How to emphasize words without using italics
John Kenny
In the Internet age, where Usenet frowns on anything but plain text
postings, is there consensus on how to express emphasis. I was taught to
italicize words I want to strongly express. The basic nature of plain text
makes this impossible.
I致e seen several different methods used on various newsgroups. Typing the
word in all CAPS. Underscoring the relevant word or phrase. I致e even seen
posts where the emphasized word is between asterisks.
Would anyone care to comment?
--
Best regards,
John
The second best thing about space travel is that distances involved make war
very difficult, usually impractical, and almost always unnecessary. This is
probably a loss for most people, since war is our race's most popular
diversion, one which gives purpose and color to dull and stupid lives. But
it is a great boon to the intelligent man who fights only when he must --
never for sport.
- Robert Heinlein
John Kenny
JUST AN H wrote in message <19990113220721...@ng26.aol.com>...
>>I致e seen several different methods used on various newsgroups. Typing the
>>word in all CAPS. Underscoring the relevant word or phrase. I致e even seen
>>posts where the emphasized word is between asterisks.
>>
>>Would anyone care to comment?
>
methods of
>emphasis.
>
>J.
J.
True, but is there *single* one that has the blessing of the greater grammar
community? Have any one of these methods been granted some form of approval?
If so, could you provide a source.
P&DSchultz
>
> JUST AN H wrote in message <19990113220721...@ng26.aol.com>...
> >>I致e seen several different methods used on various newsgroups. Typing the
> >>word in all CAPS. Underscoring the relevant word or phrase. I致e even seen
> >>posts where the emphasized word is between asterisks.
> >>
> >>Would anyone care to comment?
> >
> >The methods you described above are all valid and readily understood
> methods of
> >emphasis.
> >
> >J.
>
> J.
>
> True, but is there *single* one that has the blessing of the greater grammar
> community? Have any one of these methods been granted some form of approval?
> If so, could you provide a source.
OK, I'll be the source for the asterisks way. Anybody want to be
the source for the capitalization way?
//P. Schultz
JUST AN H
Pk2222
>word in all CAPS. Underscoring the relevant word or phrase. I致e even seen
>posts where the emphasized word is between asterisks.
I tend to use the asterisk method. I don't like to SHOUT.
pk
Ellen Mizzell
> Folks,
>
> In the Internet age, where Usenet frowns on anything but plain text
> postings, is there consensus on how to express emphasis. I was taught to
> italicize words I want to strongly express. The basic nature of plain text
> makes this impossible.
>
> word in all CAPS. Underscoring the relevant word or phrase. I致e even seen
> posts where the emphasized word is between asterisks.
>
I use asterisks for bold and /solidi/ for italics. Don't use all
caps, that's shouting and it's not civil.
Now, classicists, please tell me, is /solidi/ the correct plural
form for /solidus/ ?
--
Ellen Mizzell
Pk2222
>Now, classicists, please tell me, is /solidi/ the correct plural
>form for /solidus/ ?
>
It is in *my* Latin text - Langensheit's, I think.
pk
Daniel James
> I致e seen several different methods used on various newsgroups. Typing the
> word in all CAPS. Underscoring the relevant word or phrase. I致e even seen
> posts where the emphasized word is between asterisks.
>
The system I use seems to have some following. I use asterisks for *bold*,
(forwards) slashes for /italics/ and underscores for _underlining_.
Furthermore, the Virtual Access software I use for reading newsgroups allows
me to display text so delimited in the intended manner (but not across a
line break) - or not, as I choose.
Cheers,
Daniel.
Daniel James
> Now, classicists, please tell me, is /solidi/ the correct plural
> form for /solidus/ ?
>
Well, um, classicist? Not exactly, but ... the COD says "Yes".
Cheers,
Daniel.
Ellen Mizzell
> In article <77jj5m$den$1...@camel0.mindspring.com>, John Kenny wrote:
> > word in all CAPS. Underscoring the relevant word or phrase. I’ve even seen
> > posts where the emphasized word is between asterisks.
