katherinae is correct

totototo@telus.net totototo@telus.net
Tue, 29 Jun 2010 07:58:51 PDT
On 29 Jun 2010, at 11:12, Zonneveld, B.J.M. (Ben) wrote:

> If a plant is named after a person the first step is to make it latin so
> Katherine becomes katherina. The next step is to bring it to the second
> declination (?)  so katherinae is the correct form. Now the following
> question arises: published is kathErinae. However the lady is named
> KathArine?? 

First declension.

One has to be alert for words of Greek origin, which have slightly different 
rules. Fortunately the section of the code quoted by Cherry G seems to ignore 
the possibility of a Greek word being used. The K in Katherina is a sign of 
Greciousness.

The elaboration of the ICBN is a reflection of the loss of expertise in Latin 
these days. A hundred years ago, all that stuff would have been pounded into 
the heads of nascent botanists in high school and wouldn't have needed to be 
written out as it is now.

If anyone is dying to learn more about Latin grammar, check out Bennett's "New 
Latin Grammar". Available in paperback though it's a century old, also online, 
but be sure to get the Unicode text version, not the ASCII, as the ASCII 
doesn't support the macrons used to mark long vowels.


-- 
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate
on beautiful Vancouver Island

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