Talk:Melaleuca adenostyla

Etymology of adenostyla

Ad editor has made the following addition to the "Taxonomy and naming" section of this article:

The proper word for "gland" is however adēn (ἀδήν) in Ancient Greek. Greek stylos (στῦλος) is actually not the source for the botanical term "style". Its origins can be traced back to classical Latin stilus, via the corrupted Latin form stylus.

I want to make some points about this addition.

• 1. The word "proper" is not a neutral word in English and although I do not have access to it, is most likely not in the reference (Liddell & Scott) cited.
• 2. The derivation of adenostyla varies, depending on the source:
  • The original journal by Kirsten Cowley has -
    • "... derived from the Greek 'adenos' (gland) and 'stylos' (style) and alludes to the glandular style."
  • The Melaleuca monograph by Brophy, Craven and Doran has -
    • "... from the Greek adenos, gland, and stylos style, in reference to the glandular style."
  • In his book, Western Australian Names and their meanings, Sharr has -
    • "adeno/G a.- gland-
      • stylus: L. -s. having a style (the style is glandular: Melaleuca)."
• 3. There is no statement in Stearn that I can find that can be construed as "the Greek stylos (στῦλος) is actually not the source....via the corrupted Latin form stylus." Stearn has -
  • "There exists, however, in Greek the word στῦλος (stylus) meaning a 'pillar, wooden pole' which the later Greeks at Alexandria used in the sense of the Latin stilus. Hence the earlier botanical writers seem to have regarded stilus and stylus as interchangeable."
• 4. According to Stearn: "The Greek ending "ος" usually becomes -us when transliterated." In his vocabulary, Stearn has Style: stylus.

I therefore propose to restate the derivation of adenostyla from: "...is said to be derived..." with:

• ...is derived from the ancient Greek adeno- meaning "gland-" and the Latin stylus meaning "style", referring to the glandular style.

If that is not acceptable to other editors, then:

• ...is said to be derived from the Greek adenos, gland, and stylos style. Sharr gives the derivation as from the ancient Greek adeno- meaning "gland-" and the Latin stylus meaning "style", referring to the glandular style.

Gderrin (talk) 03:52, 21 November 2019 (UTC)

First of all, thank you for your overview.

Regarding: "There is no statement in Stearn that I can find that can be construed as "the Greek stylos (στῦλος) is actually not the source....via the corrupted Latin form stylus." Stearn has -"

Stearn (1983, p. 42):

• Stilus, although used in Latin for a stake or pointed agricultural implement, usually meant the slender iron writing instrument, pointed at one end but broadened at the other, which the Romans wrote on wax-covered wooden tablets (cf. Seyffert, Dict. class. Antiq., 700, with fig.; 1891) and the botanical use of the word refers to this. There exists however, in Greek the word στυλος (stylus) meaning a 'pillar, wooden pole', which the later Greeks at Alexandria used in the sense of the latin stilus. Hence the earlier botanical writers seems to have regarded stilus and stylus as interchangeable as they did calyx and calix, probably as a result of the medieval custom of writing a Latin i as y. Clusius (Rar. Plant. Hist.; 1601) used stilus, the preferable spelling, but Spieghel and most writers stylus, which through Linnaeus's adoption of it has become the standard form in botanical Latin.

It seems that Stearn indicates that Latin stilus is the source of botanical Latin stylus. There second part of the quote, you refer to, indicates that the orthography of στυλος might have had a certain influence on usage of -y- (besides Stearn is mentioning: "probably as a result of the medieval custom of writing a Latin i as y"). However, this στυλος was used in Alexandria "in the sense of the latin stilus".

We should mention what the original author wrote, in this case Lyndly. Unfortunately, this source seems to confuse a couple of things, as adenos is not the actual word for "gland" in Greek. In case we would present all kinds of etymologies side by side, without explaining the difference between these etymologies, it will only confuse the reader. So, we have to be clear, whether some sources agree with Lyndly's statements that adenos is the Greek name for "gland". It is unclear whether Sharr's "adeno-" seems to acknowledge or disprove Lyndly's statements that adenos is the Greek name for "gland". So, actually mentioning "adeno-" does not clarify a thing. Reference to Liddell & Scott, that adēn (ἀδήν) is the actual word in ancient Greek for "gland" is more of assistance. Wimpus (talk) 16:01, 22 November 2019 (UTC)

References