> >
>
> The system I use seems to have some following. I use asterisks for *bold*,
> (forwards) slashes for /italics/ and underscores for _underlining_.
>
> Furthermore, the Virtual Access software I use for reading newsgroups allows
> me to display text so delimited in the intended manner (but not across a
> line break) - or not, as I choose.
>
Windows?
--
Ellen Mizzell
Opinicus
<77khuk$g...@tictac.demon.co.uk>...
>I use asterisks for bold and /solidi/ for italics. Don't use all
>caps, that's shouting and it's not civil.
>Now, classicists, please tell me, is /solidi/ the correct plural
>form for /solidus/ ?
Well according to the Webster's Ninth New Collegiate by my side, yes. I'm
too lazy to get up and look at the 3rd International. If I do, the cat
that's currently occupying it will think that it's received a feeding-time
signal.
Bob
Istanbul
---
To reply by email, dot the dash in doruk-net.
Bill McCray
wrote:
>In the Internet age, where Usenet frowns on anything but plain text
>postings, is there consensus on how to express emphasis. I was taught to
>italicize words I want to strongly express. The basic nature of plain text
>makes this impossible.
>
>I致e seen several different methods used on various newsgroups. Typing the
>word in all CAPS. Underscoring the relevant word or phrase. I致e even seen
>posts where the emphasized word is between asterisks.
>
The mail readers I use do not recognize HTML. Therefore, I hope you
won't try to use italics or underscoring (or any other HTML for that
matter. It's ugly). Capitalizing looks like shouting. The asterisk
method has much to recommend it until all mail readers handle HTML.
Bill McCray
Lexington, KY
jan...@mailexcite.com
>
> John Kenny wrote:
> >
> > JUST AN H wrote in message <19990113220721...@ng26.aol.com>...
> > >>word in all CAPS. Underscoring the relevant word or phrase. I致e even seen
> > >>posts where the emphasized word is between asterisks.
> > >>
> > >
> > methods of
> > >emphasis.
> > >
> > >J.
> >
> >
> > True, but is there *single* one that has the blessing of the greater grammar
> > community? Have any one of these methods been granted some form of approval?
> > If so, could you provide a source.
>
> OK, I'll be the source for the asterisks way. Anybody want to be
> the source for the capitalization way?
> //P. Schultz
Sure. Within limits, capitalization the best technique because
it is the most easily recognizable.
jane
jan...@mailexcite.com
>
> Now, classicists, please tell me, is /solidi/ the correct plural
> form for /solidus/ ?
>
Ellen Mizzell
soliduses
--
Ellen Mizzell
Stepaside
>
>I use asterisks for bold and /solidi/ for italics. Don't use all
>caps, that's shouting and it's not civil.
>
>form for /solidus/ ?
>
usage is in fact classical Latin.
Not that that really matters, come to think of it.
--
Stepaside
'Ni ddyfod ond yn ddifalch
Ni bu na gorwag na balch'
Ellen Mizzell
> In article <77khuk$g...@tictac.demon.co.uk>, Ellen Mizzell
> <$news1$@nospam.demon.co.uk> writes
> >
> >I use asterisks for bold and /solidi/ for italics. Don't use all
> >caps, that's shouting and it's not civil.
> >
> >Now, classicists, please tell me, is /solidi/ the correct plural
> >form for /solidus/ ?
> >
> It fits the usual pattern - only I don't think that /solidus/ in this
> usage is in fact classical Latin.
> Not that that really matters, come to think of it.
>
I could always call it a virgule. Or call them virgules.
--
Ellen Mizzell
jan...@mailexcite.com
>
> I could always call it a virgule. Or call them virgules.
>
>
virgulae.
P&DSchultz
>
> In article <77khuk$g...@tictac.demon.co.uk>, Ellen Mizzell
> <$news1$@nospam.demon.co.uk> writes
> >
> >I use asterisks for bold and /solidi/ for italics. Don't use all
> >caps, that's shouting and it's not civil.
