-ii
English
editEtymology
editFrom rebracketing of plural forms like radii (plural of radius), borrowed from Latin. Latin forms the nominative plural of second-declension nouns by replacing -us with -ī, which results in plural forms that end in -iī for nouns with singulars ending in -ius. Some English speakers occasionally extend -ii to form nonstandard plural forms of English nouns that end simply with the letters -us or with other letter sequences with a similar pronunciation (such as -is /ɪs/).
Pronunciation
editSuffix
edit-ii
- Misspelling of -i.
- Used to form nonstandard, uncommon, often humorous alternative plural forms of nouns that end in -us, -is or a similar sound.
Usage notes
edit- All such forms are nonstandard, and therefore may be proscribed.
- For certain forms, such as cactii, a standard spelling with -i (cacti) exists; in this case, the -ii spelling may be simply a misspelling of the -i form.
- Other innovative plurals in -ii, such as stewardii, bear no resemblance to any standard plural form of the word; these may be used as intentionally nonstandard forms, often for the sake of humor. Compare the (often humorous) intentional use of nonstandard plural forms in -en.
Italian
editEtymology
editFrom Latin -īvī (via -īī).[1] Example: Italian finii, from Latin finivi.
Suffix
edit-ii (non-lemma form of verb-forming suffix)
- used with a stem to form the first-person singular past historic of regular -ire verbs
References
editLatin
editSuffix
edit-iī
Navajo
editSuffix
edit-ii
- nominalizer, creating agentive nouns from verbs and adjectives: "that which [verbs]", or "that which [is of adjective quality]"; compare English -er
Usage notes
editExample: from the verb hataał (“he sings”) + -ii, we can make a noun for hataałii (“singer”)
Derived terms
editSee also
editPhalura
editEtymology
edit(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
editSuffix
edit-ii
- Genitive suffix
Alternative forms
editReferences
edit- English 1-syllable words
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English suffixes
- English inflectional suffixes
- English misspellings
- English rebracketings
- Italian terms derived from Latin
- Italian non-lemma forms
- Italian suffix forms
- Latin non-lemma forms
- Latin suffix forms
- Navajo lemmas
- Navajo suffixes
- Phalura terms with IPA pronunciation
- Phalura lemmas
- Phalura suffixes