Re: non-avian "reptiles"

[NJPharris@aol.com]

In a message dated 8/2/00 9:22:34 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
qilongia@yahoo.com writes:

>    Ending -ea is identical to -ia, one is Greek, the
>  other a Latinization of the Greek (Latin is -es). I
>  believe the ICZN forbids the coinage in any sense
>  ("into Latin" and all that).

Well, not exactly.  -ia is both good Greek and good Latin (the two are 
reasonably closely related, and many of their endings are similar).  In both 
languages, the ending consists of the adjective formant -i- plus the neuter 
plural ending -a.  Thus, "X-ia" means "things that have to do with X" or 
"things related to X".

-es is also found in both Greek and Latin (though the e is short in Greek and 
long in Latin).  Ciconiiformes is a Latin example (the plural of 
"ciconiiformis"), Ornithothoraces a Greek one (the plural of "ornithothorax").

-ea shows up occasionally as the result of adding the neuter plural -a to a 
Greek stem ending in -e-.  The suffix "oidea", for instance, is actually 
composed of a connecting vowel -o- plus the stem eide- "looking like" plus 
the neuter plural -a; therefore tyrannosauroeidea (contracted, as usual, to 
tyrannosauroidea) are, literally, "tyrant lizard-like looking" things.

Anyway, -ea has no place in a word like "Mammalea".  "mammal-" is a Latin 
third declension adjective stem, which requires first an -i- and then a 
gender/number ending, in this instance, -a.
 
>    The root of "Aves" is "avis", bird, and the
>  pluralized taxon means "all the birds;" "Avea" is not
>  just redundant, it would corrupt the root: a proper
>  coinage would, I believe, be "Avesea" or "Avisea".

Oh my, no.  "Avesea" or "Avisea" would be adding endings to endings, which is 
a cardinal sin :-).  I'm afraid there is no good way to get an -ea ending 
onto the "avi-" stem, since the stem a) is Latin and b) does not end in -e-.

Different names have different endings because they are formed in different 
ways, from different parts.

Once again, I must implore Honorable Person Kinman to do one of two things: 
either create entirely new names which are proper analogues of the names he 
wishes to emulate (if standardization is truly what he desires), or stop 
muddying the waters with all these mal-formed (and expressly synonymous) new 
designations!

Thank you for your patience.

Nick P.