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Gilbert L. Gigliotti

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Gilbert L. Gigliotti (born 7 November 1961) is a Professor of early American literature in the English Department at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut , where he has taught since 1992. He earned a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature (Latin, Greek, and English) at The Catholic University of America (1992).

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103-520: Gigliotti's dissertation, entitled " Musae Americanae : The Neo-Latin Poetry of Colonial and Revolutionary America," remains the only book-length examination of neo-Latin poetic practice in Anglo-American culture. He has written articles and reviews on a variety of early American Neo-Latin subjects, including farmer/poet John Beveridge and early American Puritan elegies. At CCSU, Gigliotti teaches

206-442: A taxonomic rank ; groups of a given rank can be aggregated to form a more inclusive group of higher rank, thus creating a taxonomic hierarchy. The principal ranks in modern use are domain , kingdom , phylum ( division is sometimes used in botany in place of phylum ), class , order , family , genus , and species . The Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus is regarded as the founder of the current system of taxonomy, as he developed

309-469: A basis of morphological and physiological facts as possible, and one in which "place is found for all observational and experimental data relating, even if indirectly, to the constitution, subdivision, origin, and behaviour of species and other taxonomic groups". Ideals can, it may be said, never be completely realized. They have, however, a great value of acting as permanent stimulants, and if we have some, even vague, ideal of an "omega" taxonomy we may progress

412-453: A broader range of courses relating to urban professions such as law and medicine. All universities required Latin proficiency, obtained in local grammar schools, to obtain admittance as a student. Throughout the period, Latin was the dominant language of university education, where rules were enforced against the use of vernacular languages. Lectures and debates took place in Latin, and writing

515-557: A chaotic and disorganized taxonomic literature. He not only introduced the standard of class, order, genus, and species, but also made it possible to identify plants and animals from his book, by using the smaller parts of the flower (known as the Linnaean system ). Plant and animal taxonomists regard Linnaeus' work as the "starting point" for valid names (at 1753 and 1758 respectively). Names published before these dates are referred to as "pre-Linnaean", and not considered valid (with

618-443: A different sense, to mean the delimitation of species (not subspecies or taxa of other ranks), using whatever investigative techniques are available, and including sophisticated computational or laboratory techniques. Thus, Ernst Mayr in 1968 defined " beta taxonomy " as the classification of ranks higher than species. An understanding of the biological meaning of variation and of the evolutionary origin of groups of related species

721-444: A dynamic for purification and ossification of Latin, and thus its decline from a more productive medieval background. Modern Neo-Latin scholars tend to reject this, as for instance word formation and even medieval uses continued; but some see a kernel of truth, in that the standards of Latin were set very high, making it hard to achieve the necessary confidence to use Latin. In any case, other factors are certainly at play, particularly

824-615: A focus of Neo-Latin studies. For instance, stylistic borrowings flowed from Latin to the Dutch vernacular, where models were lacking in the latter. Taxonomy (biology) In biology , taxonomy (from Ancient Greek τάξις ( taxis )  'arrangement' and -νομία ( -nomia )  ' method ') is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing ) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given

927-414: A high level in international conferences until the mid twentieth century. Over time, and especially in its later phases after its practical value had severely declined, education that included strong emphasis on Latin and Greek became associated with elitism and as a deliberate class barrier for entry to educational institutions. Post-classical Latin, including medieval, Renaissance and Neo-Latin, makes up

1030-454: A high standard. Even in this period, an excessive focus on grammar and poor teaching methods were seen by reformers as a barrier to the acquisition of Latin. Comenius for instance was credited with significant attempts to make Latin more accessible through use of parallel Latin and native language texts, and more interesting through acquisition of vocabulary and the use of modern and more relevant information in texts. Others worried whether it

1133-687: A kind of bridge of communication across religious as well as linguistic divides in the Res Publica Litterarum . One exception to the general rule of vernacular services in Protestant countries can be observed in the Anglican Church , where with the publication of the Book of Common Prayer of 1559, a Latin edition was published in 1560 for use in universities such as Oxford and the leading grammar and " public schools " (in

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1236-455: A little way down the Greek alphabet. Some of us please ourselves by thinking we are now groping in a "beta" taxonomy. Turrill thus explicitly excludes from alpha taxonomy various areas of study that he includes within taxonomy as a whole, such as ecology, physiology, genetics, and cytology. He further excludes phylogenetic reconstruction from alpha taxonomy. Later authors have used the term in

1339-550: A longer period. In Poland, it was used as a vehicle of local government. This extended to those parts of Poland absorbed by Germany. Latin was used as a common tongue between parts of the Austrian Empire, particularly Hungary and Croatia, at least until the 1820s. Croatia maintained a Latin poetry tradition through the nineteenth century. Latin also remained the language of the Catholic Church and of oral debate at

