Re: Latin name question

[NJPharris@aol.com]

In a message dated 3/21/01 3:10:49 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
rob_redwing@hotmail.com writes:

> Jeeze, I seem to be on a posting spree (for me) today. My question this 
time 
>  is...With a name ending in an e, how would one make that plural in Latin? 
I 
>  can't seem to figure it out, and people that I have talked to don't know 
>  either. So, I am hoping that someone here will know the answer. Thanks in 
>  advance!

Depends on the name.  As others have suggested, it could be an ablative case 
form you're looking at, but if it really is nominative, it would have to be a 
third-declension neuter noun or adjective, in which case the plural would end 
in -ia (as HP Calzola pointed out).

However, many "Latin" names are actually Greek.  A great many Greek feminine 
nouns end in long -e, and sometimes (as in _Homalocephale_) the ending has 
been left as it is in Greek rather than Latinized to -a.  The plural of these 
nouns is -ai (Greek) or -ae (Latin).

Best,
Nick P.