Taxacom: Subject: Re: demystifying gender agreement, was Re: Removals, of offending scientific names

[Douglas Yanega]

On 6/26/23 8:08 AM, Leslie Watling via Taxacom wrote:
> So, I may take a wee bit of offense at the suggestion that my taxonomic
> work is suspect because I don't want to spend months figuring out the
> gender agreement for a new species I would like to describe.

Les, the point you raise here is a "straw man".

What I and others are saying is that we advocate that there be a list 
you consult that tells you *instantly and definitively* what gender a 
genus is, and another list that tells you whether or not an epithet is 
subject to changes in spelling (and what those changes are).

We are VERY explicitly saying that a system that forces taxonomists to 
PERSONALLY research names is a*bad system*. At the *absolute most*, the 
only research a taxonomist should be required to do is consult a copy of 
an original description. You are right to complain about a system that 
compels you to learn Latin and Greek linguistics, but that is 
emphatically NOT the system we are talking about here. We can keep 
gender agreement and eliminate the "months figuring out" part. There is 
nothing inherent in gender agreement that would necessitate you or 
anyone else wasting time this way.

*If you never in your life had to personally research the linguistic 
properties of names again, would you be willing to continue using gender 
agreement?*

THAT is the question we are asking, not "What do you hate about the 
present system?". We KNOW what you hate about the present system - we 
are ALL annoyed by it, for the same reason. The best solution to a 
system that involves an objectionable practice is to *remove the 
objectionable **practice*, not to abandon the system.

Sincerely,

-- 
Doug Yanega      Dept. of Entomology       Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314     skype: dyanega
phone: (951) 827-4315 (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
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