Re: Latin pronunciation puzzle

Various people wrote various things, and then Franz wrote:
> Begin of a new discussion: is that curious monster of a bracket
> a serious linguistic rendering? A more human version would then
> be Attenborovai. The Latin -i turned into -ai. Is everybody, any
> speaker of another language, forced to turn Latin -i into English
> -ai ?

What are you folks going on about? The method by which scientists
derive species epithets from personal names follows internationally
accepted rules. The zoological recommendations aren't at hand, but the
International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (easily googled) includes
Recommendation 60C:

<< 60C.1. Personal names may be given Latin terminations and used
to form specific and infraspecific epithets as follows (but see Rec.
60C.2):
(a) If the personal name ends with a vowel or -er, substantival
epithets are formed by adding the genitive inflection appropriate to
the sex and number of the person(s) honoured (e.g., scopoli-i for
Scopoli (m), fedtschenko-i for Fedtschenko (m), fedtschenko-ae for
Fedtschenko (f), glaziou-i for Glaziou (m), lace-ae for Lace (f),
gray-i for Gray (m), hooker-orum for the Hookers (m), except when the
name ends with -a, in which case adding -e (singular) or -rum (plural)
is appropriate (e.g. triana-e for Triana (m), pojarkova-e for Pojarkova
(f), orlovskaja-e for Orlovskaja (f)).
(b) If the personal name ends with a consonant (except -er),
substantival epithets are formed by adding -i- (stem augmentation) plus
the genitive inflection appropriate to the sex and number of the
person(s) honoured (e.g. lecard-ii for Lecard (m), wilson-iae for
Wilson (f), verlot-iorum for the Verlot brothers, braun-iarum for the
Braun sisters, mason-iorum for Mason, father and daughter).
(c) If the personal name ends with a vowel, adjectival epithets
are formed by adding -an- plus the nominative singular inflection
appropriate to the gender of the generic name (e.g., Cyperus heyne-anus
for Heyne, Vanda lindley-ana for Lindley, Aspidium bertero-anum for
Bertero), except when the personal name ends with -a in which case -n-
plus the appropriate inflection is added (e.g. balansa-nus (m),
balansa-na (f), and balansa-num (n) for Balansa).
(d) If the personal name ends with a consonant, adjectival
epithets are formed by adding -i- (stem augmentation) plus -an- (stem
of adjectival suffix) plus the nominative singular inflection
appropriate to the gender of the generic name (e.g. Rosa webb-iana for
Webb, Desmodium griffith-ianum for Griffith, Verbena hassler-iana for
Hassler).>>

So we'd have Clarkii, Danielsii, Gnaedingeri, and Lovei; or, with the
epithet formed as an adjective applied to a masculine genus-name,
Clarkianus, Danielsianus, Gnaedingerianus, and Loveanus. The only
question with the discussed species is why it's Attenboroughi instead
of Attenboroughii. Did the namer of the species think <H> didn't count
as a consonant (because the name as pronounced ends in a vowel)? or do
the zoological rules differ?

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Latin pronunciation puzzle
    ... > to form specific and infraspecific epithets as follows (but see Rec. ... > are formed by adding -an- plus the nominative singular inflection ... > plus the appropriate inflection is added (e.g. balansa-nus (m), ... > question with the discussed species is why it's Attenboroughi instead ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: Latin pronunciation puzzle
    ... > to form specific and infraspecific epithets as follows (but see Rec. ... > are formed by adding -an- plus the nominative singular inflection ... > plus the appropriate inflection is added (e.g. balansa-nus (m), ... > question with the discussed species is why it's Attenboroughi instead ...
    (sci.lang)