Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!pyrdc!pyrnj!rutgers!sunybcs!lammens
From: lammens@sunybcs.uucp (Johan Lammens)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Artificial Intelligence and Natural Information Procesing
Keywords: Intelligence, Consciousness, Sensory Awareness, Problem Solving
Message-ID: <2714@cs.Buffalo.EDU>
Date: 17 Nov 88 14:35:32 GMT
References: <465@soleil.UUCP> <10007@swan.ulowell.edu> <41580@linus.UUCP> <640@quintus.UUCP> <136@killdeer.AUSTIN.LOCKHEED.COM>
Sender: news@cs.Buffalo.EDU
Reply-To: lammens@sunybcs.UUCP (Johan Lammens)
Organization: SUNY/Buffalo Computer Science
Lines: 29

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.)    
>

That still does not make sense. In that case you would probably
consider it a double noun like director general, but these nouns form
their plural by attaching the plural morpheme -s to the first part,
not to the second, as in directors general (NOT director generals).
Would you also consider Amiens (the name of a French city) to be
plural, just because it ends in an -s?
Anyway, I think it is not wise to ignore the etymology of words, as it
often reveals a significant aspect of the meaning (as in homo sapiens).

JL.
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