What is the correct plural form of Succubus?

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nmiz
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What is the correct plural form of Succubus?

Unread postby nmiz » 04 Apr 2009, 13:56

This got me puzzled. The guys from Nival used succubi as the plural form, suggesting they regarded succubus as a noun of the second latin declension ending in -us.
But the second declension is comprised of mainly masculin and neutral nouns, with just a few feminin nouns as exceptions.
Wouldn't it then be more logical to change succubus by the fourth declension, which is comprised of mostly feminin nouns that end in -us.
If that was the case the plural would be succubus.
What do you guys think?
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theLuckyDragon
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Unread postby theLuckyDragon » 04 Apr 2009, 14:02

answers.com wrote:n., pl. -bus·es or -bi (-bī', -bē') also -bae (-bē', -bī').
A female demon supposed to descend upon and have sexual intercourse with a man while he sleeps.
An evil spirit; a demon.
[Middle English, from Medieval Latin, alteration (influenced by Late Latin incubus, incubus) of Latin succuba, paramour, from succubāre, to lie under : sub-, sub- + cubāre, to lie down.]
I don't think the guys at Nival gave any attention to the noun's Latin origins, and I don't think it's even that relevant. It's a word in English and, as this dictionary entry shows, one of its accepted plural forms is succubi.
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nmiz
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Unread postby nmiz » 04 Apr 2009, 14:11

You're probably right. I should have regarded the word as Englisjh.
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Kalah
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Unread postby Kalah » 04 Apr 2009, 14:34

It's succubi.
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blizzardboy
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Unread postby blizzardboy » 05 Apr 2009, 06:03

Succubi or Succubae would both be acceptable. Spellcheck says that succabae is incorrect, but it's wrong. It definitely wouldn't be "succubus".

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Unread postby ThunderTitan » 06 Apr 2009, 21:12

Seeing how it's most likely a middle age word i'd say however they spelled it... (with an -i it seems: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucubus )
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