~ta plurals that do not end in ~mata

Personally, I think regressing to Greek grammar makes for unnecessary complications in English prose.

"Correct" is not always graceful.

I researched the etymologies of axiom and idiom precisely because I felt that 'axioms' and 'idioms' sounded "ungraceful"; having found that they could etymologically be pluralized by adding -ata instead of -s, I was much more comfortable using their plural forms.

I think it would be very easy to learn this Greek-originated plural if its use is confined to words ending in -ma. How many words are there that end in -ma? I agree, it may make things much more difficult if the +ta plural could apply to all words ending in -a; which is why I asked "do they all end in ~mata?".

True, Greek gives us some difficult plurals (such as octopus / platypus > octopodes / platypodes), but that's all they are - difficult. In truth, there's nothing less graceful than some of the plurals that end with an added -s or -es (just think of hypothesises - haipoþesisiz, instead of hypotheses - haipoþesīz).

Thanks for your contribution, along some help with the original questions would be greatly appreciated.

Director DJ--

Sorry, on this issue, I have only opinions and no useful information.

Welcome to A2K.

Any reply is better than none.

May I ask where you stand on other plural forms of foreign origin?

I have compiled a list of just over 400 words ending 'ta'.
Unfortunately, I am not sufficiently privileged to PM yourself.

Can you PM with your email address?

I will then email the list to you for 'looking them up' in a dictionary for meanings and possible plurality.
We would both hold each others email addresses in confidence!

[e-mail address sent; message deleted upon receipt of e-mail]