1442-504: A notable renaissance, principally with respect to theoretical content. Part of the theoretical material has to do with evolutionary areas (topics e and f above), the rest relates especially to the problem of classification. Taxonomy is that part of Systematics concerned with topics (a) to (d) above. A whole set of terms including taxonomy, systematic biology, systematics , scientific classification, biological classification, and phylogenetics have at times had overlapping meanings – sometimes

1545-476: A purified Classical Latin vocabulary. Recent study tends to identify a style of Latin that was closer to Classical Latin in grammar, sometimes influenced by vernaculars in syntax especially in more everyday writing, but eclectic in choice of vocabulary and generation of new words. Some authors including C. S. Lewis have criticised the Neo-Latin and classicising nature of humanistic Latin teaching for creating

1648-516: A ranked system known as Linnaean taxonomy for categorizing organisms and binomial nomenclature for naming organisms. With advances in the theory, data and analytical technology of biological systematics, the Linnaean system has transformed into a system of modern biological classification intended to reflect the evolutionary relationships among organisms, both living and extinct. The exact definition of taxonomy varies from source to source, but

1751-399: A significant portion of printed works until the early nineteenth century. In Neo-Latin's most productive phase, it dominated science, philosophy, law, and theology, and it was important for history, literature, plays, and poetry. Classical styles of writing, including approaches to rhetoric, poetical metres, and theatrical structures, were revived and applied to contemporary subject matter. It

1854-477: A single continuum, as per the scala naturae (the Natural Ladder). This, as well, was taken into consideration in the great chain of being. Advances were made by scholars such as Procopius , Timotheus of Gaza , Demetrios Pepagomenos , and Thomas Aquinas . Medieval thinkers used abstract philosophical and logical categorizations more suited to abstract philosophy than to pragmatic taxonomy. During

1957-457: A strong role in education and writing in early colonial Mexico, Brazil and in other parts of Catholic Americas. Catholicism also brought Latin to India, China and Japan. Neo-Latin began in Italy with the rise of Renaissance Latin and humanist reform of Latin education, then brought to prominence in northern Europe by writers such as Erasmus , More , and Colet . Medieval Latin had been

2060-524: A truly scientific attempt to classify organisms did not occur until the 18th century, with the possible exception of Aristotle, whose works hint at a taxonomy. Earlier works were primarily descriptive and focused on plants that were useful in agriculture or medicine. There are a number of stages in this scientific thinking. Early taxonomy was based on arbitrary criteria, the so-called "artificial systems", including Linnaeus 's system of sexual classification for plants (Linnaeus's 1735 classification of animals

2163-493: A variety of early American authors, including The Connecticut Wits , Anne Bradstreet , Edward Taylor , Cotton Mather , and Nathaniel Hawthorne . He produces Central Authors, the university's television series featuring faculty, staff, and alumni/ae speaking about their publications. Gigliotti has authored two books on Frank Sinatra, hosts a weekly radio program on WFCS , curated exhibits of Sinatra memorabilia at several libraries throughout central Connecticut, and speaks about

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2266-473: A wider audience using the same ideas with more practical applications. Over time, the use of Latin continued where international communication with specialist audiences was paramount. Later, where some of the discourse moved to French, English or German, translations into Latin would allow texts to cross language boundaries, while authors in countries with much smaller language populations or less known languages would tend to continue to compose in Latin. Latin

2369-497: Is a critical component of the taxonomic process. As a result, it informs the user as to what the relatives of the taxon are hypothesized to be. Biological classification uses taxonomic ranks, including among others (in order from most inclusive to least inclusive): Domain , Kingdom , Phylum , Class , Order , Family , Genus , Species , and Strain . The "definition" of a taxon is encapsulated by its description or its diagnosis or by both combined. There are no set rules governing

2472-400: Is a novel analysis of the variation patterns in a particular taxon . This analysis may be executed on the basis of any combination of the various available kinds of characters, such as morphological, anatomical , palynological , biochemical and genetic . A monograph or complete revision is a revision that is comprehensive for a taxon for the information given at a particular time, and for

2575-458: Is a resource for fossils. Biological taxonomy is a sub-discipline of biology , and is generally practiced by biologists known as "taxonomists", though enthusiastic naturalists are also frequently involved in the publication of new taxa. Because taxonomy aims to describe and organize life , the work conducted by taxonomists is essential for the study of biodiversity and the resulting field of conservation biology . Biological classification

2678-454: Is considered a part of taxonomy (definitions 1 and 2), or a part of systematics outside taxonomy. For example, definition 6 is paired with the following definition of systematics that places nomenclature outside taxonomy: In 1970, Michener et al. defined "systematic biology" and "taxonomy" (terms that are often confused and used interchangeably) in relation to one another as follows: Systematic biology (hereafter called simply systematics)

