-ii

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ii"

English

Etymology

From rebracketing of plural forms like radii (plural of radius), borrowed from Latin. Latin forms the nominative plural of second-declension nouns by replacing -us with -ī, which results in plural forms that end in -iī for nouns with singulars ending in -ius. Some English speakers occasionally extend -ii to form nonstandard plural forms of English nouns that end simply with the letters -us or with other letter sequences with a similar pronunciation (such as -is /ɪs/).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (variously) /aɪ/, /i.aɪ/, /iː/

Suffix

-ii

1. Misspelling of -i.
2. Used to form nonstandard, uncommon, often humorous alternative plural forms of nouns that end in -us, -is or a similar sound.

   Examples:

   ‎Elvis + ‎-ii → ‎Elvii

   ‎penis + ‎-ii → ‎penii

   ‎virus + ‎-ii → ‎virii

   ‎walrus + ‎-ii → ‎walrii

   ‎fetus + ‎-ii → ‎fetii

   ‎stewardess + ‎-ii → ‎stewardii

   ‎Airbus + ‎-ii → ‎Airbii

Usage notes

• All such forms are nonstandard, and therefore may be proscribed.
• For certain forms, such as cactii, a standard spelling with -i (cacti) exists; in this case, the -ii spelling may be simply a misspelling of the -i form.
• Other innovative plurals in -ii, such as stewardii, bear no resemblance to any standard plural form of the word; these may be used as intentionally nonstandard forms, often for the sake of humor. Compare the (often humorous) intentional use of nonstandard plural forms in -en.

Italian

Etymology

From Latin -īvī (via -īī). Example: Italian finii, from Latin finivi.

Suffix

-ii (non-lemma form of verb-forming suffix)

1. used with a stem to form the first-person singular past historic of regular -ire verbs

Latin

Suffix

-iī

1. inflection of -ius:
   1. nominative/vocative masculine plural
   2. genitive masculine/neuter singular

Navajo

Suffix

-ii

1. nominalizer, creating agentive nouns from verbs and adjectives: "that which [verbs]", or "that which [is of adjective quality]"; compare English -er

Usage notes

Example: from the verb hataał (“he sings”) + -ii, we can make a noun for hataałii (“singer”)

Derived terms

Navajo terms suffixed with -ii

See also

• -í
• -ígíí

Phalura

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-ii, -i/

Suffix

-ii

1. Genitive suffix

Alternative forms

• -íi (With accent-shifting nouns)
• -e (Biori)
• -í (With accent-shifting nouns in Biori)

References

• Henrik Liljegren, Naseem Haider (2011) “-ii”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎^[1], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN