The "weird conventions" (as they seem to you) used in transliteration from Greek to Latin alphabet, are not weird at all.
First of all, almost all Greek words used in English are not directly borrowed from the Greek language. They travelled first through the Latin language. English-speaking nations never came in direct contact with Greek-speaking nations. Therefore, the "weird conventions" are just the rules for transliteration from Greek to Latin. Of course English-speaking people are not using the alphabet in the same way as the Latin-speaking Romans did. That's why the rules of Greek-to-Latin transliteration seem "weird conventions" to you.
Secondly, I will insist that the word "octopus", in that exact form, cannot be declined with the rules of the Greek language (i.e. it cannot be "octopodes" in the nominative of the plural), because it has been adapted to the Latin declination system. So, knowing that in Greek the original word is spelled omikron-kappa-tau-ALPHA-pi-omikron-upsilon-sigma, makes this matter clearer.
I also have studied the many older forms of my language for many many years, enough to prove my claim would not be fallacious, even if it was irrelevant.
Thank you for the lesson about my own language, but I would tend to insist that a) in greek there is an alpha between tau and pi (instead of an omega) b) the word (like virtually all greek loanwords) has entered english through its latin form, not directly from greek.
No. "Octopus" is the latin form. The greek form is "Oktapous".
But Linux is not in any way a word with a latin ending. Nor does it seem like possible to be used in plural form in a sentence of any kind.
Slashdot Mirror
adieu
The "weird conventions" (as they seem to you) used in transliteration from Greek to Latin alphabet, are not weird at all.
First of all, almost all Greek words used in English are not directly borrowed from the Greek language. They travelled first through the Latin language. English-speaking nations never came in direct contact with Greek-speaking nations. Therefore, the "weird conventions" are just the rules for transliteration from Greek to Latin. Of course English-speaking people are not using the alphabet in the same way as the Latin-speaking Romans did. That's why the rules of Greek-to-Latin transliteration seem "weird conventions" to you.
Secondly, I will insist that the word "octopus", in that exact form, cannot be declined with the rules of the Greek language (i.e. it cannot be "octopodes" in the nominative of the plural), because it has been adapted to the Latin declination system. So, knowing that in Greek the original word is spelled omikron-kappa-tau-ALPHA-pi-omikron-upsilon-sigma, makes this matter clearer.
I also have studied the many older forms of my language for many many years, enough to prove my claim would not be fallacious, even if it was irrelevant.
Thank you for the lesson about my own language, but I would tend to insist that a) in greek there is an alpha between tau and pi (instead of an omega) b) the word (like virtually all greek loanwords) has entered english through its latin form, not directly from greek.
No. "Octopus" is the latin form. The greek form is "Oktapous". But Linux is not in any way a word with a latin ending. Nor does it seem like possible to be used in plural form in a sentence of any kind.