> >
> >Now, classicists, please tell me, is /solidi/ the correct plural
> >form for /solidus/ ?
> >
> It fits the usual pattern - only I don't think that /solidus/ in this
> usage is in fact classical Latin.
> Not that that really matters, come to think of it.
I believe the ancient Romans called that punctuation mark "signum
caesurae"; literally, "slash mark."
//P. Schultz
Carl Pepper
Carl Pepper
Stoke-on-Trent, U.K.
Stepaside wrote in message <4raZ$JAPm4...@hslaw.demon.co.uk>...
>In article <77khuk$g...@tictac.demon.co.uk>, Ellen Mizzell
><$news1$@nospam.demon.co.uk> writes
>>
>>I use asterisks for bold and /solidi/ for italics. Don't use all
>>caps, that's shouting and it's not civil.
>>
>>Now, classicists, please tell me, is /solidi/ the correct plural
>>form for /solidus/ ?
>>
>It fits the usual pattern - only I don't think that /solidus/ in this
>usage is in fact classical Latin.
>Not that that really matters, come to think of it.
>
>
Ellen Mizzell
It does seem to be a better word for this particular use of a
forward slash. The OED associates "solidus" specifically with the
way we used to write shillings and pence, e.g. 23/6, and in fact
it says that "nummus" (coin?) is to be supplied after "solidus".
"Virgule" is associated with punctuation, so it serves the present
purpose much better.
Now what about technoslashes in either direction? What are they to be
called? / universally denotes root, which fits well with "virgule"
(twig). I guess it's not likely to displace "slash", though.
Is there a name for \ other than "backward slash"? That always makes
me think of pissing in the wind.
--
Ellen Mizzell
jan...@mailexcite.com
>
> Stepaside wrote:
> >
> > In article <77khuk$g...@tictac.demon.co.uk>, Ellen Mizzell
> > <$news1$@nospam.demon.co.uk> writes
> > >
> > >I use asterisks for bold and /solidi/ for italics. Don't use all
> > >caps, that's shouting and it's not civil.
> > >
> > >Now, classicists, please tell me, is /solidi/ the correct plural
> > >form for /solidus/ ?
> > >
> > It fits the usual pattern - only I don't think that /solidus/ in this
> > usage is in fact classical Latin.
> > Not that that really matters, come to think of it.
>
> caesurae"; literally, "slash mark."
> //P. Schultz
I like this even better than "virgule."
jan...@mailexcite.com
Here it's just "backslash." I like it. It sounds like
something Zorro would do with a keyboard.
Ellen Mizzell
> > Is there a name for \ other than "backward slash"? That always makes
> > me think of pissing in the wind.
> >
>
> something Zorro would do with a keyboard.
I'd rather he didn't. Coffee is bad enough.
--
Ellen Mizzell
M.J.Powell
<$news1$@nospam.demon.co.uk> writes
I found out the other day that :- is known by printers as 'the dog's
bollocks'.
Mike
Ellen Mizzell
I expect from a dog's point of view it looks pretty much like the
printer's bollocks.
I wonder if there's any mileage in it as an emoticon. Several
threads recently have seemed to be begging for a testicular
comment.
--
Ellen Mizzell
Opinicus
>Is there a name for \ other than "backward slash"? That always makes
>me think of pissing in the wind.
*Up*wind. Downwind is no problem.
Bob, speaking from experience in
P&DSchultz
> > I believe the ancient Romans called that punctuation mark "signum
> > caesurae"; literally, "slash mark."
> > //P. Schultz
>
> I like this even better than "virgule."
On second thought, I think "virgule" sounds more classical, since
it's named after the poet who wrote "The Aeneid."
//P. Schultz
Ellen Mizzell
> Ellen Mizzell <$news1$@nospam.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
> <77ptl0$1...@tictac.demon.co.uk>...
>
> >Is there a name for \ other than "backward slash"? That always makes
> >me think of pissing in the wind.
