[Taxacom] Metadata for names of living things (addendum)

[Lynn Raw]

Ken,

I think Regnum (a derivative of the Latin rex = king) is a synonym of 
Kingdom not Phylum and having been used as such historically would be 
confusing if used in a different sense now. I do not see any need to use 
Classis instead of Class, this usage long precedes its use in computer 
science where there should be no concern about confusion anyway as this 
field uses many common words in very specific ways not necessarily 
related to the usual meanings.

Lynn Raw

On Mon, 31 Oct 2011 02:33:03 GMT, Kenneth Kinman wrote:
> Hi Andy,
>        I was just reading some of the feedback regarding the rank 
> names
> in connection with your project.  It seems that the rank "Class" is
> objectionable to some, as it has been suggested that it has the
> potential of confusion with other usages of the term "class" in 
> computer
> science, etc.
>
>       I would still prefer the traditional English term Class, but if 
> it
> is deemed inappropriate for any such reasons, I would tend to support
> the Latin "Classis" as a substitute (as it is only a minor variation 
> in
> spelling and does have some precedent for such usage).  I would be 
> less
> inclined to suggest using "Taxoclass", which I assume is a neologism,
> and which I predict would have more potential for generating 
> confusion,
> perhaps even more than "Class" itself.
>
>       Thus I would have no objection to the main ranks of Empire,
> Kingdom, Phylum, Classis, Order, Family, Genus, and Species (plus
> intermediates between them if needed).  However, I predict that
> substituting the Latin "Regnum" for Phylum would be particularly
> confusing for a lot of end-users (including those whose primary 
> language
> is not English, but who would probably be more acquainted with 
> English
> than with the equivalent Latin rank names).
>                   ------Ken Kinman
>
>
>
>
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