WELL since you ask… (bootsssss too)
Personally, I favor declining Enjolras as if it were a Latinized first declension Greek name, like Aeneas. First declension nouns are almost all feminine and in Latin almost all end in -a, but there are masculine first declension nouns (especially names) and -s termination nouns are common in Greek. (This works especially well given the disagreement about whether to pronounce the terminal s in Enjolras – the name “Aeneas” can also be written “Aenea,” which suggests that the terminal s is fairly nebulous.) So the declension chart is:
Singular:
N: Enjolras
G: Enjolrae
D: Enjolrae
Ac: Enjolram (or Enjolran)
Ab: Enjolra
V: (Enjolra)Plural:
N: Enjolrae
G: Enjolrarum
D: Enjolris
Ac: Enjolras
Ab: Enjolris
V: (Enjolrae)So I favor Enjolrae as the nominative plural. The equally legitimate Greek variant would be “Enjolrai,” but English at least leans strongly towards Latin spellings over Greek ones (and I suspect French does too).
The other alternative is to treat Enjolras as a third declension noun, which then gives us the problem of deciding what the stem is. The simplest pluralization would be “Enjolres” (stem: Enjolr-). We could also get “Enjolrases” (stem: Enjolras-), which is the most English-like of the options. I see some people playfully insert a “t” into the stem, which is guess is possible, but doesn’t strike me as linguistically likely (even if it is kinda hilarious, which is a perfectly good reason to do it). In that case you’d get “Enjolrates” (stem: Enjolrat-). If we’re going to inert any consonant, though, I think it should be an “r.” That would get us the nicely Latin sounding “Enjolrares” (stem: “Enjolrar”). (I don’t know if an “-as” termination 3rd declension noun even can be masculine – it’s a feminine ending – but given that there are exceptions for 1st declension nouns, I suspect there could be exceptions here too.)
tl;dr: Enjolrae(/Enjolrai) is my favorite, but Enjolres would be my second pick. Enjolrases and Enjolrares are plausible, but I don’t like how they sound. Enjolrates is unlikely but quite fun to say. There are lots of options and I’m not claiming any actual authority or special knowledge, just a set of preferences with some explanation!
And the name Enjolras now looks like absolute gibberish too me because I’ve written it too many times in a row.
I’ve always thought this was an interesting question (what a nerd, I know). I think if we’re really being scholarly about this, treating the name “Enjolras” as a third-declension Latin “Enjolras, Enjolratis” makes the most sense to my mind. That would create the plural nominative “Enjolrates,” as you mention. This version sounds the most legitimately “Latin-sounding” to me…but what do I know, my Latin comes from 9th-century monks, lol. Not exactly the world’s leading classicists.
Myself, I just use “Enjolrati” as the plural, which is a complete nonsense word as far as I know, but has been traditionally used in the fandom since before the birth of Christ, I’m pretty sure. XD
Any particular reason you’d pick third declension over first? Maybe this is a Latin vs. Greek thing…
Latin really likes reduplication and repetition of consonants, which is why I favor Enjolras, Enjolraris (repeated “r”), over Enjolras, Enjolratis. Normally a suppressed “t” in the stem echoes an earlier “t” that shows up in the nominative, e.g. Libertas, libertatis; civitas, civitatis; honestas, honestatis. (Also, every “-tas” noun I can think of is both feminine and abstract, though I may just not be thinking of exceptions.)
Clearly what we REALLY need is a verb “Enjolrare,” present participle Enjolrans, so that we can have a plural “Enjolrantes” – those who engage in Enjolras-like (Enjolraic?) actions :p
(Cives, nunc Enjolrandum est!)
I can’t think of a third declension noun where the nominative singular stem ends in as thats isnt infact tas are there any?
though i can think of a couple of third declension es words that gain a t in the genitive stem without ending tes to start with (miles – militis, comes – comitis, also the is ending lis – litis) so that could maybe mean enjolras could pick up a t in the nominative plural.
ultimatly i agree with you that following first declension makes the most sense (but hypothetical ‘how would it work in third’ is interesting too)
edit: can you use enjolrati as an adjective to describe something masculine plural that is enjolras like (enjolra(s) + atus type construction? english equivilant would be enjolrate I think, though that also sounds like it could be a salt
fearlessstateofmind backup 