Re: Favorinus elenalexiae or F. elenalexiarum

September 14, 2002
From: Gary Rosenberg

Hi Bill,
Re your question about this name and the International Code:
Article 32.5 does allow for correction of errors in gender agreement, because they are not errors in transliteration or latinization, but errors of grammar.

Transliteration converts non-Latin characters to Latin ones: for example "Warén" becomes "Varen", since W and accented E do not occur in Latin. However, article 32.5 allows "Waren" to stand even though technically it is an error of transliteration.

Latinization converts a word to a Latin basis, so "Waren" becomes "Warenius" or "Warenus". The grammatical step then makes "warenii" or "wareni". The case of compound names however is tricky. "Elenalexia" is not necessarily plural in nature. Most languages treat compound words as singular: bearcat, Salvini-Plawen, camelopardalis. The code implies in Article 31.2.3 that gender agreement of compound words is determined by the final component of the word.

In the case of Elena + Alexia, if the authors intended it to be singular, the basis would have been "Elenalexia", with genitive "elenalexiae". If the authors intending it to be plural, the basis would have been "Elenalexiae" with genitive "elenalexiarum". Unfortunately the authors did not state the basis, but it seems to me that the choice between the bases is part of the latinization, and cannot be corrected. Also, "Elenalexiae" can be construed as a plural noun in apposition, and cannot be changed in that case either. Basically I think it would be wrong to correct the name to "elenalexiarum".
Best wishes,
Gary

Gary Rosenberg
Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia

rosenberg@acnatsci.org

Rosenberg, G., 2002 (Sep 14) Re: Favorinus elenalexiae or F. elenalexiarum. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7956

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