Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!quintus!ok
From: ok@quintus.uucp (Richard A. O'Keefe)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Artificial Intelligence and Natural Information Procesing
Summary: fun with spelling
Keywords: spelling
Message-ID: <692@quintus.UUCP>
Date: 17 Nov 88 04:27:13 GMT
References: <465@soleil.UUCP> <10007@swan.ulowell.edu> <41580@linus.UUCP> <640@quintus.UUCP> <136@killdeer.AUSTIN.LOCKHEED.COM>
Sender: news@quintus.UUCP
Reply-To: ok@quintus.UUCP (Richard A. O'Keefe)
Organization: Quintus Computer Systems, Inc.
Lines: 51

In article <136@killdeer.AUSTIN.LOCKHEED.COM> marcos@AUSTIN.LOCKHEED.COM (M V Lapolla) writes:
>In article <640@quintus.UUCP>, ok@quintus.uucp (Richard A. O'Keefe) writes:
>> In article <41580@linus.UUCP> bwk@mbunix (Kort) writes:
>> >One of the goals a Homo Sapien may reasonably adopt is the goal of
>> >achieving consciousness and becoming human.

>> Another goal is mastery of spelling:  "homo sapiens" is *singular*.
>> The plural would be "homines sapientes".

>Only if our native language were Latin in which case we'd also decline for
>case. Since our native language, or at least mine, is English I feel free
>to incorporate "homo sapiens" into English and impose English pluralization
>rules to it. (Using English plural morphemes etc.)    

>Ciao,

_Please_ don't take this as a flame.  Take this message lightly, though
I am serious about spelling in general.  Gene Spafford recently posted a
tongue-in-cheek "Emily Postnews" column to news.announce.newusers:

    Q:	I cant spell worth a dam.
	I hope your going too tell me what to do?

    A:	Don't worry about how your articles look.
	Remember it's the message that counts, not the way it's presented.
	Ignore the fact that sloppy spelling in a purely written forum
	sends out the same silent messages that soiled clothing would when
	addressing an audience.

"Homo sapiens" is a _singular_ phrase IN ENGLISH, functioning much like a
proper name.  "Yates" is an English name which looks like a plural form;
would it be acceptable to say "one of the goals a Yate may reasonably
adopt ..."?  How about "alumnus", would you say "one of the goals an
Austin alumnu may reasonably adopt..."?  Surely it is idiomatic English
to say that someone is "an Aries"?  [idiotic as well as idiomatic...]

To "impose English pluralization rules to[sic]' "Homo sapiens", would
not one pluralise it the way one pluralises "lens"?
I would accept "Homos sapienses" or "homosapienses" as Englished plurals.

When someone quotes a technical term in a way that makes it look as though
they don't know what they are talking about (the trivial name of a species
is not capitalised, so it's "Homo sapiens" not "Homo Sapiens", for example)
it looks bad.  It reduces the force of the rest of the message, however
sensible it may be, and whether the author _really_ understands what he's
talking about or not.

Yours for better English,
		Sannio ardens.
PS: if you want to stress that your native language is English,
    signing off with an Italian word weakens your point (:-).