( plural form of “alumnus“; pronunciation: the letter ‘u’ rhymes with the letter ‘u’ in “but”, and the letters ‘ni’ rhyme with the letters ‘ni’ in “night”)
some of the alumni of Western Illinois University, USA
Language usage: ‘Alumnus’ and ‘alumna’ both come from Latin and still have Latin plurals. ‘Alumnus’ is a male (masculine — boy or man) noun whose plural is “alumni“, and ‘alumna’ is a female (feminine — girl or woman) noun whose plural is alumnae. Some coeducational institutions, where both male and female students study together, usually use “alumni” for graduates of both sexes. But women educational institutions that do not like to use (masculine) male forms in such cases may use the phrase alumni and alumnae or the form alumnae/i. And according to www.dictionary30.com, the term ‘almn’, with ‘almns’ as its plural form, is used for either ‘an alumna’ or ‘an alumnus’.
BC Kumar, an English Language Teacher, taught in numerous countries including Ethiopia, Oman and India, shares his knowledge and passion for the English Language.
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