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Plural form of words ending in -us
In the English language, the plural form of words ending in ''-us'', especially those derived from Latin, replaces ''-us'' with ''-i''. Many exceptions exist, some because the word does not derive from Latin, and others due to habit (for example, ''campus'', plural ''campuses''). Conversely, some non-Latin words ending in ''-us'' and Latin words that did not have their Latin plurals with ''-i'' form their English plurals with ''-i''. Between these extremes are words that do not justify a Latin plural on etymological grounds, but that native English speakers commonly pluralize with ''-i'' (for example, ''octopi'' as a plural for octopus). Whether to regard these alternative plural forms as incorrect depends on one's position in the ongoing debate over prescriptivism versus descriptivism in linguistics and language education.
==History==
The -us singular form with an -i plural comes from Latin. However, the morphology of Latin nouns is complex and not every Latin word ending in -us pluralized in -i. The ones that did largely were from the second declension masculine. Briefly, a declension is the way a noun changes to reflect facts about the object to which it refers (e.g., its gender or number) or the relationship that the noun has to other words in the sentence. Remnants of the Old English declension system can be seen in words like ''I'', ''me'', ''we'', and ''us'' in modern English, as well as (more distantly) in the '''s'' enclitic. In Latin, just as in many languages spoken today, a word having several forms is the rule rather than the exception. Most words indicate their declension (including their number, i.e. whether they are singular or plural) using an affix, much as we use ' today to indicate possession and (usually) ''-s'' to indicate plurality. Specifically, the nominative singular form of second declension masculine nouns is marked with ''-us'', and the nominative plural with ''-i''. More at Latin grammar. Confusion arises because some Latin words ending in -us would not have pluralized with -i. Examples of regularly declined nouns include third declension neuters, such as ''opus'' and ''corpus'', with plurals ''opera'' and ''corpora'', and fourth declension masculine and feminine, such as ''sinus'' and ''tribus'', with plurals ''sinūs'' and ''tribūs''. Some idiosyncratic instances are ''bus'', a curtailed form of ''omnibus'', a dative plural, and ''ignoramus'', a verb.
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