2781-419: Is even more important for the second stage of taxonomic activity, the sorting of species into groups of relatives ("taxa") and their arrangement in a hierarchy of higher categories. This activity is what the term classification denotes; it is also referred to as "beta taxonomy". How species should be defined in a particular group of organisms gives rise to practical and theoretical problems that are referred to as

2884-498: Is from a natural to stylised word order. Unlike medieval schools, however, Italian Renaissance methods focused on Classical models of Latin prose style, reviving texts from that period, such as Cicero's De Inventione or Quintilian 's Institutio Oratoria . Teaching of specific, gradually harder Latin authors and texts followed rhetorical practice and learning. In Italy, during the medieval period, at different periods, Classical and Christian authors competed for attention, but

2987-565: Is seen as a vital context for understanding the vernacular cultures in the periods when Latin was in widespread productive use. Additionally, Classical reception studies have begun to assess the differing ways that Classical culture was understood in different nations and times. Classicists use the term "Neo-Latin" to describe the Latin that developed in Renaissance Italy as a result of renewed interest in classical civilization in

3090-400: Is the field that (a) provides scientific names for organisms, (b) describes them, (c) preserves collections of them, (d) provides classifications for the organisms, keys for their identification, and data on their distributions, (e) investigates their evolutionary histories, and (f) considers their environmental adaptations. This is a field with a long history that in recent years has experienced

3193-538: Is the style of written Latin used in original literary, scholarly, and scientific works, first in Italy during the Italian Renaissance of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and then across northern Europe after about 1500, as a key feature of the humanist movement. Through comparison with Latin of the Classical period , scholars from Petrarch onwards promoted a standard of Latin closer to that of

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3296-529: The Aristotelian system , with additions concerning the philosophical and existential order of creatures. This included concepts such as the great chain of being in the Western scholastic tradition, again deriving ultimately from Aristotle. The Aristotelian system did not classify plants or fungi , due to the lack of microscopes at the time, as his ideas were based on arranging the complete world in

3399-585: The Neomura , the clade that groups together the Archaea and Eucarya , would have evolved from Bacteria, more precisely from Actinomycetota . His 2004 classification treated the archaeobacteria as part of a subkingdom of the kingdom Bacteria, i.e., he rejected the three-domain system entirely. Stefan Luketa in 2012 proposed a five "dominion" system, adding Prionobiota ( acellular and without nucleic acid ) and Virusobiota (acellular but with nucleic acid) to

3502-512: The Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment , categorizing organisms became more prevalent, and taxonomic works became ambitious enough to replace the ancient texts. This is sometimes credited to the development of sophisticated optical lenses, which allowed the morphology of organisms to be studied in much greater detail. One of the earliest authors to take advantage of this leap in technology

3605-439: The species problem . The scientific work of deciding how to define species has been called microtaxonomy. By extension, macrotaxonomy is the study of groups at the higher taxonomic ranks subgenus and above, or simply in clades that include more than one taxon considered a species, expressed in terms of phylogenetic nomenclature . While some descriptions of taxonomic history attempt to date taxonomy to ancient civilizations,

3708-467: The vertebrates ), as well as groups like the sharks and cetaceans , are commonly used. His student Theophrastus (Greece, 370–285 BC) carried on this tradition, mentioning some 500 plants and their uses in his Historia Plantarum . Several plant genera can be traced back to Theophrastus, such as Cornus , Crocus , and Narcissus . Taxonomy in the Middle Ages was largely based on

3811-484: The 14th and 15th centuries. Scientific nomenclatures sometimes prefer the term "New Latin", to show where their terms were coined in the same period. Neo-Latin describes the use of the Latin language for any purpose, scientific or literary, during and after the Renaissance. The beginning of the period cannot be precisely identified. The spread of secular education, the acceptance of humanistic literary norms, and

3914-463: The 1800s among linguists and scientists . Neo-Latin can be said to be the current style of Latin writing, but different periods in its evolution can be seen. Neo-Latin writings were seen as less relevant and deserving of less attention than Classical Latin during the 1800s, as Classical models were asserted as the prime focus for study. Productive use of Latin for most purposes ended in the early 1800s. While Latin remained an actively used language,

4017-488: The 1960s. In 1958, Julian Huxley used the term clade . Later, in 1960, Cain and Harrison introduced the term cladistic . The salient feature is arranging taxa in a hierarchical evolutionary tree , with the desideratum that all named taxa are monophyletic. A taxon is called monophyletic if it includes all the descendants of an ancestral form. Groups that have descendant groups removed from them are termed paraphyletic , while groups representing more than one branch from

