[Taxacom] ICZN Opinion 105

[Richard Jensen]

"Euphonius and easily memorable" - were Dybowski's names suppressed 
because they were too long (I didn't see mention of that in opinion 105) 
or because they did not satisfy someone's view of what is euphonius and 
easily memorable.

Let's consider this hypothetical name: " Brassolaeliocattleya 
supercalafragilisticexpialidocious"

The genus is one recognizable and memorable and my guess is that the 
specific epithet, as written, is readily recognized by anyone who is 
familiar with Mary Poppins.  The specific epithet is especially 
"euphonius and easily memorable" simply because it is accompanied by a 
musical tune.  When I was an undergrad, I learned many botanical names 
by associating them with musical tunes.  Once done, almost never forgotten!

Looking at the examples in Opinion 105, I wonder if the objection was 
more likely associated with the fact that Dybowski used names that many 
speakers find challenging.  The first one appears to be named after 
Siemienkiewicz and the second after Axel Boeck  (I've no idea who the 
former was, but the latter may have been a Scandinavian naturalist by 
same name).

Should names be suppressed simply because they are not euphonius or 
simply because many people find pronouncing them a challenge.  I have 
many students with names that my colleagues seem to be never able to 
learn to pronounce - these names are not unpronounceable (Siemienkiewicz 
would be, I believe, pronounced "see-men -kya-vitch", or something close 
to that; once learned, easily remembered); one simply has to learn how 
(a former colleague could never pronounce Ted Crovello's (for the 
uninitiated, a prominent figure in numerical taxonomy and plant 
systematics) name correctly.  Despite having known Ted for 20 years, the 
name *always* came out "Corvello".  I can only ascribe this to laziness 
on the part of the speaker.

Further, "Opinion 105" appears to refer solely to the names in question 
and says nothing, as I read it, about any other names nor about how long 
a name can be. In fact, the key appears to be that Dybowski intended 
these names as "provisional names", which might later be changed - 
clearly not good practice!

So, Stefan, make your name as long as you wish - just make sure it has a 
rhyming component or can be put to music or is easily pronounceable by 
all who might need to use it.

Cheers,

Dick J

On 5/17/2011 6:46 AM, Francisco Welter-Schultes wrote:
> Stefan,
> a new name should be euphonious and easily memorable. Very long names
> are not easily memorable, and you would risk violating
> Recommendation 5 of Appendix B of the Code. This has no direct
> consequences under the Code (Opinion 105 was a decision about one
> single case without direct implications on likewise cases), but it
> visibly reflects your responsible behaviour as a taxonomist if you
> intend to avoid this. If the last name of the person is too long, you
> can use the first name or one of the person's first names, like
> stefani or stefaniana.
>
> Art. 31.1 provides one solution of many possible solutions of how a
> name dedicated to a person "may be constructed", this Article has
> no binding function. You are free to select a different mode, and you
> are not forced to form the genitive of the person's last name.
>
> The Code gives no restriction how to construct a euphonious name of
> your choice, playing with some syllables of the person in question,
> like stekoniana, stefakonia or likewise constructions. Recent
> examples for this kind of solutions are the mollusc names Clameia
> brooki, in honour of Claus Meier-Brook, or Menkia horsti, in honour
> of Mr. Menkhorst (in those cases both a new genus and a new species
> were established).
>
> Francisco
>
> University of Goettingen, Germany
> www.animalbase.org
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> Taxacom Mailing List
> Taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/mailman/listinfo/taxacom
>
> The Taxacom archive going back to 1992 may be searched with either of these methods:
>
> (1) by visiting http://taxacom.markmail.org
>
> (2) a Google search specified as:  site:mailman.nhm.ku.edu/pipermail/taxacom  your search terms here

-- 
Richard J. Jensen, Professor
Department of Biology
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Tel: 574-284-4674