Over the past few years, I am finding more and more publishers (including university presses, which I assume pay more than typical attention to the latest style manual trends) going with appendixes as the plural form of appendix over appendices. The latter was always in favor during my own educational years and beyond, but now they seem to be running neck and neck in the usage supremacy race.
I suppose it shouldn't bother me, but appendixes just sounds goofy and wrong to me.
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Sunday, October 25, 2009
8 comments:
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I always thought that, like the plural of index, the pronounciation of the words are the same regardless of the spelling, indeces and appendices.
ReplyDeleteI'm unfamiliar with that notion!
ReplyDeleteSavas Beatie was asked recently why we use "Appendices." My answer was "because it is propert usage." We won't be changing during my lifetime.
ReplyDeletetps
At the publishing house where I work -- Cengage Learning, on their Wadsworth and Brooks/Cole lists -- we use Appendixes, following the Chicago Manual of Style (15).
ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteThanks for confirming that for the Chicago Manual.
Appendices has long been in usage and preferred, being an older plural. Appendixes I think corrupts the common longstanding plural, which in turn has been transformed to a simple "es" plural for a word ending in S, X, and Z. Many initially incorrect corruptions become part of language usage and sometimes become preferred in some style manuals over the original. I prefer the former, hold appendixes is incorrect, and ain't changing.
ReplyDeletetps
This is probably the first step publishers are taking before their appendixes are removed.
ReplyDeleteThank you Savas Beatie for sticking with the proper form! I now only think even more highly of your company than I already did, if such is even possible. "Appendices" is correct and no other form is: why go and change things?
ReplyDeleteEven though I am rather young, I am very thankful I had astute professors in my own education in history who would never allow things like "appendixes" to snake by and glad to see Savas Beatie also standing up to poor and sloppy form and use.