> > I use terms like 'ductus bursae' or 'corpus bursae' to describe the
> female
> > genitalia in Lepidoptera taxonomy. However, I am confused as the term
> > ductus bursae is a plural noun while only one ductus bursa is in the
> female
> > genitalia.
> > I searched the internet and found examples such as 'ductus bursa is',
> > 'ductus bursae are', and 'ductus bursae is', so I was more confused.
> > Can someone please clarify this for me?
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > --
> > Soowon Cho
> > chosoowon at gmail.com
> > Dept Plant Medicine
> > Chungbuk Nat'l Univ
> > Cheongju, 361-763
> > KOREA
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-- 
Soowon Cho
chosoowon at gmail.com
Dept Plant Medicine
Chungbuk Nat'l Univ
Cheongju, 361-763
KOREA