2021-04-23 ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด – A – alumnus & alumni & alumna
2021-04-23
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด – A – alumnus & alumni & alumna
แนะนำการใช้ ตามที่ส่วนใหญ่ใช้ แต่ละท้องถิ่น
ความหมาย อาจผันแปร ตาม ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค
Dictionary.com
ออกเสียง alumnus = ‘uh-LUHM-nuhs’
ออกเสียง alumni = ‘uh-LUHM-nahy’
ออกเสียง alumna = ‘uh-LUHM-nuh’
Farlex Trivia Dictionary.
Alumnus and alumna stem from Latin alere,
"to nourish or be nourished," now by a university;
originally alumnus was a pupil
and now it is a male graduate.
Alumni refers to either sex.
See also related terms for nourish.
Dictionary.com
USAGE NOTE FOR ALUMNUS
Alumnus (in Latin a masculinenoun)
usually refers to a male graduateor former student;
the plural is alumni.
An alumna (in Latin a feminine noun)
refers to a female graduate or former student;
the plural is alumnae.
Traditionally,
the masculineplural alumni has been used
for groups composed of both sexes and is still widely so used:
the alumni of Indiana University.
Sometimes, to avoid any suggestion of sexism,
both termsare used for mixed groups:
the alumni/alumnae of Indiana University
or the alumni and alumnae of Indiana University.
Some people use the less formal abbreviation alum
and its plural alums to avoid the complexities of the Latin forms
and their unfamiliar gender inflection.
Others use the terms
graduate and graduates,
though they arenot quite equivalent in meaning,
to eliminate any need for using a masculine plural form
to refer toboth sexes.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Alumnus or Alumna?
Many people are comfortable using the word
alumni to refer to someone who was a student of a particular school.
However, others feel quite strongly
that this is an error and that the following forms should be used:
alumnus (for one male), alumni (for multiple males,
or for a mix of males and females),
alumna (for one female), and alumnae (for multiplefemales).
The shortened form alum
and its plural form alums began to be used in the 19th century.
Initially, alum was widely viewed as highly colloquial or informal,
but is increasing in use as a gender-neutral alternative.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Usage Notes
'Alumni' vs. 'Alumnus'
An accelerated course of study
What to Know
For an individual graduate,
an alumnus is a single male,
an alumna is a singlefemale, and
an alum is the gender neutral term.
For the plurals,
alumni refers to multiple male or gender neutral graduates,
alumnae is for multiple female grads, and
alums is the gender neutral plural.
These termsare often used loosely and their strict definitionsare in flux.
When you graduate from a school
do you then consider yourselfan alum,
an alumnus (/dictionary/alumnus), or an alumni?
Or do youconsider yourself an alumna or an alumnae,or even an alums?
All Forms of 'Alum-'
At first glance this all seems unreasonably confusing,
almost as though it had been fashioned as a test
to see whether you should have graduated from that school,
but there is an explanation for why
there are so many different forms of the word.
Before getting to that explanation,
here is a quick breakdown of
what is currently the most common application
of each of these words:
Alumnus = usually single male graduate, less often single female graduate
Alumni = plural male graduates & plural gender neutral graduates
Alumna = single female graduate
Alumnae = plural female graduates
Alum = single graduate, gender neutral
Alums = plural graduates, gender neutral
Origin of 'Alumnus'
Alumnus,which comes from the Latin for “foster son, pupil,”
is the oldest of the aforementioned words,
dating in use from the early 17th century.
Many words taken from Latin end updeveloping English plurals
(although some also manage to retaintheir Latin plural forms
as well, aswith stadiums & stadia, or forums & fora),
but alumnus did not;
it is only pluralized as alumni.
Alumna is usually used of a man in the singular
(although occasionally is used of a womanin the singular as well)
but often may be found describing men and women in the plural.
When used in a more figurative sense
(“a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate”)
alumnus and alumni tend to be less gendered.
Alumna (unsurprisingly also from Latin, the feminine of alumnus)
has been in used since the middle of the 19th century
to refer to “a girl or womanwho has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university.”
As with alumnus,this word has not developed an English plural,
and is only pluralized as alumnae.
This word also is found used in a broader manner
(“a girl or woman who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate”), but is typically only applied to women.
Also dating from the 19th century is alum,
a shortening of alumnus and alumna.
This word has taken on an English plural,
and is pluralized as alums.
While alum was initially viewed
as highly informal it isincreasingly accepted and in use.
