Butterfly taxonomy: The derivative-semantic structure of the names of species of the Geometridae family

Abstract

Butterflies, or Lepidoptera, are one of the most diverse and magnificent orders of insects, forming an extensive, branching taxonomy of genera and species. They can be loosely categorised into diurnal and nocturnal butterflies, large and small butterflies. From a linguistic perspective, the terminological system of butterflies in Latvian language has not yet been studied extensively. The aim of this study is to elucidate how names of species within one butterfly genus are formed and what information is conveyed about the object by the basic words that have been used.

The nomenclature of butterfly species typically involves a construction in which one or two distinguishing words are used alongside the species’ name, for example, pelēkais saulkrēsliņu sprīžmetis (the Gray Meadow-Rue Span-Thrower = Coenocalpe lapidata). The foundational component of the term is predominantly a determinative compound word, where the first part indicates a general characteristic specific to the family – the size, colour, for example, baltsprīžmetis = White-Span-Thrower, habitat, wing appearance, etc., of the butterfly. The second part is a derivational compound, a derivation of the family name sprīžmetis (Span-Thrower = Geometridae). The basic word group provides information about the characteristic mode of movement of the butterfly larva.

The first or second component of analytical lexical units is a simple or derived word, a compound, or a derivative compound that provides specifying, precise, simple, or combined information about the colour of the butterfly – brūnais melleņu sprīžmetis (the Brown Blueberry Span-Thrower = Cepphis advenaria), pelēkzaļais lapsprīžmetis (the Gray-Green Leaf Span-Thrower = Colostygia aptata), shape – druknais bērzu sprīžmetis (the Pudgy Birch Span-Thrower = Biston betularia), the habitat of the larva – priežu sprīžmetis (the Pine Span-Thrower = Bupalus piniarius), etc.

The terminological set of butterfly names is composed of both native terms and original creations by specialists in the field, as well as lexemes that have been formed by following the pattern of other languages. These terms characterise butterflies in a detailed, precise, nuanced manner and incorporate associative links derived from everyday observations. They also integrate into the language’s derivative and world-view system.