> *Up*wind. Downwind is no problem.
>
ITYM \up\wind.
Point taken, though.
--
Ellen Mizzell
M.J.Powell
>> bollocks'.
>>
>
>I expect from a dog's point of view it looks pretty much like the
>printer's bollocks.
>
>I wonder if there's any mileage in it as an emoticon. Several
>threads recently have seemed to be begging for a testicular
>comment.
What a pity we can't print sideways here.
Mike
>
Daniel James
> > Sure. What else /could/ it be?
>
> soliduses
>
Don't! We'll have the buses/busses debate all over again! <smile>
Typesetters call the symbol "sliders", so I suppose they would use
"slidersis" (pron. "sliderziz") or "slidy" in the plural?
Cheers,
Daniel.
Daniel James
> > Furthermore, the Virtual Access software I use for reading newsgroups allows
> > me to display text so delimited in the intended manner (but not across a
> > line break) - or not, as I choose.
> >
>
> Windows?
>
Er, you mean: is VA a Windows package? Yes, it is.
<Plug>
Once upon a time a small British software company called Ashmount
Research produced an offline mail reader program for CIX called "Telepathy", which
became known simply as "TP" (TeePee). Later, they produced a more general product
that worked for CIX and Compuserve which was called "WigWam". Over the course of a
few years this product gained the ability to read internet mail (POP3 and SMTP) and
newsgroups and learned some multi-user/networking/corporate EMail tricks, and was
renamed "PowWow". Later still the marketing people decided that it should be renamed
"Virtual Access", and so it was. (I hope I've got the chronology of this about
right).
A year or two so ago Ashmount Research "merged with" (i.e. were bought by) an
American company called Virtual Technology Corporation who proceded to
fail to understand what the product was about, to sack half the developers, and
to mismanage their affairs in a very real - not at all virtual - sort of way, and
go bust.
The rights to VA have been acquired by an outfit called Atlantic Coast Software (in
Devon), who have rehired (some of) the original developers produced new version
(V4.5). Atlantic Coast seem to be the same people as "brown Bag Software", of whom
you may perhaps have heard.
I use VA (V4.02, 32-bit version under NT4, using NT's dial-up networking) for all my
EMail and newsgroup access and for my increasingly infrequent accesses to
Compuserve. I like the fact that it works entirely offline, and the way it organises
messages into threads. It isn't perfect (what software is?) but it was good enough
that I stopped looking for a better package. Like you, I use Demon Internet as my
ISP and I've never even been tempted to try out the Turnpike software that they keep
sending me with the quarterly comic.
</Plug>
I think you can get more information from: sa...@atlantic-coast.com (or GO ASHMOUNT
on Compuserve or JOIN ASHMOUNT on CIX, if you have access to either of those
services).
Cheers,
Daniel.
[ Disclaimer: I have no connection with Ashmount Research (apart from being a
moderately satisfied customer since the heady days of WigWam V1.22), with Virtual
Technology Corporation, or with Atlantic Coast. ]
Opinicus
>> >Is there a name for \ other than "backward slash"? That always makes
>> >me think of pissing in the wind.
>> *Up*wind. Downwind is no problem.
>ITYM \up\wind.
>Point taken, though.
difficulties.
Bob
Ellen Mizzell
>
> Once upon a time a small British software company called Ashmount
> Research produced an offline mail reader program for CIX called "Telepathy", which
> became known simply as "TP" (TeePee).
That alarmed me for a moment, but I see later that it has no connection
with the dreaded Turnpike.
> Later, they produced a more general product
> that worked for CIX and Compuserve which was called "WigWam". Over the course of a
> few years this product gained the ability to read internet mail (POP3 and SMTP) and
> newsgroups and learned some multi-user/networking/corporate EMail tricks, and was
> renamed "PowWow". Later still the marketing people decided that it should be renamed
> "Virtual Access", and so it was. (I hope I've got the chronology of this about
> right).
Ummm. This is a different product from Ameol, yes?
