It is with some trepidation that I mildly disagree with the erudite David
James; he who gave us that excellent account of taxonomy and the oft abused
work of taxonomists. That I do so at all, is only that I do so on grounds
of semantics, not ornithology. (And you did invite other references,
David.)
A word is but a sound (or a pictorial representation thereof) intended to
convey a meaning. When used in a particular context, it will (except for
very simple words) usually have two meanings: one in the mind of the
sender; another in the mind of the receiver. This is because when
speaking, hearing or reading one's native language the meaning one
attributes to a particular word is compounded of all one's past experiences
of that word. And YOUR sum of experiences will almost always differ from
mine.
Though now past my 'three score and ten' years, I am still occasionally
surprised at finding that in a modern dictionary, a familiar word does not
have exactly the meaning I have always attributed to it. And likewise it
may come as a slight surprise to David when I quote to him the one and only
meaning given for 'juvenal' in the 1981 first edition of the Macquarie
Dictionary:
juvenal, n. the plumage stage of an altricial bird when it leaves
the nest. (L. _juvenalis_, var. of _juvenilis_ young, pertaining to youth.)
On that basis, David, I suggest you are slightly astray when you say:
<... in ordinary "English" both juvenal and juvenile are adjectives meaning
<youthful or something of that kind, and are totally interchangable
<synonyms.
The Macquarie regards 'juvenal' as a noun, and they are not TOTALLY
interchangeable in that, in the opinion of the Macquarie compilers of the
day, the use of "juvenal" should be restricted to references to plumage.
The Macquarie does support you however, ornithologically, for the sixth
meaning it gives for "juvenile" (an adjective) is -
6. _Ornith._ a young bird in the stage when it has fledged, if
altricial, or has replaced the down of hatching, if precocial.
So, as far as the '81 Macquarie is concerned, 'juvenal' is a noun
restricted to the plumage of altricial birds; 'juvenile' is an adjective
which may be used for the plumage of both altiricial and precocial birds,
as well as the various more general meanings relating to youth.
But to return to my earlier point, when YOU use the word 'juvenal', David,
it means what you want it to mean; what it means to your listener may or
may not be the same. In conversation any difference may become apparent
and would then be sorted out. The written word is more of a problem.
Anyone writing for publication in a scientific journal must use the
scientific terms of that discipline correctly or risk editorial rejection.
But I surmise that a majority of users of 'birding' field guides are not
scientists and are mainly interested in finding out what species a bird is
that they are watching or have seen. They will be happy if their field
guide shows them the differing plumages of young and old birds of the same
species where these differ, and they won't worry what the guide calls the
younger forms. (And if they are concerned, how fortunate to have
birding-aus to turn to for advice. Take a bow, Russell.)
Syd Curtis at Hawthorne in Qld.
H Syd Curtis
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