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From: mmar@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Mitchell Marks)
Newsgroups: net.med,net.motss,net.singles
Subject: Re: The Age of AIDS
Message-ID: <790@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 6-Jul-85 03:46:22 EDT
Article-I.D.: sphinx.790
Posted: Sat Jul  6 03:46:22 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 7-Jul-85 05:12:39 EDT
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Organization: U Chicago -- Linguistics Dept
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>(Dr. Lundberg is advocating hetero-
>sexuality when he advises monogamy: it means "one woman" )=: ).  Every-
>one, gay & straight, should also maintain their health & keep informed
>about AIDS.

The root gamos meant marriage, and as a modern combining-stem it usually
means mate or partner.  (In some botanical terms it means joined.)  For
people who use it strictly to talk about literal marriage, I suppose it
does imply heterosexuality, given the current laws about marriage.  But
for those who use it to refer to SO-ship or even to any sexual partnering,
it doesn't seem to carry that implication.    (Though I do take bigamy and 
polygamy to apply only to official marriage, and hence imply heterosexuality.)
	The modern combining-stems that are specifically male and female
would be -andr- and -gyn-.  They don't seem to combine with mono-, but
note the full range of three with poly- :
	polygamist - person with more than one spouse
	polygynist - man with more than one wife
	polyandrist - woman with more than one husband
(The last two formulations reflect what I think is the general use of these
to refer only to official marriage.)
-- 

            -- Mitch Marks @ UChicago 
               ...ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!mmar