4120-544: The Catholic church affirmed their commitment to Latin in the liturgy and as a working language within the hierarchy at the Council of Trent in 1545–63. Jesuit schools were particularly well known for their production of Latin plays , exclusive use of spoken Latin and emphasis on classical written style. However, the standards ultimately achieved by the whole school system were uneven. Not all students would acquire Latin to

4223-631: The German Celtis . In the late 1400s, some schools in the Low Countries were using the new Italian standards of Latin. Erasmus and other pupils promoted the new learning and Latin standards. The Low Countries established itself as a leading centre of humanism and Neo-Latin; Rotterdam and Leuven were especially well known for these intellectual currents. Neo-Latin developed in advance of and in parallel with vernacular languages, but not necessarily in direct competition with them. Frequently

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4326-581: The Neo-Latin period is likewise indeterminate, but Latin as a regular vehicle of communicating ideas became rare following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and after the Congress of Vienna , where French replaced Latin as the language of diplomacy. By 1900, Latin survived primarily in international scientific vocabulary and taxonomy , or more actively, in the upper echelons of the Catholic Church . The term "Neo-Latin" came into use during

4429-491: The Origin of Species (1859) led to a new explanation for classifications, based on evolutionary relationships. This was the concept of phyletic systems, from 1883 onwards. This approach was typified by those of Eichler (1883) and Engler (1886–1892). The advent of cladistic methodology in the 1970s led to classifications based on the sole criterion of monophyly , supported by the presence of synapomorphies . Since then,

4532-612: The Renaissance and Neo-Latin period saw a decisive move back to authors from the Classical period, and away from non-Classical 'minor' authors such as Boethius , whose language was simpler. The changes to schooling in Northern Europe were more profound, as methods had not evolved as quickly. Adopting Italian innovations, changes to the teaching of grammar and rhetoric were promoted by reformers including Calvin , Melanchthon and Luther . Protestants needed Latin to promote and disseminate their ideas, so were heavily involved with

4635-492: The ancient Romans, especially in grammar, style, and spelling. The term Neo-Latin was however coined much later, probably in Germany in the late eighteenth century, as Neulatein , spreading to French and other languages in the nineteenth century. Medieval Latin had diverged quite substantially from the classical standard and saw notable regional variation and influence from vernacular languages. Neo-Latin attempts to return to

4738-522: The animal and plant kingdoms toward the end of the 18th century, well before Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was published. The pattern of the "Natural System" did not entail a generating process, such as evolution, but may have implied it, inspiring early transmutationist thinkers. Among early works exploring the idea of a transmutation of species were Zoonomia in 1796 by Erasmus Darwin (Charles Darwin's grandfather), and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck 's Philosophie zoologique of 1809. The idea

4841-531: The bounds of the Church. Nevertheless, studies and criticism of Biblical translations were a particular and important focus of early Humanism, in Italy and beyond. Prominent Neo-Latin writers who were admired for their style in this early period included Pontano , Petrarch , Salutati , Bruni , Ficino , Pico della Mirandola in Italy; the Spaniard Juan Luis Vives ; and in northern Europe,

4944-408: The careful work of Petrarch, Politian and others, first the demand for manuscripts, and then the rush to bring works into print, led to the circulation of inaccurate copies for several centuries following. As the humanist reformers sought both to purify Latin grammar and style, and to make Latin applicable to concerns beyond the ecclesiastical, they began to create a body of Latin literature outside

5047-554: The continued use of Latin in Scandinavian countries and Russia – places that had never belonged to the Roman Empire – to disseminate knowledge until the early nineteenth century. Neo-Latin includes extensive new word formation . Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature , such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy and international scientific vocabulary , draws extensively from this newly minted vocabulary, often in

5150-426: The core of the discipline remains: the conception, naming, and classification of groups of organisms. As points of reference, recent definitions of taxonomy are presented below: The varied definitions either place taxonomy as a sub-area of systematics (definition 2), invert that relationship (definition 6), or appear to consider the two terms synonymous. There is some disagreement as to whether biological nomenclature

5253-598: The cultural heritage of Ancient Greece and Byzantium , as well as Greek and Old Church Slavonic languages. Latin was taught extensively in the USA , during the colonial period on the European model of Latin medium education, but was among the first to allow this monopoly to recede. Both Latin and the Classics were very influential nevertheless, and supported an active Latin literature, especially in poetry. Latin played

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5356-550: The definition of taxa, but the naming and publication of new taxa is governed by sets of rules. In zoology , the nomenclature for the more commonly used ranks ( superfamily to subspecies ), is regulated by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ( ICZN Code ). In the fields of phycology , mycology , and botany , the naming of taxa is governed by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants ( ICN ). The initial description of

