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Re: Genus, Species, ...

From:Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>
Date:Sunday, January 11, 2009, 1:32
On Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 7:40 PM, Rebecca Bettencourt
<beckiergb@...> wrote:
> sing: genus, species > pl: genera, species > adj1: generic, specific > adj2: general, special > verb2: generalize, specialize > verb1: ?, specify
> What goes in the ? slot? Why is there no "genify" or "generify" or > some such word?
Well, most of that derivation had already taken place in Latin and French before the words were borrowed into English, so this is a hard line of questioning to find definitive answers for. For instance, the word "specify" itself comes via French from a verbing that had already taken place in VL : "species" -> "species ficus" -> "specificus" -> "specificare". Since "ficus" didn't enter into the derivations from "genus", "generify" wouldn't be a plausible co-derivation, but it's fine as a later addition. I prefer "genericize" myself.
> Was "generalize" created to fill that hole? Then someone screwed it up > again by inventing "specialize?" > > -- > Hasta la pasta, > Rebecca Bettencourt. > ------------------------------------------------------------ > I tried the real world once; didn't really care for it. >
-- Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>