I thought Latin was a dead language
Ok - really showing my age now. I had two years of Latin in high school, in the last century.
If "Prius" means "go before" as Toyota indicates in their ads, then the Latin verb root would seem to be "Prius" and the conjugation would be:
"Prius" - I go before
"Prias" - You (singular) go before
"Priat" - He, she or it goes before
"Priamus" - We go before
"Priatas" - You (plural) go before
"Priant" - They go before
And, I think the infinitive would be "Priore", TO go before.
Can infinitives be plural?
Way too much thinking for lunchtime...
In Latin, verbs have gender. "Prius" appears to be masculine as most masculine nouns end in "-us"; while feminine verbs end in "-a".
In most cases, the plural for masculine verbs is formed by replacing the "-us" with "i". Thus, "Prius" (singular, pronounced Pree-oos) becomes "Prii" (Pree-ee). In Latin, "i's" are pronounced "ee" (long-E).
If our hybrid cars were feminine, the noun would probably be "Pria" (pronounced Pree-uh), though I don't think there is such a word. And, the plural would be formed by adding "-ae", making it "Priae" (pronounced Pree-eye). In Latin, "ae" is pronounced like "aye" (long I).
Anyone out there willing to admit their age and contribute to the Latin discussion?
It would have been so much easier if Toyota had name this car "Sam" or something not so controversial.