5459-399: The entire world. Other (partial) revisions may be restricted in the sense that they may only use some of the available character sets or have a limited spatial scope. A revision results in a conformation of or new insights in the relationships between the subtaxa within the taxon under study, which may lead to a change in the classification of these subtaxa, the identification of new subtaxa, or

5562-494: The evidentiary basis has been expanded with data from molecular genetics that for the most part complements traditional morphology . Naming and classifying human surroundings likely began with the onset of language. Distinguishing poisonous plants from edible plants is integral to the survival of human communities. Medicinal plant illustrations show up in Egyptian wall paintings from c.  1500 BC , indicating that

5665-524: The exception of spiders published in Svenska Spindlar ). Even taxonomic names published by Linnaeus himself before these dates are considered pre-Linnaean. Modern taxonomy is heavily influenced by technology such as DNA sequencing , bioinformatics , databases , and imaging . A pattern of groups nested within groups was specified by Linnaeus' classifications of plants and animals, and these patterns began to be represented as dendrograms of

5768-482: The extent of potential records, even regarding printed works, there is extensive basic work to be done in cataloguing what is available, as well as in digitisation and translation of important works. Neo-Latin was, at least in its early days, an international language used throughout Catholic and Protestant Europe, as well as in the colonies of the major European powers. This area consisted of most of Europe, including Central Europe and Scandinavia ; its southern border

5871-486: The first modern groups tied to fossil ancestors was birds. Using the then newly discovered fossils of Archaeopteryx and Hesperornis , Thomas Henry Huxley pronounced that they had evolved from dinosaurs, a group formally named by Richard Owen in 1842. The resulting description, that of dinosaurs "giving rise to" or being "the ancestors of" birds, is the essential hallmark of evolutionary taxonomic thinking. As more and more fossil groups were found and recognized in

5974-438: The form of classical or neoclassical compounds . Large parts of this new Latin vocabulary have seeped into English , French and several Germanic languages, particularly through Neo-Latin. In the eighteenth century, Latin was increasingly being learnt as a written and read language, with less emphasis on oral fluency. While it still dominated education, its position alongside Greek was increasingly attacked and began to erode. In

6077-687: The formal naming of clades. Linnaean ranks are optional and have no formal standing under the PhyloCode , which is intended to coexist with the current, rank-based codes. While popularity of phylogenetic nomenclature has grown steadily in the last few decades, it remains to be seen whether a majority of systematists will eventually adopt the PhyloCode or continue using the current systems of nomenclature that have been employed (and modified, but arguably not as much as some systematists wish) for over 250 years. Well before Linnaeus, plants and animals were considered separate Kingdoms. Linnaeus used this as

6180-561: The ideal of Golden Latinity in line with the Humanist slogan ad fontes . The new style of Latin was adopted throughout Europe, first through the spread of urban education in Italy, and then the rise of the printing press and of early modern schooling. Latin was learnt as a spoken language as well as written, as the vehicle of schooling and University education, while vernacular languages were still infrequently used in such settings. As such, Latin dominated early publishing, and made up

6283-466: The late 19th and early 20th centuries, palaeontologists worked to understand the history of animals through the ages by linking together known groups. With the modern evolutionary synthesis of the early 1940s, an essentially modern understanding of the evolution of the major groups was in place. As evolutionary taxonomy is based on Linnaean taxonomic ranks, the two terms are largely interchangeable in modern use. The cladistic method has emerged since

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6386-641: The learner with spoken vocabulary for common topics, such as play and games, home work and describing travel. In short, Latin was taught as a "completely normal language", to be used as any other. Colloquia would also contain moral education. At a higher level, Erasmus' Colloquia helped equip Latin speakers with urbane and polite phraseology, and means of discussing more philosophical topics. Changes to Latin teaching varied by region. In Italy, with more urbanised schools and Universities, and wider curricula aimed at professions rather than just theology, Latin teaching evolved more gradually, and earlier, in order to speed up

6489-423: The learning of Latin. For instance, initial learning of grammar in a basic Latin word order followed the practice of medieval schools. In both medieval and Renaissance schools, practice in Latin written skills would then extend to prose style composition, as part of 'rhetoric'. In Italy, for prose for instance, a pupil would typically be asked to convert a passage in ordo naturalis to ordo artificialis , that

6592-478: The level of abstract thought addressed to other specialists. To begin with, knowledge was already transmitted through Latin and it maintained specialised vocabularies not found in vernacular languages. This did not preclude scientific writings also existing in vernaculars; for example Galileo , some of whose scientific writings were in Latin, while others were in Italian, the latter less academic and intended to reach

6695-586: The liturgy, resisting attempts even in the New World and China to diverge from it. As noted above, Jesuit schools fuelled a high standard of Latinity, and this was also supported by the growth of seminaries, as part of the Counter Reformation 's attempts to revitalise Catholic institutions. While in Protestant areas Latin was pushed out of the Church, this did not make Protestants hostile to Latin in education or universities. In fact, Latin remained

