Re: List of Dinosaur Name Incorrectly Translated All-too-often

[pharrinj@PLU.edu]

On Sun, 7 Jan 1996 Dinogeorge@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 96-01-07 02:15:23 EST, RaptorRKC@aol.com writes:
> 
> >Well, before I get to the big one-zero-zero, perhaps you all could just
> >suggest some fine Greek-to-English and Latin-to-English dictionaries.
> >
> >
> 
> Nice list: 99 entries from my forthcoming book on dinosaur-name derivations.
> 
> For starters, try to find Brown's "Composition of Scientific Words." It was
> republished by the Smithsonian Institution not too long ago, and it is a gold
> mine. Nevertheless, there is no substitute for returning to the original
> descriptions and trying to fit the name to the text.
> 
> Here are a few derivations from your list, just off the top of my head:
> 
> _Torosaurus latus_: "Toro" from Gr. _toros_, "borer," referring to the holes
> in the parietal bones of the frill; "latus" from the Latin meaning "wide,"
> referring to the frill's breadth (I suppose: Marsh was not explicit).
> 
> _sarcophagus_: Latinized Greek, meaning "flesh eater," from Gr. _sarx_,
> "flesh," "meat," and _phagein_, "to eat."
> 
> _Ingenia_: Latinized from Ingeni-Khoboor, the name of the place the type
> specimen was discovered.
> 
> _atokensis_: Latinized from Atoka County, Oklahoma; the ending _-ensis_
> denotes "place" or "locality."
> 
> _Abrictosaurus consors_: "Abricto" from Gr. meaning "awake," "saurus" the
> usual. Referring to the describer's (Hopson's) hypothesis that this dinosaur
> did not hibernate or estivate, in opposition to Thulborn's hypothesis, based
> on tooth replacement patterns, that it did. "Consors," the Latin word for
> "mate" or "companion," referring to the hypothesis that females did not have
> dentary fangs (as in this species) whereas males did. Think of the noun
> "consort."
> 
> _Aetonyx_: "Aet" from Gr. _aetos_, meaning "eagle"; "onyx" from Gr. _onyx_,
> meaning "talon," "claw," "hoof," or "fingernail." Referring to the shape of
> the claw of the second manual digit, which the describer thought might have
> been used to groom feathers. (The idea of feathered dinosaurs goes back a
> ways, you see.) The claw has a peculiar double-pointed shape caused by the
> vascular grooves meeting above the tip rather than at the tip. Incidentally,
> Broom created the name with the first two letters (Ae) in ligature, to be
> pronounced "eye" or "ee," but in the Greek they're pronounced separately:
> ah-eh-TON-ix. In the same paper is _Gryponyx_, from Gr. _grypos_, "crooked,"
> "curved," or "hook-nosed." This refers to the large, curved thumb-claw (on
> the first manual digit). Both of these dinosaurs are presently considered to
> be growth stages of _Massospondylus carinatus_. By the way, note how
> appropriate the third meaning of _grypos_ is to the hadrosaur _Gryposaurus_.

Sorry, Raptor, for the derivation of _Aetonyx_ as "ancient claw"; I think 
G.O. is right on this one.  However, his Greek is a little off.  "AE" and 
"AI" are the Latin and Greek ways, respectively, of spelling the diphthong 
(two vowels in one syllable) in English "eye".  Also, the accent in Greek 
compounds is usually recessive, coming on the earliest syllable possible, 
in this case the third from the end.  The best approximation to the Greek 
pronunciation of the name _Aetonyx_ is, therefore, most likely EYE-toh-nix.

> 
> And so forth. I've been trying to get a publisher interested in a book of all
> dinosaur-name derivations and the stories behind them for years now, so far
> without success. Once I get through some of my higher-priority publications,
> I might publish the book myself for a select audience of dinosaur
> aficionados.
> 

     Nick Pharris
     Pacific Lutheran University
     Tacoma, WA