Re: [Aroid-l] Amorphophallus titanum

From: Alex Popovkin <popovkin at gmail.com> on 2011.02.12 at 18:43:24(21941) Marek asked: Can a Latin feminine word end with -us? Some of the feminine nouns of the 3rd declension: e.g., palus 'marsh, bog, swamp', virtus 'virtue'. Alex Popovkin, Bahia, Brazil -12.01 -38.02 HTML +More Over 8,150 images of local flora (and fauna): http://bit.ly/9d0YRA http://popovkin.wordpress.com/ http://www.google.com/profiles/popovkin twitter @popovkin "Nomina si nescis, perit et cognitio rerum" (Carl Linnaeus, Philosophia Botanica) On Sat, Feb 12, 2011 at 12:54 PM, Marek Argent wrote: One more thing: Quercus, Fagus, Fraxinus, Malus, Pyrus, Prunus, Pinus, Alnus, Eucalyptus - all they end with -us suggesting a masculine gender while most of their specific epithets are feminine. Can a Latin feminine word end with -us? Marek ----- Original Message ----- From: Alistair Hay To: Discussion of aroids Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2011 2:13 AM Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Amorphophallus titanum The gender of a genus is unrelated to the habit of the plants it contains, though I think it is true to say that a majority of generic names are feminine. Calophyllum is a neuter genus of trees, and Elaeocarpus is a masculine one, for example. A On 09/02/2011, at 10:13 PM, Eduardo Gomes Goncalves wrote: Dear Dylan, All "tradicional" trees are female in Latin. The question is that "tradicional" are trees defined as so. Syagrus is a female word because it is considered a tree but probably Cicerus never mentioned it in his classical texts. Moreover, we are not exactly sure that all palms are trees (mainly in Syagrus, with plants of some species reaching no more than 30 cm tall). The borderline is quite fuzzy and tricky. Very best wishes, Eduardo. Em 08/02/2011, às 12:24, Hannon escreveu: Dear Eduardo, Thank you for this inquiry, it is good to know these things. Alistair, So would we have Alocasia scalprifolia for an adjectival epithet then? Regarding the example of Pinus, I believe all tree genera are regarded as feminine, no matter their origin. How lines are drawn between trees and non-trees I do not know. Regards, Dylan Hannon On 7 February 2011 07:12, Eduardo Gomes Goncalves wrote: Dear Alistair You are absolutely correct. I have re-checked this morning and "titanum" is the genitive plural of "titan" so it means exactly "of the titans". Since it came from greek, its declension is anomalous. Many thanks for your help. Very best wishes, Eduardo. Em 06/02/2011, às 21:15, Alistair Hay escreveu: I think the point is that not all speces epithets are adjectival, so they do not necessarily have to agree with the gender of the genus. For example in Alocasia scalprum the epithet is a noun which happens to be neuter: the knife alocasia. An adjectival latin epithet in Alocasia would indeed be feminine: Alocasia indica: the indian Alocasia. Aglaonema is a neuter genus, as are Cyrtosperma, Arisaema and Syngonium. So its Aglaonema rotundum, Cyrtosperma cuspidispathum, Arisaema concinnum and Syngonium chiapense when the epithet is adjectival. In Amorphophallus titanum, the epithet is not an adjective. I am uncertain but fairly sure it is the genitive plural, meaning "of the titans" or something like that. It does not mean the adjective "titanic". Alistair On 05/02/2011, at 10:50 PM, "Marek Argent" wrote: Dear Eduardo, A good point. The suffix -um is neutral and it fits to all grammatic genera: Also feminine botanical genera species epithet can end with -um, the examples are: Arisaema triphyllum, Alocasia scalprum, Aglaonema commutatum, Syngonium auritum... But indeed, I have never heard another construction like Amorphophallus titanum. I always wondered why Alocasia macrorrhizos is a proper name, the epithet is of Greek origin, and I don't know why it is named so. The suffix -os is masculine in Greek, and Alocasia is feminine. And what do you think about the name Synandrospadix vermitoxicus? I can't find anywhere what is the gender of the word "spadix". Isn't it feminine? There is also one important note, many people erroneously take genera ending with -is as masculine, but it is feminine, Ariopsis peltata or in other families Iris pumila, Clematis lanuginosa etc. Also the genera ending with -as are feminine: Anubias gigantea, Zamioculcas zamiifolia, Cycas revoluta. But... the pine tree, Pinus seems to be a masculine word, and we have Pinus sylvestris, P. excelsa, P. nigra, while some other species of pine end usually with -us: like Pinus strobus. Strange things... Marek ----- Original Message ----- From: Eduardo Gomes Goncalves To: Discussion of aroids Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 4:34 PM Subject: [Aroid-l] Amorphophallus titanum Dear fellows, I have a silly (but important) question for you. As far as I know, Amophophallus is a masculine word, am I correct? In Latin, except for the name of traditional trees (Malus, Pyrus, etc), all names ended in -us are male names. So it is correct to say that all adjective epithets in Amorphophallus species end with -us (A. gomboczianus, A. hirsutus, A lunatus, A. glaucophyllus, etc). Why Amophophallus titanum is not A. titanus? Other species with a similar epithet (I don't remember none in plant kingdom, but I know Dorcus titanus - a beetle)... Wilbert, do you have any reason for this? Very best wishes, Eduardo. INHOTIM Dr. EDUARDO G. GONÇALVES Curador Botânico Jardim Botânico Rua B, 20 35460-000 | Brumadinho | MG | Brasil +55 31 3571.6638 Ramal Fixo 107 +55 31 9604.8618 Ramal 380 Rua Antônio de Albuquerque, 215 | Funcionários 30112-010 | Belo Horizonte | MG | Brasil +55 31 3223.8224 Antes de imprimir, pense em sua responsabilidade com o Meio Ambiente. _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l No virus found in the message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1204 / Virus Database: 1435/3423 - Release Date: 02/04/11 _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l INHOTIM Dr. EDUARDO G. GONÇALVES Curador Botânico Jardim Botânico Rua B, 20 35460-000 | Brumadinho | MG | Brasil +55 31 3571.6638 Ramal Fixo 107 +55 31 9604.8618 Ramal 380 Rua Antônio de Albuquerque, 215 | Funcionários 30112-010 | Belo Horizonte | MG | Brasil +55 31 3223.8224 Antes de imprimir, pense em sua responsabilidade com o Meio Ambiente. _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l -- < < < < < <

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