6798-401: The merger of previous subtaxa. Taxonomic characters are the taxonomic attributes that can be used to provide the evidence from which relationships (the phylogeny ) between taxa are inferred. Kinds of taxonomic characters include: The term " alpha taxonomy " is primarily used to refer to the discipline of finding, describing, and naming taxa , particularly species. In earlier literature,

6901-605: The most well known example. Throughout this period, Latin was a universal school subject, and indeed, the pre-eminent subject for elementary education in most of Europe and other places of the world that shared its culture. Schools were variously known as grammar schools in Britain, Latin schools in France, Germany, the Netherlands and colonial North America, and also Gymnasia in Germany and many other countries. Latin

7004-516: The nineteenth century, education in Latin (and Greek) focused increasingly on reading and grammar, and mutated into the 'classics' as a topic, although it often still dominated the school curriculum, especially for students aiming for entry to university. Learning moved gradually away from poetry composition and other written skills; as a language, its use was increasingly passive outside of classical commentaries and other specialised texts. Latin remained in active use in eastern Europe and Scandinavia for

7107-512: The period, English schools established with charitable structures open to the general public; now a kind of private academy), where the liturgy was still permitted to be conducted in Latin. In this period, it was common for poets and authors to write in Latin, either in place of or in addition to their native language. Latin was a language for "high art" in an "eternal language", that authors supposed might outlast contemporary vernacular writings. It allowed for an international readership that shared

7210-434: The possibilities of closer co-operation with their cytological, ecological and genetics colleagues and to acknowledge that some revision or expansion, perhaps of a drastic nature, of their aims and methods, may be desirable ... Turrill (1935) has suggested that while accepting the older invaluable taxonomy, based on structure, and conveniently designated "alpha", it is possible to glimpse a far-distant taxonomy built upon as wide

7313-472: The practical working language of the Roman Catholic Church , and was taught throughout Europe to clerics through the medieval university system. It was a flexible language, with many neologisms. Changes in grammatical practices regarding syntax and other elements such as conjunctions had become established. The Renaissance reinforced the position of Latin as a spoken and written language by

7416-471: The process of emulating Classical models did not become complete. For instance, Catholic traditions preserved some features of medieval Latin, given the continued influence of some aspects of medieval theology. In secular texts, such as scientific, legal and philosophical works, neologisms continued to be needed, so while Neo-Latin authors might choose new formulations, they might also continue to use customary medieval forms, but in either case, could not aim for

7519-818: The rank of Order, although both exclude fossil representatives. A separate compilation (Ruggiero, 2014) covers extant taxa to the rank of Family. Other, database-driven treatments include the Encyclopedia of Life , the Global Biodiversity Information Facility , the NCBI taxonomy database , the Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera , the Open Tree of Life , and the Catalogue of Life . The Paleobiology Database

7622-434: The reform of Latin teaching. Among the most influential of these reformers was Calvin's Latin teacher and educational collaborator Corderius , whose bilingual colloquies were aimed at helping French-speaking children learn to speak Latin. Among Latin schools, the rapid growth of Jesuit schools made them known for their dedication to high attainment in written and spoken Latin to educate future priests. This took place after

7725-768: The reform of the new secular Latin teaching. The heyday of Neo-Latin was 1500–1700, when in the continuation of the Medieval Latin tradition, it served as the lingua franca of science, medicine, legal discourse, theology, education, and to some degree diplomacy in Europe. This coincided with the growth of printed literature; Latin dominated early publishing. Classic works such as Thomas More 's Utopia were published. Other prominent writers of this period include Dutchmen Grotius and Secundus and Scotsman George Buchanan . Women, while rarely published, also wrote and composed poetry in Latin, Elizabeth Jane Weston being

7828-503: The same Classical and recent Latin cultural reference points. The literature did not stand apart from vernaculars, as naturally allusions and the same reference points could flow across language boundaries. However, these dynamics have become less well understood, as academics and other readers are not as familiar with the Latin works of the period, sometimes resulting in simplistic notions of competition and replacement of Latin over time. The actual processes were more complicated and are now

7931-435: The same people were codifying and promoting both Latin and vernacular languages, in a wider post-medieval process of linguistic standardisation. However, Latin was the first language that was available, fully formed, widely taught and used internationally across a wide variety of subjects. As such, it can be seen as the first "modern European language". It should also be noted that for Italian reformers of written Latin, there

8034-407: The same, sometimes slightly different, but always related and intersecting. The broadest meaning of "taxonomy" is used here. The term itself was introduced in 1813 by de Candolle , in his Théorie élémentaire de la botanique . John Lindley provided an early definition of systematics in 1830, although he wrote of "systematic botany" rather than using the term "systematics". Europeans tend to use