Modern Usage
All of these words are, as is the English language itself,
constantly in a state of flux,
and what is considered correct now
may be viewed differently in 20 years.
If you are concerned about
choosing the word that is least likely to arouse
someone’s usage hackles
think of alumnus & alumni as male,
alumna & alumnae as female, and
alum & alums as gender neutral.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Usage Notes
Just What Does That 'Ae' Say?
How to talk about an insect's antennae with confidence. Sort of
The lettercombination "ae" isn't common in English.
We know what to do with "oa" in boat
and "ai" in sail
and "ea" in sea,
but "ae" doesn’tshow up a lot,
and in the cases in which it does make an appearance,
it behaves inconsistently.
It says one thing in algae,
another thing in aesthetic,
and still another in maestro. What's a person to do?
Have no fear: your dictionary is here to help you.
First a bit of background:
the “ae” in these words comes froma Latin diphthong*
that linguists believe was pronounced like the English "long i,"
the vowel sound in my.
Latin was spoken for a long time, though,
and there's nothing a language likes better than change.
That "long i" sound for "ae" didn't stick around.
Eventually, the sound merged with the Latin monophthong "long e,"
which eventually became the English vowel sound in me.
The "long e" soundis the one we have
in a number of Latin-derived Englishwords
spelled with "ae":
algae (\ˈal-(ˌ)jē\)
Caesar (\ˈsē-zər\)
aqua vitae (\ˌa-kwə-ˈvī-tē\)
arborvitae (\ˌär-bər-ˈvī-tē\)
antennae (\an-ˈte-nē\) (The zoological plural; radios have "antennas.")
However, that older "long i" sound
also survivedin some English words,
likely aided by the study of classical Latin by English speakers.
In most cases, it shares territory with the "long e";
a number of English words with "ae"
have dual established pronunciations in good use:
alumnae (\ə-ˈləm-(ˌ)nē\ play or \ə-ˈləm-ˌnī\ )
larvae (\ˈlär-(ˌ)vē\ play or \ˈlär-ˌvī\ )
lacunae (\lə-ˈkyü-(ˌ)nē\ play or \lə -ˈkü-ˌnī\ )
Bacchae (\ˈba-ˌkē\ play or \ˈba-ˌkī\ )
(The word maestro (\ˈmī-(ˌ)strō\ play),
the only commonEnglish "ae" word pronounced solely with a "long i,"
is an outlier, having been adopted from Italian;
its pronunciation in English reflects its Italianpronunciation.)
But most of us have never studied Latin,
and English has a bunch of other words with "ae"
that have other sounds entirely.
In aegis the "ae" can be pronounced as a "long e" or "long a":
\ˈē-jəs\ play or \ˈā-jəs\ .
The second optionmakes good sense to English speakers,
who are used to "e" making vowels long:
think of tie and toe—and the names Mae and Rae.
In a few words,
like aesthetic (\es-ˈthe-tik\),
"ae"makes the "short e" sound in the word met.
What's clear once we get all this out on the page
is that "ae"is a confusing little unit for English speakers.
It's not commonly found in everyday English words,
which means that
no onecan be blamed for not knowing what to do with it.
Now that you've read this article,
you'll know to check your friendly dictionary
in cases where you're not sure.
And when there's no time for that,
you'll have a good explanation for your uncertainty.
Some bonus diphthong talk:
* For the non-linguists out there,
a diphthongis, in simplified terms,
a sound made by
gliding from one vowel soundto another within a single syllable.
When linguists talk about such sounds
they talk about the articulatory position
—that is, the positions the lips, tongue, etc. have in making the sound.
To make a diphthong,
the articulatory position changes in the course of the sound.
We use diphthongs all the time without thinking about it.
Compare, for example,
the vowel sound in the word cat,which is not a diphthong,
with the vowel sound in the word cow:
to pronounce the latter word,
most speakers follow the consonant with the vowel sound in cat
gliding quickly into the vowel soundin coo.
That \a\ to \oo\ glide occurring in a single syllable is a diphthong.
The other common diphthongs
in English are the vowel sounds
in toy, my, and view.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Usage Notes
All About Latin Plurals
Latin has a few plural forms, so check our dictionary.
What to Know
There are a few ways to pluralize words from Latin.
Some words that end in -us are pluralized with an -i
(like alumnus to alumni).
Some words don't change form in Latin,
So, their plurals have been Anglicized with an additional -es
(status to statuses).
