Dear Paul and other shellfans,

The various spellings Paul cited are undoubtedly the result of attempts to
best approximate the English word, "Sandwich," phonetically, in Latin.

There was no "w" in the Latin alphabet.  Authors vary in methods of
addressing this anomaly.  Most simply write the "w" into a transmogrified
Latin word [example: Conus wallangra (Garrard, 1961)], and that is
permitted under the Rules.  Others have tried to approximate the phonetic
properties [example: Clithon oualaniensis (Lesson, 1831)] of the "w," (in
this case the Spanish "gu" of "Guam"), and that's fine, too.  When a "w"
appears in the middle of a modern word employing Latin characters, most
authors [examples: Trochus sandwichiensis Souleyet, 1852 and Neritina
sandwichensis Deshayes, 1838] simply transfer the "w" into the Latin
epithet - that's fine, too.  Some authors, perhaps they may be termed
"purists," change the "w" to a "v," in the style of the masons who inscribe
our public libraries and statuary, and create the likes of Cerithium
sandvichense Reeve, 1865.

A second lack of congruence between some modern languages (example English)
and Latin is the consonant combination "ch," (example; "Sandwich"), which
in Latin (and Greek before it) is generally pronounced as a hard "c" (as if
it were "k"), whereas "c" in Latin was pronounced as we do "ch" in English.
 Thus a few authors (take Paul's example: Turbo sandwicensis Pease 1861)
attempt a closer phonetic approximation.

The ultimate accommodation may be embodied in Fusinus sanvicensis (G. B.
Sowerby II) [not the "shocking Latinist" that his father was], in which the
"w" and "ch" problems are BOTH dealt with phonetically.

The POINT here is that all these iterations are acceptable under the Rules.
 The original spelling of a generic- or species-level taxon, with rare
exceptions [such as the (improper) inclusion of diacritical marks, errors
in capitalization and termination] is the PROPER spelling, and this even
includes many out-and-out misspellings!

[The examples cited above may be found on pp. 262 and 55 of Abbott and
Dance's "Compendium of seashells," and pp. 52, 66, 125, 58, and 278 of
Allison Kay's "Hawaiian marine shells," respectively.]

Harry

P.S.  I really gave my spell-check a workout on this missive; unlike the
ICZN, it choked on every spelling other than "sandwich."


At 01:07 AM 2/20/00 -0500, you wrote:
>Footnote:  In looking through the index of Kay's Hawaiian Marine Shells, I
>find there are quite a few species named after the "Sandwich Islands", hardly
>surprising of course, since it's an old name for the Hawaiian Islands.
>However, there are several spellings employed.  Several species are named
>sandwichensis, several are called sandwicensis, several sandvicensis, and one
>sandvichensis.  Anyone have any further info on this?
>Paul M.
Harry G. Lee
Suite 500
1801 Barrs St.
Jacksonville, FL 32204
USA   904-384-6419
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Visit the Jacksonville Shell Club Home Page at:
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