[TN-Bird] Do Latin names "alienate"?...or are they "less coloful"?
- From: Joan C Reese/ADAG/WEST/EXT/UTIA <jreese5@xxxxxxx>
- To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 14:33:20 -0500
Carol Reese
Ornamental Horticulture Specialist -Western District
University of Tennessee Extension Service
605 Airways Blvd.
Jackson TN 38301
731 425 4721 email jreese5@xxxxxxx
So Latin is "pretentious, stuck-up, snobby, and elitist"? Is it truly
language "that only scientists can understand"? As a horituculturist, I
often use Latin names when referring to plants, so I do agree with the
statement that it can "instantly alienate people", which has always
mystified me. Why do some people react with such hostility and resentment
to such an accurate, and beautiful way of describing living things and and
defining their relationships? Why am I seen as snobby because I bothered to
learn something so useful, even downright necessary?
For example, when I first moved to Tennessee (from Mississippi), someone
asked me a question about his yellowbells. I had no idea what plant he was
talking about and received disgusted looks and disparaging comments about
my horticultural knowledge. After some discussion and some pretty poor (I
thought) descriptions of the plant, it turned out he was talking about he
common-as-dirt shrub I knew as forsythia. No wonder this person thought I
didn't know anything! In my defense, I had never known anyone who called it
yellowbells. To further the confusion, someone at work a few days later
started talking about yellowbells, wanting to know when she could dig the
bulbs and move them. She was talking about her daffodils! So you can see
why I might insist on defining the plant by its proper name, while trying
not to arch my brow when I ask, "Do you mean forsythia or narcissus"? I
just want clarity. Common names vary from region to region, even from
family to family.
Besides, Latin is often easy and highly informative, if not downright
entertaining. What is there to hate about the name Mimus polyglottus, and
how is that hard to understand or any less coloful than its common name?
Even without a Latin dictionary at hand, surely this means "mimics many
voices", surely no less colorful than the name mockingbird. Granted, they
aren't all that easy, but still, a bit of research often yields delightful
bits of lore. Take the American bittern's Latin name Botaurus lentiginosus.
I read somewhere that the genus name means something like "roars like a
bull" (which may be somewhat off, though bulls sometimes make a coughing
sound that might be somewhat similar) but the species name means "very
freckled" which is very apt. Look at these other names and tell me which is
more colorful, the American or the Latin name. Eastern kingbird, Tyrannus
tyrannus - the cruelest and most severe of the cruel and severe rulers.
House wren, Troglodytes aedon - songstress who burrows in a hole: Bluejay,
Cyanocitta cristata - dark blue crested: Pileated woodpecker, Dyrocopus
pileatus -striking a tree while wearing a cap. Surely these Latin names are
worthy of admiration both for their beauty and for their aim, since it is
difficult, nearly impossible to diffentiate and label the vast numbers of
plants and animals into discreet categories. Mother nature's constant
process of evolution makes the work precarious at best, and even "lumpers"
will have to become "splitters" at some point in the scale of time. I find
it touching that humans have such desire to make sense of the world of
nature, and surely it is born of love. If you know of a better system than
the current system of taxonomy and using Latin for its constancy, let's
hear it.
One more point. No one gets upset when I talk about Magnolia, Hydrange, or
Viburnum, yet these are the proper Latin names for these plants. Likewise,
with vireo, or parula, no one gets upset. There is nothing about these
names being Latin that makes them inherently difficult to understand or
pronounce. The only barrier might be a lack of willingness to become
familiar with them.
In the meantime, when someone comes out with a Latin term, it might behoove
one to consider it commendable, rather than contemptible. It frankly hurts
my feelings that someone thinks I'm just showing off, when my true motives
are to gain understanding.
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