Re: [OT] The stigma of schema

[Rod Davison <rdavison@sprint.ca>]

We seem to be devolving into a classics discussion group...

The word datum is actually a Latin noun meaning "something given" a 
nominalization of "dare" or "to give".  As such, the stem is dat- and the 
singular ending is -um and the plural is -a.  

So while data does end in -ta, the "t" is part of the root, not the plural 
affix.  Correctly speaking, datum uses the -a plural form.

I guess that classical education has finally paid off.  Now back to XMl...?

Rod

On Friday 29 June 2001 07:08 am, Christopher R. Maden wrote:
> At 01:37 29-06-2001, Sean McGrath wrote:
> >At 16:43 29/06/2001 +0800, Rick Jelliffe wrote:
> >>Is there any word in English which uses the -ta plural (apart from in
> >> Rap)?
> >
> >desiderata plural of desideratum.
>
> Datum.
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------

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Rod Davison @ Critical Knowledge Systems Inc
rdavison@sprint.ca
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There are two ways to write error-free programs. Only the third one works.
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