8137-716: The scholarship by the Renaissance Humanists . Although scholarship initially focused on Ancient Greek texts, Petrarch and others began to change their understanding of good style and their own usage of Latin as they explored the texts of the Classical Latin world. Skills of textual criticism evolved to create much more accurate versions of extant texts through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and some important texts were rediscovered. Comprehensive versions of author's works were published by Isaac Casaubon , Joseph Scaliger and others. Nevertheless, despite

8240-634: The singer/actor/entertainer to civic, service, and social clubs. He has taught a course on Sinatra in literature, as well. His work is part of a sustained academic interest in the cultural importance of Sinatra that has been well documented in many media outlets, including The New York Times and The Chronicle of Higher Education . Other publications examine Girolamo Fracastoro 's 16th-century neo-Latin poem Syphilis , American poet Philip Freneau , and chess in early America,. Neo-Latin Neo-Latin (sometimes called New Latin or Modern Latin )

8343-558: The superiority of vernacular literatures, and the idea that only writing in one's first language could produce genuinely creative output, found in nationalism and Romanticism. More recently, the lack of trained Latinists has added to the barriers. More academic attention has been given to Neo-Latin studies since 1970, and the role and influence of Latin output in this period has begun to be reassessed. Rather than being an adjunct to Classical Latin forms, or an isolated, derivative and now largely irrelevant cultural output, Neo-Latin literature

8446-472: The term had a different meaning, referring to morphological taxonomy, and the products of research through the end of the 19th century. William Bertram Turrill introduced the term "alpha taxonomy" in a series of papers published in 1935 and 1937 in which he discussed the philosophy and possible future directions of the discipline of taxonomy. ... there is an increasing desire amongst taxonomists to consider their problems from wider viewpoints, to investigate

8549-482: The terms "systematics" and "biosystematics" for the study of biodiversity as a whole, whereas North Americans tend to use "taxonomy" more frequently. However, taxonomy, and in particular alpha taxonomy , is more specifically the identification, description, and naming (i.e., nomenclature) of organisms, while "classification" focuses on placing organisms within hierarchical groups that show their relationships to other organisms. A taxonomic revision or taxonomic review

8652-510: The three-domain method is the separation of Archaea and Bacteria , previously grouped into the single kingdom Bacteria (a kingdom also sometimes called Monera ), with the Eukaryota for all organisms whose cells contain a nucleus . A small number of scientists include a sixth kingdom, Archaea, but do not accept the domain method. Thomas Cavalier-Smith , who published extensively on the classification of protists , in 2002 proposed that

8755-427: The top rank, dividing the physical world into the vegetable, animal and mineral kingdoms. As advances in microscopy made the classification of microorganisms possible, the number of kingdoms increased, five- and six-kingdom systems being the most common. Domains are a relatively new grouping. First proposed in 1977, Carl Woese 's three-domain system was not generally accepted until later. One main characteristic of

8858-436: The traditional three domains. Partial classifications exist for many individual groups of organisms and are revised and replaced as new information becomes available; however, comprehensive, published treatments of most or all life are rarer; recent examples are that of Adl et al., 2012 and 2019, which covers eukaryotes only with an emphasis on protists, and Ruggiero et al., 2015, covering both eukaryotes and prokaryotes to

8961-518: The tree of life are called polyphyletic . Monophyletic groups are recognized and diagnosed on the basis of synapomorphies , shared derived character states. Cladistic classifications are compatible with traditional Linnean taxonomy and the Codes of Zoological and Botanical nomenclature , to a certain extent. An alternative system of nomenclature, the International Code of Phylogenetic Nomenclature or PhyloCode has been proposed, which regulates

9064-642: The uses of different species were understood and that a basic taxonomy was in place. Organisms were first classified by Aristotle ( Greece , 384–322 BC) during his stay on the Island of Lesbos . He classified beings by their parts, or in modern terms attributes , such as having live birth, having four legs, laying eggs, having blood, or being warm-bodied. He divided all living things into two groups: plants and animals . Some of his groups of animals, such as Anhaima (animals without blood, translated as invertebrates ) and Enhaima (animals with blood, roughly

9167-415: The vast majority of extant Latin output, estimated as well over 99.99% of the totality. Given the size of output and importance of Latin, the lack of attention to it is surprising to many scholars. The trend is a long one, however, dating back to the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as Neo-Latin texts became looked down on as non-classical. Reasons could include the rising belief during this period in

9270-413: The wide availability of Latin texts following the invention of printing , mark the transition to a new era of scholarship at the end of the 15th century, but there was no simple, decisive break with medieval traditions. Rather, there was a process of change in education, a choice of literary and stylistic models, and a move away from medieval techniques of language formation and argumentation. The end of

