Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2004 15:39:42 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Leo Weigant Subject: Re: Wigeon -v- Widgeon Redux Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="=__Part83A28A1E.0__=" This is a multi-part message in MIME format... --=__Part83A28A1E.0__= Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Dear Phil and Lynette, having had some small part in this discussion (and confessing to my pleasure in just seeing it ebb & flow) it reminds me of the "History of Language" classes when I did some work at Duke. People can cite dictionaries back and forth (even the Oxford English Dictionary which would give us the very first recorded use of the name, perhaps from centuries ago) but your use of the AOU as a source seems original; I was glad the two of you put together this little history of a curious word. Thank you. Leo Now, should I mention my own lexicographic observations on whether people make plurals with an "S" or not . . . as in, do you usually refer to "those seven wigeons out there" or "those seven wigeon out there in the water"? or "a lot of teals" or "a lot of teal in the water"? or "those gadwalls"? If you asked old-timers on the Eastern Shore, you'd likely get a glimpse into our language from a century or more back in time. Ones I've met would usually say "teal" Where's Henry Armistead when we need him? Personally I find myself referring to some one way ("seven mallards" or "seven pintails" ) but not other species (I think I say "teal" as plural) but I am unsure of what linguistic principles (if any) are at work. Which would you use for "teal"? >>> pdavis@IX.NETCOM.COM 3/2/04 1:47:45 PM >>> Dear "Curious in Crownsville": To answer the rest of your specific question, I did not check each of the biannual AOU checklist list supplements, but here is what happened with major AOU Checklist edition publications: Third edition, revised (1910) - Mareca penelope = European Widgeon; Mareca americana = Baldpate Fourth edition (1931) - same as above Fifth edition (1957) - Mareca penelope = European Widgeon; Mareca americana = American Widgeon Sixth edition (1983) - Anas penelope = Eurasian Wigeon; Anas americana = American Wigeon So, as you noted, it was 1983 when the spelling was changed from the prior "widgeon." This is also when the genera was changed from Mareca to Anas. Hope this helps ... Phil (with too much time on his hands - not really! ) in Davidsonville At 08:41 03/02/2004 -0800, Lynette Fullerton wrote: >Looking in "older" field guides (by which I mean >before 1982, which was the date of the first field >guide where I found it spelled without the d) you'll >find it spelled widgeon. Does anyone know when the >'d' was dropped? ================================== Phil Davis Davidsonville, Maryland USA mailto:PDavis@ix.netcom.com ================================== ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= --=__Part83A28A1E.0__=-- =========================================================================