Taxacom: probable noun in apposition

[Douglas Yanega]

On 9/28/22 3:09 PM, David Campbell via Taxacom wrote:
> Gardner (1948) named *Macromphalina pierrot*, using that spelling six times
> in the paper (USGS Professional Paper 199B;
> https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpubs.er.usgs.gov%2Fpublication%2Fpp199B&data=05%7C01%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7Cd0dc3b2d50404bb0d37408daa1a1fd3f%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638000014349418517%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=xI8kQeuN5iGKUDYHpZvMbvHHXvKlL%2BbgcK1Fl2Trzp0%3D&reserved=0 is legible but not the best
> scan, last I checked).  An etymology is not given, but she stated
> “*Macromphalina
> pierrot* is well characterized in the perfect adult by the jaunty tilt of
> the protoconch”.  I suspect this means that "pierrot" refers to the stock
> tragicomic character or a corresponding costume, with his beret to one
> side, treated as a noun of its own in apposition rather than as a proper
> name to be Latinized to *pierroti.  *Although this choice seems possibly
> confusing , as Recommendation 31A points out, it appears to me to be a
> legal usage, and later uses of *pierroti *would be incorrect emendations.
>
> Any thoughts?

If it was used consistently in the paper and no explicit etymology as a 
patronym was given, then it cannot be emended. There are lots of 
epithets based on a person's or character's name with no suffix at all; 
subsequent authors are not permitted to add a suffix for any reason. 
Omission of a suffix may be confusing, but it is entirely permissible, 
and not subject to pedantic revisionism.

The only situation in which this can become legitimately confusing is 
when the proper name  - when used without a suffix - looks like an 
adjective (e.g. "linus"), or happens to be the same AS an adjective 
(e.g., "albius"), and no etymology was provided. Most of these cases, 
however, therefore fall under Art. 31.2.2 and they must retain their 
original spelling.

Peace,

-- 
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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