>
> A year or two so ago Ashmount Research "merged with" (i.e. were bought by) an
> American company called Virtual Technology Corporation who proceded to
> fail to understand what the product was about, to sack half the developers, and
> to mismanage their affairs in a very real - not at all virtual - sort of way, and
> go bust.
An old old story.
>
> The rights to VA have been acquired by an outfit called Atlantic Coast Software (in
> Devon), who have rehired (some of) the original developers produced new version
> (V4.5). Atlantic Coast seem to be the same people as "brown Bag Software", of whom
> you may perhaps have heard.
Indeed yes. I used to use their outliner thingy long long ago.
>
> I use VA (V4.02, 32-bit version under NT4, using NT's dial-up networking) for all my
> EMail and newsgroup access and for my increasingly infrequent accesses to
> Compuserve. I like the fact that it works entirely offline, and the way it organises
> messages into threads. It isn't perfect (what software is?) but it was good enough
> that I stopped looking for a better package. Like you, I use Demon Internet as my
> ISP and I've never even been tempted to try out the Turnpike software that they keep
> sending me with the quarterly comic.
No, touch not. Did you notice, though, that the current CD includes the
full set of RFCs? Very useful indeed, even if they did zip them.
>
> </Plug>
>
> I think you can get more information from: sa...@atlantic-coast.com (or GO ASHMOUNT
> on Compuserve or JOIN ASHMOUNT on CIX, if you have access to either of those
> services).
I'm sort of deliriously happy with Linux, but I'll pass the word on
to others. It sounds good. Thanks for the rundown.
--
Ellen Mizzell
Ellen Mizzell
> Ellen Mizzell <$news1$@nospam.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
> <77qlub$3...@tictac.demon.co.uk>...
> >> >Is there a name for \ other than "backward slash"? That always makes
> >> >me think of pissing in the wind.
> >> *Up*wind. Downwind is no problem.
> >ITYM \up\wind.
> >Point taken, though.
> Noted. I have observed this evening that lateral winds may also cause
> difficulties.
Bob, are the facilities in your place of accommodation adequate,
would you say?
--
Ellen Mizzell
jan...@mailexcite.com
We really do need a more extensive list of emoticons. I don't
know how to groan.
IMHO, the best word for "/" is "separatrix." It sounds even
racier than "backslash," and the plural must be "separatrices."
Barbara Slade
Ah, yes, but printers have some weird terminology for things. I remember my
grandfather (who was a printer) telling me that something was "shit-brindle
green," and that "shit-brindle green" was a colour of ink they used to get all
the time.
Thed
Ellen Mizzell wrote:
> M.J.Powell (mi...@pickmere.demon.co.uk) wrote:
> > In article <77qb11$2...@tictac.demon.co.uk>, Ellen Mizzell
> > <$news1$@nospam.demon.co.uk> writes
> > >jan...@mailexcite.com wrote:
> > >> Ellen Mizzell wrote:
> > >[..]
> > >> > Is there a name for \ other than "backward slash"? That always makes
> > >> > me think of pissing in the wind.
> > >> >
> > >>
> > >> Here it's just "backslash." I like it. It sounds like
> > >> something Zorro would do with a keyboard.
> > >
> > >I'd rather he didn't. Coffee is bad enough.
> >
> > I found out the other day that :- is known by printers as 'the dog's
> > bollocks'.
> >
>
> I expect from a dog's point of view it looks pretty much like the
> printer's bollocks.
>
> I wonder if there's any mileage in it as an emoticon. Several
> threads recently have seemed to be begging for a testicular
> comment.
>
> --
> Ellen Mizzell
Daniel James
A feminine separator? The backslash being its masculine counterpart?
I'm not sure that I follow the logic there... Are you saying that unix
is for real men, and only sissies use DOS/Windows?
BTW In Heraldry a diagonal stripe on an escutcheon (top right to bottom
left as you stand holding the shield, so top left to bottom right as
you look at it) is called a "bend", and a diagonal stripe the other way
is called a "bend sinister". A smaller diagonal bar (not to be confused
with a "bar", which would be horizontal) is called a "baton" or a
"baton sinister", depending on the direction of its slant.
