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Date: Sat, 17 Nov 2001 11:16:18 +0100
From: David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>
To: PhyloCode mailing list <phylocode@ouvaxa.cats.ohiou.edu>
Subject: Fw: languages in PhyloCode
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Why not do something like mandate that diagnoses be written in two of =
the six official languages of the UN: Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, =
English, and French; regardless of the language the paper's actually =
written in. This would probably guarantee the highest possible =
readership; after all, there's a reason the UN chose those languages as =
official. Latin could be retained as a seventh choice for its =
historical significance.=20
Pete Buchholz=20
Tetanurae@aol.com
I think this is a very good idea.
Using symbols for definitions is one, too; we could easily invent some =
for qualifying clauses, such as the mathematical "without" sign \ . What =
about Pinnipedia =3D {Otaria byronia de Blainville 1820 + Odobenus =
rosmarus L. 1758 + Phoca vitulina L. 1758 \ Ursus arctos L. 1758, Canis =
lupus L. 1758}? (Means, the most recent common ancestor of the first =
three and all its descendants, if the latter two do not belong to them.) =
This would restrict words to apomorphy-based qualifying clauses and =
definitions.
Just yesterday I've found the descriptions of 16 new species of, I =
think, Brazilian rainforest trees in the annals of 1999 of the Natural =
History Museum Vienna. They do contain "diagnoses" in Latin, but these =
are very short, barely longer than "5 -- 8 m high trees with long, =
narrow leaves and fruits that measure 2.5 cm in diameter". After these =
follow "descriptions" in English which repeat the diagnoses but add much =
more. I got the impression (just my personal impression) that the author =
regarded the Latin diagnoses as superfluous things required by =
bureaucracy and tried to keep them as short as possible. (The specific =
epithets are freely invented words designed to sound exotic and as far =
apart from Latin as possible.)
--Boundary_(ID_vX5eB0CjgOcEfD6PXrqDqA)
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<META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Diso-8859-1">
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style=3D"PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT face=3Darial,helvetica><FONT =
size=3D2>Why not=20
do something like mandate that diagnoses be written in two of the six =
official=20
languages of the UN: Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, English, and =
French;=20
regardless of the language the paper's actually <I>written </I>in. =
This=20
would probably guarantee the highest possible readership; after all, =
there's a=20
<I>reason </I>the UN chose those languages as official. Latin =
could be=20
retained as a seventh choice for its historical significance. =
<BR><BR>Pete=20
Buchholz <BR><A=20
=
href=3D"mailto:Tetanurae@aol.com">Tetanurae@aol.com</A></FONT></FONT></DI=
V></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT face=3Darial,helvetica>I think =
this is a=20
very good idea.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT face=3Darial,helvetica>Using =
symbols for=20
definitions is one, too; we could easily invent some for qualifying =
clauses,=20
such as the mathematical "without" sign \ . What about Pinnipedia =
=3D=20
{<EM>Otaria byronia</EM> de Blainville 1820 + <I>Odobenus =
rosmarus</I> L.=20
1758 + <I>Phoca vitulina</I> L. 1758 \ <EM>Ursus arctos</EM> L. =
1758,=20
<EM>Canis lupus</EM> L. 1758}? (Means, the most recent common ancestor =
of the=20
first three and all its descendants, if the latter two do not belong to =
them.)=20
This would restrict words to apomorphy-based qualifying clauses and=20
definitions.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"> </DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial">Just yesterday I've found the =
descriptions of 16=20
new species of, I think, Brazilian rainforest trees in the annals of =
1999 of the=20
Natural History Museum Vienna. They do contain "diagnoses" in Latin, but =
these=20
are <STRONG>very</STRONG> short, barely longer than "5 -- 8 m high trees =
with=20
long, narrow leaves and fruits that measure 2.5 cm in diameter". After =
these=20
follow "descriptions" in English which repeat the diagnoses but add much =
more. I=20
got the impression (just my personal impression) that the author =
regarded=20
the Latin diagnoses as superfluous things required by bureaucracy and =
tried to=20
keep them as short as possible. (The specific epithets are freely =
invented words=20
designed to sound exotic and as far apart from Latin as=20
possible.)</DIV></BODY></HTML>
--Boundary_(ID_vX5eB0CjgOcEfD6PXrqDqA)--