I found on the internet that the plural of locus can be both loci and loca. If the plural is loci, it would mean “places like in a book”, if the plural is ‘loca’, it would mean ‘geographical places’. What exactly is meant by ‘place in a book’? In the term ‘method der loci’ (the place method of memorizing things by means of a virtual walk through a house), is ‘loci’ the plural of ‘locus’?
Answer
Indeed, “locus” (mann. subst.) has a regular plural (loci) and an irregular (loca, so the word becomes neuter in the plural). As a general “rule” applies that “loci” means separate places, but is also used especially in connection with writers (“in different places in his work we find…”). “Loca” then indicates connected places, especially geographically (hence “region, country, region”: eg. A famine has broken out in different places = areas). This rule is certainly not generally valid or applicable everywhere, so we can say that both plural forms are sometimes used interchangeably. So in the expression, loci is definitely plural (different places in a house).
Answered by
Dr Koen Wylin
Latin Linguistics, Etruscology, Italic Linguistics
http://www.ugent.be
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