diabetes

[Alice Faber]

Douglas G. Wilson wrote:
>The full name of the disease usually called "diabetes" is of course
>"diabetes mellitus". We "know" instinctively or otherwise that the
>inflectional suffixes must match -- e.g., Circus Maximus, Canis familiaris,
>anorexia nervosa, Costa Mesa, labia majora, hocus pocus. So it must be
>"diabetus mellitus". Maybe a hypercorrection of sorts.
>
Before I read to the end of the above, I thought you were talking
about hypercorrection in the penult, and assuming something like
"diab-/ai/-tis mell-/ai/-tus". I was fully prepared to scream out
load.
--
 =============================================================================
Alice Faber                                             faber at haskins.yale.edu
Haskins Laboratories                                  tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
New Haven, CT 06511 USA                                     fax (203) 865-8963