Taxacom: Mandatory ending correction after 226 years of wrong usage - the Dasytes case

[Richard Littauer]

Monotes is also a masculine noun, spelled differently in Greek:
https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.perseus.tufts.edu%2Fhopper%2Fmorph%3Fl%3Dmonwths%26la%3Dgreek%23lexicon&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7Cc62cc3c2b21e46d36cd508dd40c9b99f%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638737959769640909%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C60000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=P1ynQKsN3xar8vI81Ob59Yw9w6knnrL6zqeLT3IgxOQ%3D&reserved=0.

The Code doesn't tell you what to do if there are two genders for the same
transliteration from different Greek words. Wish I could tell you more.

R

On Thu, Jan 30, 2025 at 1:59 PM Douglas Yanega via Taxacom <
taxacom at lists.ku.edu> wrote:

> On 1/29/25 4:37 PM, Michael Heads wrote:
> > I was trying to figure out why the authors formerly treated Dasytes as
> > masculine, and why Monotes is still treated as masculine.
> > Here's something from GreekPod on -tes as a masculine ending (it isn't
> > listed in the list of feminine endings):
> > *-ης*Examples: ο λογιστής (/o loyistís/) meaning “the accountant”; ο
> > υπολογιστής (/o ipoloyistís/) meaning “the computer”; ο πελάτης (/o
> > pelátis/) meaning “the customer”; ο μαθητής (/o mathitís/) meaning
> > “the student.”
> >
> > Following the argument for Dasytes being feminine, should Monotes be
> > treated as feminine? Or does it depend on the root rather than the
> suffix?
>
> Monotes is a tree, and governed by a different Code, but it IS a Greek
> noun, and it is feminine:
>
> https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.perseus.tufts.edu%2Fhopper%2Fmorph%3Fl%3Dmonoths%26la%3Dgreek&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7Cc62cc3c2b21e46d36cd508dd40c9b99f%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638737959769661647%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C60000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ll7F8V8BFuFX0jw3fLcC0AFulUdzrtlRB9O7AqYm%2F64%3D&reserved=0
>
> Apparently "unity" qualifies as "a state of being". The most literal
> English translation of monotes would be "oneness", just as for dasytes
> it would be "hairiness".
>
> The genders of tree genera are a bewildering morass, however, so I can't
> tell you what's correct for Monotes.
>
> That said, as I noted, these endings are not always suffixes, and do not
> have fixed gender. If the entire name is not in a standard Greek
> dictionary, and there is no etymology given by the author, you're likely
> to have trouble.
>
> I have in my notes that Arotes, Chirotes, Colotes, Ecrizotes, Nesiotes,
> Taeniotes, and Toxotes are masculine, but Agriotes, Gaurotes, Lipotes,
> and Microtes are feminine. You have to look each one up, you can't just
> look at the ending and guess.
>
> Peace,
>
> --
> Doug Yanega      Dept. of Entomology       Entomology Research Museum
> Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314  voicemail:951-827-8704
> FaceBook: Doug Yanega (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
>               https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.ucr.edu%2F~heraty%2Fyanega.html&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7Cc62cc3c2b21e46d36cd508dd40c9b99f%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638737959769675512%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C60000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=DZkJeYz4GrKrJ4kiWZToMNyQPKfVir%2FoUr%2BTvAH%2FPbQ%3D&reserved=0
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>          is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82
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