NOMENCULATURE

Nomenclature is a term that applies to either a list of names or terms, or to the system of principles, procedures and terms related to naming - which is the assigning of a word or phrase to a particular object or property. [1][clarification needed] The principles of naming vary from the relatively informal conventions of everyday speech to the internationally- agreed principles, rules and recommendations that govern the formation and use of the specialist terms used in scientific and other disciplines. Naming "things" is a part of our general communication using words and language: it is an aspect of everyday taxonomy as we distinguish the objects of our experience, together with their similarities and differences, which we identify , name and classify. The use of names, as the many different kinds of nouns embedded in different languages, connects nomenclature to theoretical linguistics, while the way we mentally structure the world in relation to word meanings and experience relates to the philosophy of language . Onomastics, the study of proper names and their origins, includes: anthroponymy , concerned with human names, including personal names, surnames and nicknames; toponymy the study of place names; and etymology , the derivation, history and use of names as revealed through comparative and descriptive linguistics . The scientific need for simple, stable and internationally- accepted systems for naming objects of the natural world has generated many formal nomenclatural systems. Probably the best known of these nomenclatural systems are the five codes of biological nomenclature that govern the Latinized scientific names of organisms. Definition & criteria Nomenclature is a system of words used in particular discipline. It is used in respect of giving names systematically following the rules to all known living.It is applied to many chemical components, mainly used in carbon and hydrogen components. Etymology The word nomenclature is derived from the Latin nomen - name, calare - to call; the Ancient Greek ονοματοκλήτωρ from όνομα or onoma meaning name and equivalent to the Old English nama and Old High German namo which is derived from Sanskrit nama. The Latin term nomenclatura refers to a list of names as does the word nomenclator which can also indicate a provider or announcer of names. Onomastics and nomenclature Main article: Onomastics The study of proper names is known as onomastics,[2] which has a wide-ranging scope encompassing all names, all languages, all geographical and cultural regions. The distinction between onomastics and nomenclature is not readily clear: onomastics is an unfamiliar discipline to most people and the use of nomenclature in an academic sense is also not commonly known. Although the two fields integrate, nomenclature concerns itself more with the rules and conventions that are used for the formation of names.[citation needed] Naming as a cultural activity Main article: Philosophy of language Names provide us with a way of structuring and mapping the world in our minds so, in some way, they mirror or represent the objects of our experience. Names, words, language and meaning Main articles: Proper name (philosophy) and Semantics Elucidating the connections between language (especially names and nouns), meaning and the way we perceive the world has provided a rich field of study for philosophers and linguists. Relevant areas of study include: the distinction between proper names and proper nouns;[3] and the relationship between names, [4] their referents, [5] meanings (semantics), and the structure of language. Folk taxonomy Main articles: Folk taxonomy and Binomial nomenclature Modern scientific taxonomy has been described as "basically a Renaissance codification of folk taxonomic principles."[6] Formal scientific nomenclatural and classification systems are exemplified by biological classification. All classification systems are established for a purpose. The scientific classification system anchors each organism within the nested hierarchy of internationally-accepted classification categories. Maintenance of this system involves formal rules of nomenclature and periodic international meetings of review. This modern system evolved from the folk taxonomy of pre-history. [7] Folk taxonomy can be illustrated through the Western tradition of horticulture and gardening. Unlike scientific taxonomy, folk taxonomies serve many purposes. Examples in horticulture would be the grouping of plants, and naming of these groups, according to their properties and uses: annuals, biennials and perennials (nature of life cycle); vegetables , fruits, culinary herbs and spices (culinary use); herbs, trees and shrubs (growth habit); wild and cultivated plants (whether they are managed or not), and weeds (whether they are considered to be a nuisance or not) and so on. Folk taxonomy is generally associated with the way rural or indigenous peoples use language to make sense of and organise the objects around them. Ethnobiology frames this interpretation through either "utilitarianists" like Bronislaw Malinowski who maintain that names and classifications reflect mainly material concerns, and "intellectualists" like Claude Lévi-Strauss who hold that they spring from innate mental processes.[8] The literature of ethnobiological classifications was reviewed in 2006.[9] Folk classification is defined by the way in which members of a language community name and categorize plants and animals whereas ethnotaxonomy refers to the hierarchical structure, organic content, and cultural function of biological classification that ethnobiologists find in every society around the world. [10] Ethnographic studies of the naming and classification of animals and plants in non- Western societies have revealed some general principles that indicate pre- scientific man’s conceptual and linguistic method of organising the biological world in a hierarchical way. [11][12][13][14] Such studies indicate that the urge to classify is a basic human instinct.[15][16] in all languages natural groups of organisms are distinguished (present- day taxa) these groups are arranged into more inclusive groups or ethnobiological categories in all languages there are about five or six ethnobiological categories of graded inclusiveness these groups (ethnobiological categories) are arranged hierarchically, generally into mutually exclusive ranks the ranks at which particular organisms are named and classified is often similar in different cultures The levels are — moving from the most to least inclusive: level 1 - "unique beginner" --e.g. plant or animal. A single all- inclusive name rarely used in folk taxonomies but loosely equivalent to an original living thing, a "common ancestor" level 2 - “life form” --------------e.g. tree, bird, grass and fish These are usually primary lexemes (basic linguistic units) loosely equivalent to a phylum or major biological division. level 3 - "generic name" ------e.g. oak, pine, robin, catfish This is the most numerous and basic building block of all folk taxonomies, the most frequently referred to, the most important psychologically, and among the first learned by children. These names can usually be associated directly with a second level group. Like life-form names these are primary lexemes. level 4 - "specific name" ------e.g. white fir, post oak More or less equivalent to species. A secondary lexeme and generally less frequent than generic names. level 5 - "varietal name"--------e.g. baby lima bean, butter lima bean. In almost all cultures objects are named using one or two words equivalent to "kind" (genus) and "particular kind" (species). [6] When made up of two words (a binomial) the name usually consists of a noun (like salt, dog or star) and an adjectival second word that helps describe the first, and therefore makes the name, as a whole, more "specific", for example, lap dog, sea salt, or film star. The meaning of the noun used for a common name may have been lost or forgotten (whelk, elm, lion, shark, pig) but when the common name is extended to two or more words much more is conveyed about the organism's use, appearance or other special properties (sting ray, poison apple, giant stinking hogweed, hammerhead shark). These noun-adjective binomials are just like our own names with a family or surname like Simpson and another adjectival Christian- or forename name that specifies which Simpson, say Homer Simpson. It seems reasonable to assume that the form of scientific names we call binomial nomenclature is derived from this simple and practical way of constructing common names - but with the use of Latin as a universal language. In keeping with the "utilitarianist" view other authors maintain that ethnotaxonomies resemble more a "complex web of resemblances" than a neat hierarchy.