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But the structure in the brain is not called an amygdalon. It's called an amygdala. According to Merrimack-Webster, the plural is amygdalae, but we also knew w

But the structure in the brain is not called an amygdalon. It's called an amygdala. According to Merrimack-Webster, the plural is amygdalae, but we also knew what the author meant with amygdalas. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amygdala https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amygdala

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago
Yeah, you're right that it's "the amygdala". I got confused by the plural. It's complicated. As Wikipedia says, "amygdala" is the singular for "amygdalae", but both of these words are said to be Latin. Wikipedia correctly traces them to the original Greek "αμυγδαλή", which is a female noun, hence its transliteration as "amygdala" in Latin, rather than "amygdale" as it should be if it came directly from Greek; I think that's because it's ungrammatical to have a female noun ending in "-e" in Latin (I am unsure, since I'm not a Latin-speaker). To confuse matters further, "amygdalae" is correct as the plural of both the Latin "amygdala" and the Greek "amygdale" ("αμυγδαλή - αμυγδαλαί"). Of course, "αμυγδαλή" itself is derived from "αμύγδαλον". In any case, it may be easy to see what is meant by "amygdalas" but it is not right. "Amygdalae" is the right form of the word, whether you want to take it from Latin, Greek, or, indeed, English. Btw, there is a lot of confusion about what is Latin and what is Greek. Both languages are used for scientific terminology (for reasons unknown, this habbit has persisted in modern times) but Latin words often borrow from Greek, but keep their Latin endings... which are often similar to the Greek ones. So it's hard to know which is which. I used to resolve this kind of confusion by perusing a good etymological lexicon of Ancient Greek, but unfortunately this was taken from me in a flood and I can only now rely on the internet, and my native knowledge of Greek.
- zajio1am 3y ago
  > In any case, it may be easy to see what is meant by "amygdalas" but it is not right. "Amygdalae" is the right form of the word, whether you want to take it from Latin, Greek, or, indeed, English. If you take a foreign word from (say) Latin and use it in English, you also do not use Latin declension forms of it, so why use Latin plural form of it? I think it makes more sense to form plural using English grammar rules.
  - YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago
    I think the point is that those are not loans into English, rather they are international scientific terms in terminology that is used by many people whose first language is neither English, nor Latin (or Greek). So there is no reason to have a convention that is specific to English, or any other language, besides the Greek or Latin of the original. In essence, when you use a word like "amygdala", you are not using English. Rather, you are code-switching between Latin and English.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago

Yeah, you're right that it's "the amygdala". I got confused by the plural. It's complicated. As Wikipedia says, "amygdala" is the singular for "amygdalae", but both of these words are said to be Latin. Wikipedia correctly traces them to the original Greek "αμυγδαλή", which is a female noun, hence its transliteration as "amygdala" in Latin, rather than "amygdale" as it should be if it came directly from Greek; I think that's because it's ungrammatical to have a female noun ending in "-e" in Latin (I am unsure, since I'm not a Latin-speaker). To confuse matters further, "amygdalae" is correct as the plural of both the Latin "amygdala" and the Greek "amygdale" ("αμυγδαλή - αμυγδαλαί"). Of course, "αμυγδαλή" itself is derived from "αμύγδαλον". In any case, it may be easy to see what is meant by "amygdalas" but it is not right. "Amygdalae" is the right form of the word, whether you want to take it from Latin, Greek, or, indeed, English. Btw, there is a lot of confusion about what is Latin and what is Greek. Both languages are used for scientific terminology (for reasons unknown, this habbit has persisted in modern times) but Latin words often borrow from Greek, but keep their Latin endings... which are often similar to the Greek ones. So it's hard to know which is which. I used to resolve this kind of confusion by perusing a good etymological lexicon of Ancient Greek, but unfortunately this was taken from me in a flood and I can only now rely on the internet, and my native knowledge of Greek.

zajio1am 3y ago
> In any case, it may be easy to see what is meant by "amygdalas" but it is not right. "Amygdalae" is the right form of the word, whether you want to take it from Latin, Greek, or, indeed, English. If you take a foreign word from (say) Latin and use it in English, you also do not use Latin declension forms of it, so why use Latin plural form of it? I think it makes more sense to form plural using English grammar rules.
- YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago
  I think the point is that those are not loans into English, rather they are international scientific terms in terminology that is used by many people whose first language is neither English, nor Latin (or Greek). So there is no reason to have a convention that is specific to English, or any other language, besides the Greek or Latin of the original. In essence, when you use a word like "amygdala", you are not using English. Rather, you are code-switching between Latin and English.