9373-417: The widening of education and its needs to address many more practical areas of knowledge, many of which were being written about for national audiences in the vernacular. The exact size of the Neo-Latin corpus is currently incalculable, but dwarfs that of Latin in all other periods combined. Material includes personal, unpublished, bureaucratic, educational, and academic output such as notes and theses. Given

9476-486: Was Methodus Plantarum Nova (1682), in which he published details of over 18,000 plant species. At the time, his classifications were perhaps the most complex yet produced by any taxonomist, as he based his taxa on many combined characters. The next major taxonomic works were produced by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (France, 1656–1708). His work from 1700, Institutiones Rei Herbariae , included more than 9000 species in 698 genera, which directly influenced Linnaeus, as it

9579-464: Was a pan-European language for the dissemination of knowledge and communication between people with different vernaculars in the Republic of Letters (Res Publica Litterarum) . Even as Latin receded in importance after 1650, it remained vital for international communication of works, many of which were popularised in Latin translation, rather than as vernacular originals. This in large part explains

9682-453: Was appropriate to put so much emphasis on abstract language skills such as Latin poetry composition. As time went on, the difficulties with Latin teaching began to lead to calls to move away from an emphasis on spoken Latin and the introduction of more native-language-medium teaching. At the beginning of the Renaissance, universities in northern Europe were still dominated by theology and related topics, while Italian universities were teaching

9785-555: Was entitled " Systema Naturae " ("the System of Nature"), implying that he, at least, believed that it was more than an "artificial system"). Later came systems based on a more complete consideration of the characteristics of taxa, referred to as "natural systems", such as those of de Jussieu (1789), de Candolle (1813) and Bentham and Hooker (1862–1863). These classifications described empirical patterns and were pre- evolutionary in thinking. The publication of Charles Darwin 's On

9888-412: Was frequently the normal medium of education, both for teaching the Latin language, and for other subjects. Fluency in spoken Latin was an objective as well as the ability to read and write; evidence of this includes the emphasis on use of diacritics to maintain understanding of vowel quantity, which is important orally, and also on the use of Colloquia for children's learning, which would help to equip

9991-446: Was in Latin, across the curriculum. Many universities hosted newly or recently-written Latin plays , which formed a significant body of literature before 1650. Plays included satires on student life, such as the play Studentes (Students), which went through many reprints. Enforcement of Latin-only rules tended to decline especially after 1650. Latin dominated topics of international academic and scientific interest, especially at

10094-423: Was no clear divide between Italian and Latin; the latter was seen by Petrarch for example as an artificial and literary version of the spoken language. While Italian in this period also begins to be used as a separate written language, it was not always seen as wholly separate from Latin. The Protestant Reformation (1520–1580), though it removed Latin from the liturgies of the churches of Northern Europe, promoted

10197-647: Was of course the major language of Christian theology. Both Catholic and Protestant writers published in Latin. While Protestant writers would also write in vernaculars, Latin was important for the international dissemination of ideas. Legal discourse, medicine, philosophy and sciences started from a strong Latin tradition, and continued as such. This began to change in the late seventeenth century, as philosophers and others began to write in their native language first, and translate into Latin for international audiences. Translations would tend to prioritise accuracy over style. The Catholic Church made exclusive use of Latin in

10300-615: Was popularized in the Anglophone world by the speculative but widely read Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation , published anonymously by Robert Chambers in 1844. With Darwin's theory, a general acceptance quickly appeared that a classification should reflect the Darwinian principle of common descent . Tree of life representations became popular in scientific works, with known fossil groups incorporated. One of

10403-675: Was the Mediterranean Sea, with the division more or less corresponding to the modern eastern borders of Finland , the Baltic states , Poland , Slovakia , Hungary and Croatia . Russia 's acquisition of Kyiv in the later 17th century introduced the study of Latin to Russia. Russia relied on Latin for some time as a vehicle to exchange scientific knowledge. Nevertheless, the use of Latin in Orthodox eastern Europe did not reach pervasive levels due to their strong cultural links to

10506-488: Was the Italian physician Andrea Cesalpino (1519–1603), who has been called "the first taxonomist". His magnum opus De Plantis came out in 1583, and described more than 1500 plant species. Two large plant families that he first recognized are in use: the Asteraceae and Brassicaceae . In the 17th century John Ray ( England , 1627–1705) wrote many important taxonomic works. Arguably his greatest accomplishment

10609-429: Was the text he used as a young student. The Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) ushered in a new era of taxonomy. With his major works Systema Naturae 1st Edition in 1735, Species Plantarum in 1753, and Systema Naturae 10th Edition , he revolutionized modern taxonomy. His works implemented a standardized binomial naming system for animal and plant species, which proved to be an elegant solution to

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