1015
🐙 Octopus is Octopus 🐙 (mander.xyz)
submitted 6 months ago by to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
104 comments fedilink hide all child comments
🐙 1
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 5 points 6 months ago* (3 children)

As a native greek speaker, I find anything other than "octopuses" to be silly. In greek we don't say (any more) octopodes, we say "chtapodia" (the "ch" is the canonical (ELOT) transliteration of the letter χ).

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    Could you just clarify one thing? I was told that the plural wouldn't be octopodes, but octopoda, similarly to what you used for modern Greek.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    In modern Greek, singular: χταπόδι, plural: χταπόδια.

    Transliterated using standard ELOT (that maps χ to ch) singular: chtapodi, plural: chtapodia.

    The word is composite and contracted. First part originally is οχτώ (8) (transliteration: ochto) but has been uncommonly shortened to χτα (chta). Second part is the word for foot (singular: πόδι/podi, plural: πόδια/podia).

    So without the uncommon shortening in more archaic Greek it would be: οχταπόδι (ochtapodi) and οχταπόδια (ochtapodia).

    If ELOT is ignored and οχτώ is transliterated as octo, then you can get to octapodi, octapodia.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •