Favourite lemur species

TeaLovingDave said:
Technically speaking I think it's originally French actually :p the Old English equivalent is actually "git" or "get"

That said, Bastard Gemsbok was always English, it just fell out of fashion.
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TeaLovingDave said:
An old-fashioned name in English for Roan Antelope (and still the current name in German) is "Bastard Gemsbok"
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So does that mean Gemsbok is actually a French turned English turned German word?

~Thylo
 
ThylacineAlive said:
So does that mean Gemsbok is actually a French turned English turned German word?

~Thylo
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No, "bastard" is :p

"Gemsbok" is an Afrikaans word combining Dutch and German elements - so "Bastard Gemsbok" is a German phrase which was loaned from English, comprising words which originate in French and Afrikaans, which themselves are Latin and Dutch/German in etymology!
 
birdsandbats said:
No, there are not. For legal reasons, there are few (if any) lemur walk-throughs in North American zoos. IIRC there are two at most.
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I guess because of the greater likelihood of someone being bitten and then going on to sue the zoo for millions of dollars , right ?

Quite a shame really IMO as I think there could be a lot of benefits for lemur walkthroughs in US zoos
 
TeaLovingDave said:
No, "bastard" is :p

"Gemsbok" is an Afrikaans word combining Dutch and German elements - so "Bastard Gemsbok" is a German phrase which was loaned from English, comprising words which originate in French and Afrikaans, which themselves are Latin and Dutch/German in etymology!
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No I know, but the point was if "Yellow-Backed" makes 'duiker' an English name, and "sportive lemur" makes 'Association Européenne pour l'Etude et la Conservation des Lémuriens' an English name, then surely "bastard" now makes 'Gemsbok' a German word ;)

For the record lemur is also not an English word @birdsandbats

~Thylo
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
I guess because of the greater likelihood of someone being bitten and then going on to sue the zoo for millions of dollars , right ?

Quite a shame really IMO as I think there could be a lot of benefits for lemur walkthroughs in US zoos
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Yes that's the reason.
ThylacineAlive said:
For the record lemur is also not an English word @birdsandbats

~Thylo
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I actually know this but completely forgot. It's Latin, right?
ThylacineAlive said:
No I know, but the point was if "Yellow-Backed" makes 'duiker' an English name, and "sportive lemur" makes 'Association Européenne pour l'Etude et la Conservation des Lémuriens' an English name, then surely "bastard" now makes 'Gemsbok' a German word
~Thylo
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I completely agree with this.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
I guess because of the greater likelihood of someone being bitten and then going on to sue the zoo for millions of dollars , right ?

Quite a shame really IMO as I think there could be a lot of benefits for lemur walkthroughs in US zoos
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I totally agree walk through exhibits are benefits. But if the people are going to sue the zoo for an animal biting them in the walk through exhibit, why go in there at all.
 
birdsandbats said:
I completely agree with this.
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So out of curiosity, how does this work? Is 'lemur' by itself Latin, but 'Ring-Tailed Lemur' is English? 'Cacomistle' by itself is Nahuatl, but 'Ring-Tailed Cacomistle' is English? 'Vontsira' by itself is Malagasy, but 'Ring-Tailed Vontsira' is English? Why demean the other languages by claiming them as English just because languages sometimes involve words they didn't invent. Is 'bon appetit' an English word to you because it's very commonly used in the English language?

~Thylo
 
ThylacineAlive said:
So out of curiosity, how does this work? Is 'lemur' by itself Latin, but 'Ring-Tailed Lemur' is English? 'Cacomistle' by itself is Nahuatl, but 'Ring-Tailed Cacomistle' is English? 'Vontsira' by itself is Malagasy, but 'Ring-Tailed Vontsira' is English? Why demean the other languages by claiming them as English just because languages sometimes involve words they didn't invent. Is 'bon appetit' an English word to you because it's very commonly used in the English language?

~Thylo
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Lemur by itself is both Latin and English. It isn't the origin that matters, but the actual usage of the word.
 
birdsandbats said:
No, there are not. For legal reasons, there are few (if any) lemur walk-throughs in North American zoos. IIRC there are two at most.
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San Diego Zoo Safari Park has one, so the legal reasons can't be that bad. Also I think it's Phoenix that has the squirrel monkey walkthrough.
And as far as legal reasons go, I doubt a lemur bite is much worse than being kick-boxed by a kangaroo or getting attacked by a fiesty macaw or crowned pigeon. :p
 
ThylacineAlive said:
So out of curiosity, how does this work? Is 'lemur' by itself Latin, but 'Ring-Tailed Lemur' is English? 'Cacomistle' by itself is Nahuatl, but 'Ring-Tailed Cacomistle' is English? 'Vontsira' by itself is Malagasy, but 'Ring-Tailed Vontsira' is English? Why demean the other languages by claiming them as English just because languages sometimes involve words they didn't invent. Is 'bon appetit' an English word to you because it's very commonly used in the English language?

~Thylo
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I guess the English language (not limited to English as the exact same can be observed in Spanish and Portuguese) is kind of inseparable from English history and so these words of indigenous origins get incorporated into the language through historic contact (and yes this is very rarely benign) with other cultures and colonialism etc.

I think these words are incorporated into the language though rather than being claimed as being English.

Isn't this ultimately a good thing though ?

I think words such as axolotl, iguana and tamandua offer a rich connection to past indigenous cultures and civilizations and to some extent a sort of cultural survival of these words rather than an appropriation.

Personally I would much prefer these words rather than more generic and dull terms like "neotenic tiger salamander", "Hispaniolan rhinoceros lizard" or "lesser anteater" etc.
 
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Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Isn't this ultimately a good thing though ?

I think words such as axolotl and tamandua offer a rich connection to past indigenous cultures and civilizations and I would much prefer that rather than terms like "neotenic tiger salamander" or "lesser anteater" etc.
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I would agree, but this is different than "this is now an English word" which has been the argument thus far :P

Personally, I quite like when indigenous animal names are used for the common name, and have no issue with languages incorporating words, phrases, and names that are not of that language.

~Thylo
 
Great Argus said:
San Diego Zoo Safari Park has one, so the legal reasons can't be that bad. Also I think it's Phoenix that has the squirrel monkey walkthrough.
And as far as legal reasons go, I doubt a lemur bite is much worse than being kick-boxed by a kangaroo or getting attacked by a fiesty macaw or crowned pigeon. :p
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I can think of SDZSP and Omaha, both of which have staff watching visitors at all times and keeping the lemurs away from them. When I was at Omaha, a ruffed lemur decided to sun itself out on the boardwalk and they basically closed the entire walkthrough to prevent human injury :p

~Thylo
 
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