So, how about "baton" (for backslash) and "baton sinister" (for slash)?
Cheers,
Daniel.
Daniel James
> So what is the plural of virus? Virii?
>
No, that would be the plural of "virius", if there was such a word.
Most English people would say that the plural of virus is "viruses",
but the plural of the latin word (virus: slime, poison, or foul smell)
is "viri".
Cheers,
Daniel.
Daniel James
> Ummm. This is a different product from Ameol, yes?
>
We're way, way, way off-topic, here, but...
No, Ameol is completely different, and from a different outfit. People I know who only
use CIX seem to like Ameol, but those who (also/instead) use Compuserve and/or NNTP stuff
like VA.
> > ...I've never even been tempted to try out the Turnpike software that they keep
> > sending me with the quarterly comic.
>
> No, touch not. Did you notice, though, that the current CD includes the
> full set of RFCs? Very useful indeed, even if they did zip them.
>
No, I touched not. I have the RFCs on a Walnut Creek CD anyway...
> I'm sort of deliriously happy with Linux, but I'll pass the word on
> to others.
>
I'm sure Linux is a Good Thing, but people pay me good money to write code for NT and I
rather feel I should work with it enough to be able to claim I know what I'm doing... If
I had any free time I might try putting Linux on one of these old 486s I have cluttering
the place up - or I could just get a life?
Cheers,
Daniel.
jan...@mailexcite.com
>
> In article <36A1213A...@mailexcite.com>, wrote:
> > IMHO, the best word for "/" is "separatrix."
> >
>
> A feminine separator? The backslash being its masculine counterpart?
> I'm not sure that I follow the logic there... Are you saying that unix
> is for real men, and only sissies use DOS/Windows?
>
I don't know why the feminine form is used. I like it though.
According to my dictionary, "separatrix" also refers to symbols
that divide up numbers, like periods and commas. I want to hear
grave newscasters intoning sentences like: U.S./U.K.
separatriceal dichotomy exacerbates Y2K - story at 11.
> So, how about "baton" (for backslash) and "baton sinister" (for slash)?
I like it. But really, in your heart of hearts, wouldn't you
rather say "separatrix sinister?" I suppose it would have to be
"separatrix sinistra" though, which isn't quite as good.
jane
peter prictoe
>me think of pissing in the wind.
>
>Ellen Mizzell
peter prictoe
>left as you stand holding the shield, so top left to bottom right as
>you look at it) is called a "bend", and a diagonal stripe the other way
>is called a "bend sinister". A smaller diagonal bar (not to be confused
>with a "bar", which would be horizontal) is called a "baton" or a
>"baton sinister", depending on the direction of its slant.
PP But what about the popular connotations (bastardy) of bend or bar
sinisters? Peter
Ellen Mizzell
Exactly. Or rather, diffusely.
--
Ellen Mizzell
Daniel James
> I like it. But really, in your heart of hearts, wouldn't you
> rather say "separatrix sinister?"
>
No, but in my heart of hearts I might like to feel confident that I
*could* say such a thing without biting my tongue <smile>
> I suppose it would have to be
> "separatrix sinistra" though, which isn't quite as good.
>
It must be 3rd declension, in which the masculine and feminine genders
take the same form (I can't remember what the neuter does), so you can
keep "sinister". Happy?
Cheers,
Daniel.
Daniel James
> PP But what about the popular connotations (bastardy) of bend or bar
> sinisters? Peter
>
I *could* say that those, er, persons who use unix have their batons
the wrong way round - but as Jane has pointed out it would be
off-topic.
Cheers,
Daniel.
Ellen Mizzell
> In article <784tme$3dr$2...@news7.svr.pol.co.uk>, Peter prictoe wrote:
> > PP But what about the popular connotations (bastardy) of bend or bar
> > sinisters? Peter
> >
>
> I *could* say that those, er, persons who use unix have their batons
> the wrong way round
Linux as a love child....yes, I like it.