Finally, many scientificwords come from New Latin,
which has numerous possible endings,
such as -ae (antennae), -a (data), -es (crises), and more.
One common misconception
floating around the English language
is the notion that all Latin-derived nouns
that end in the suffix -us in the singular
should endin -i when they are plural.
And there is, in fact, a plethora of such -i Latin plurals in English: witness oculus (a word for an oval window
or for a circular opening at the top of a dome)
and its plural oculi,
or the more common alumnus/alumni and stimulus/stimuli.
Words from Latin Without '-i' Plurals
However, there are quite a few Latin nouns
that do not have an -i pluraleven in their original language
that have become naturalized in the English language.
In Latin, these nouns belong to a group
in which the singular and plural were spelled alike.
A sampling of such words is prospectus, status, and apparatus.
None of those wordshave an -i plural.
In English,
the plural of prospectus is Anglicized to prospectuses
and that of status to statuses.
Apparatus,though, has the regular English plural apparatuses
but also retains in some use the Latin plural apparatus.
New Latin Plurals
In addition(and to make things even more complicated),
many words originating in science are derivedfrom
something called New Latin (e.g., octopus and phobia),
a type ofLatin that has been used since the end of the Middle Ages specificallyfor scientific classification and descriptions.
Some of these NewLatin words are inflected
like Medieval Latin words were;
however, a good number acquired fully English inflected forms as well.
Abscissa,which refers to the horizontal coordinate of a point
in a plane Cartesian coordinate system
that is obtained by measuring parallel to the x-axis
(see illustration at definition link), is a good example.
The New Latin word has
both the Latinate plural abscissae
and the Anglicized plural abscissas,
which brings up other plural forms
that include the suffix -ae and -a,
along with inflections ending in -s and -es,
which can orthographically transform a word.
For example,
We have addendum / addenda, antennal / antennae,
medium /media, crisis /crises, crux /cruces, and index/indices.
In sum:
some Latin-derived wordshave both a native plural and an English form.
There is also the acceptable, grammatically challenging
use of theLatin plural as a singular form in English,
as in agenda, data, and trivia.
When considering a Latin plural or singularform,
consult our dictionary—that is our recommendation.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language,
Alumnus
Usage Note:
Alumnus and alumna both come from Latin and preserve Latin plurals.
Alumnus is a masculine noun
whose plural is alumni, and alumna is a feminine noun
whose plural is alumnae.
Coeducational institutions
usually use alumni for graduates of both sexes.
But those who object to masculine forms
in such cases may prefer using alumni and alumnae, alumnae/i,
or the more casual alums.
The word graduates also presents a gender-neutral alternative.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary
usage:
alumnus (in Latin a masculine noun)
refers to a male graduate or former student; the plural is alumni.
An alumna (in Latin a feminine noun)
refers to a female graduate or former student; the plural is alumnae.
Traditionally,
the masculine plural alumni has been used for groups
composed of both sexes and is still widely so used.
Sometimes, to avoid any suggestion of sexism,
both terms are used for mixed groups:
the alumni/alumnae (or the alumni and alumnae) of Indiana University.
While not quite equivalent in meaning,
the terms graduate and graduates
avoid both the complexities of the Latin forms
and the use of a masculine plural form to refer to both sexes.
The shortened form alum (plural alums) is another genderless option.
Dictionary of Problem Words in English
alumnus & alumni & alumna
An alumnus is a male graduate of some institution,
usually a collegeor university.
An alumna is a woman graduate.
Respective pluralsare alumni and alumnae.
The term alumni is now often usedto refer to
men and women graduate of coeducational institutions.
To refer to graduates as alum or alumsis nonstandard.
“Beth is an alumna of Smith College.”
“Barbara and Roberta are alumnae of Mount Holyoke College.”
“Jack is an alumnus of Duke University.”
“Joy, Jill, and Tom are alumni of Dartmouth College.”
Common Errors In English Usage Dictionary
Alumnus & alumni
We used to have “alumnus” (male singular), “alumni” (male plural),
“alumna” (female singular) and “alumnae” (female plural);
but the latter twoare now popular only among older female graduates,
with the first two terms becoming unisex.
However, it is still important to distinguish
between one alumnus and a stadiumfull of alumni.
Never say, “I am an alumni”
if you don’t want to cast discredit on your school.
Many avoid the whole problem
by resorting to
the informal abbreviation “alum.”
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