Taxonomy

From Almeopedia

Scientists in Eretald follow a taxonomic system derived by Îjeme Cŕolile, an Ismaîn scholar, in the early 3300s. It contains five levels:

scurë	ethnos	e.g. vertebrates
tagia	clan	e.g. mammals
ženát	family	e.g. carnivores
surkest	genus	e.g. canines
kest	species	e.g. dogs

This system contains one less level than our own. The surkest will often be broader than our genus, and the ženát narrower than our order. In modern times a finer classification can be made using the prefixes sur- and hip-.

The full biological name of a species specifies all five elements, in Caďinor, from lowest to highest. (Either the kest or the surkest may be a noun, the other being an adjective or genitive; the upper classifications are genitive - noun - genitive.)

domil cuonos milasocregecie siomul krebulie

domestic dog of-the-carnivores mammal of-the-vertebrates

In scientific works (as opposed to, say, encyclopedias) the last two elements are normally omitted, and the ženát may be abbreviated.

Intelligent beings belong to the ženát lesuiait (corresponding to what I call lesuniae); within it are the surkestî zieigenos (lutinids— the ilii and šipomi), the mierilet (ktuvoks and several other marine predators), and the huriseit (hominids). The intelligent species of Almea are named:

iliu zieigenei lesuiaie	iliu
viocta mieril lesuiaie	ktuvoks
elcar hurises lesuiaie	elcari
nmurťanis hurises lesuiaie	múrtani
urestu hurises lesuiaie	humans (uestî)
pauriu hurises lesuiaie	flaids
pinsa hurises lesuiaie	icëlani