Quote:
Originally posted by ROWDYsister (in part)
I dug this up because I was wondering about the "alum" thing.
So alumnae is pronounced "alum-nay?"
If "alumni" refers to masculine or mixed plural, then why is it dead wrong when used for an all-female college? Wouldn't it be like one of those situations you could use the male form for, just to be safe? I mean, I know "alumnae" would be preferred...
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As for your first question:
In Latin, "alumni" is pronounced alum-nee (as in that joint in the middle of your leg), and "alumnæ" is pronounced "alum-neye" (as in the organ with which you are reading this post
). American English pronunciation typically reverses the Latin pronunciation, so that alumni = alum-neye and "alumnæ" = alum-nee.
As for your second question, alumni is dead wrong for an all-female college because it is the masculine plural -- it is only properly used when refering to a group of male graduates or a group of male
and female graduates.
All male graduates = alumni.
All female graduates = alumnæ.
A group of 9,999 female graduates and one male graduate = alumni (because it is mixed male and female, however slightly).
The word "alumnus" means "foster son" in Latin (literally someone that one feeds or supports); by extension it means pupil. As the feminine version of alumnus, alumna means "foster daughter." The idea is that a graduate is a foster or adopted child of Alma Mater ("dear Mother"). That's why "alumni" is inappropriate for an all-female college or a sorority -- graduated students/members are "daughters," not "sons."
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