--
Ellen Mizzell
"Now, the gods stand up for bastards!"
JUST AN H
>take the same form (I can't remember what the neuter does), so you can
>keep "sinister". Happy?
Forgive my ignorance (I never took Latin), but I've always assumed that "ix"
was the Latin feminine. For example, in American law (which makes much use of
Latin), a male who makes a Will is a "testator" and is referred to throughout
his Will as "the testator," while a woman who makes a Will is a "testatrix,"
and is referred to throughout her Will as "the testatrix."
As for declensions, well, it's hard enough to embrace the masculine and
feminine forms of today's modern languages, let alone a third form. No wonder
Latin's a dead language!
J.
Daniel James
> Forgive my ignorance (I never took Latin), but I've always assumed that "ix"
> was the Latin feminine.
>
It's not as simple as that.
Latin nouns and adjectives all have different forms for use in different
contexts; so, for example, you can distinguish between the subject and object of
a sentence by looking to see which form of the noun has been used in each case.
For this reason, word order is less important in Latin than in other languages.
The different forms of a word all have a common root and are distinguished by
the ending.
There are a small nuber of ways that the endings (or /regular/ nouns) are formed
and these are fairly easily recognized. So, a word ending in 'a' - such as
"agricola" (farmer) - will have different endings from words ending in, say,
"us" - such as "dominus" (lord). It's fairly obvious that a rule that says "take
the final 's' off 'dominus' and replace it with an 'm to make 'dominum' if you
want the object of a sentence" can't be applied to a word like "agricola" which
has no final 's', so there's usually little doubt as to how to use a word once
the five basic patterns (or "declensions") have been learned.
Nouns always (always?) have only one gender, and this is (only) sometimes
directly related to the form of ending. So, for example, most first declension
nouns (the "a" words, like "agricola") are feminine /except/ when they refer to
a kind of person (farmer, poet, sailor, scribe) and when they are used as a
man's name (Gnaeus Julius Agricola, the general).
Then, (of course) there are several irregular nouns and (especially) pronouns
which don't quite follow the rules.
.. but I digress
Words like "testator", "executor", etc., are masculine words, and they refer to
a kind of person. It is (and was, in ancient Rome) quite conceivable that such a
person would be a woman, and so a feminine word was also needed. The words
"testatrix" and "executrix" are not derived from the masculine forms in the same
way as feminine adjectives are derived from masculine adjectives, but by a
different trick of converting the "-tor" ending into "-trix".
So, in Jane's example, "separatrix" is a feminine word with the same meaning as
"separator" (though it is probably a contemporary derivation - I can't think why
the Romans would have wanted to refer to separators of different genders). The
discussion was whether the adjective to agree with "separatrix" should be
"sinister" or "sinistra". I said - INCORRECTLY, I now believe - that the "-er"
ending would be used for both the masculine and feminine forms.
According to Kennedy's Revised Latin Primer, which I have befoe me, the
declension of the adjective "Niger" (black) - which I believe is also followed
by "sinister" - gives "nigra" in the feminine and "nigrum" in the neuter case.
Funny how the memory plays up after 26 years!
So, my apologies, Jane, you'll have to make do with "separatrix sinistra" after
all.
> As for declensions, well, it's hard enough to embrace the masculine and
> feminine forms of today's modern languages, let alone a third form. No wonder
> Latin's a dead language!
>
I think rumours of the death of Latin have been greatly exaggerated, as it lives
on in most of today's "western" languages - on all of which it has been a major
influence.
Modern Italian effectively has three different conjugations - one for each
gender - and various rules for the forms of definite and indefinite articles
that are used with each. Anyway, learning a few patterns for the different noun
declensions and verb conjugations in Latin isn't so hard - especially when you
consider how many irregular formations the speakers of English and other
contemporary languages have to condend with.
Cheers,
Daniel.