Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2025 December 4

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December 4

BCP 47 for biological names

Template:Btname is used to mark biological names, like Vombatus ursinus. It currently begins

<span style="font-style: italic;" lang="la">…

I think this is wrong, because biological names aren't in Latin: they're language-independent. The whole point is that they're the same, whatever language you're writing in. (Besides, they're fairly often drawn from other languages-- see for example Chrysoclista, which is Greek for "gold-washed".)

Now, it seems to me that BCP 47 should have something to say about how to write lang attributes for biological names, but I can't find anything. This must be a solved problem! How would you do it? Marnanel (talk) 08:56, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

According to Binomial nomenclature the names use 'Latin grammatical forms', whatever their linguistic roots. They therefore behave the same as any other words adopted into Latin from other languages. There is an extended dsicussion at Binomial nomenclature § Derivation of binomial names. What seems to be missing from the article (except by implication) is any indication of which alphabets or scripts may or may not be used. I guess that the 'Latin' alphabet (ie 26 English letters) is the only set of letters allowed? -- Verbarson  ^talk_edits 16:47, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature states:

"11.2. Mandatory use of Latin alphabet
A scientific name must, when first published, have been spelled only in the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet (taken to include the letters j, k, w and y); the presence in a name when first published of diacritic and other marks, apostrophes or ligatures, or a hyphen, or a numeral in a compound species-group name, does not render the name unavailable (for corrections, see Articles 27 and 32.5.2)."

The International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants has the same requirement:

"32.1.  To be validly published, a name of a taxon (autonyms excepted) must:
...
(b)  be composed only of letters of the Latin alphabet, except as provided in Art. 23.3, 60.4, 60.7, and 60.12–15; and ..."

 ​‑‑Lambiam 21:39, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

My issue here is that just as it's called "the common wombat" in English, it's called simply "vombatus" in Late Latin. If you were actually writing in Latin, you would only use the phrase "Vombatus ursinus" in exactly the same contexts you would use it in English. So I don't see that *Vombatus ursinus* is in Latin. Marnanel (talk) 16:13, 5 December 2025 (UTC)

Since there is no ISO 639 language code for binomial nomenclaturese, the only permitted alternative, within the HTML standard, is to omit the lang attribute altogether. I don't see much value in having it – or for that matter the template, used in only 23 articles – but I also do not see the harm.  ​‑‑Lambiam 23:42, 5 December 2025 (UTC)

It's colloquially called a 'Latin name' for ease of reference: that doesn't mean it's what any classical (or vernacular) Latin speaker/writer would have called the entity in question (I'm pretty sure they never saw a wombat), but Neo-Latin remained the international language of scientists until relatively recently (I've read of one mathematician who still insists on submitting his new papers using it) and its specialised use in Taxonomy has persisted, because it works.

(I studied classical Latin at school and failed the exam, but it's still one of the more valuable subjects I took because of its prevalence underlying so much scientific vocabulary, as well as its relevance in linguistics.) {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} ~2025-31359-08 (talk) 08:06, 6 December 2025 (UTC)