Hugo De Vries

1 9.3

A Dutch botanist who helped bring Mendel's laws back and proposed mutations create new traits

proper noun

: Hugo De Vries

Alongside Correns and von Tschermak, Hugo De Vries helped bring Mendel's laws back to scientific prominence.

Examples

Many biology textbooks credit Hugo De Vries for formulating the mutation theory of evolution.
The famous botanist Hugo De Vries made significant contributions to genetics.
Hugo De Vries was instrumental in advancing the study of genetics through his research on plant heredity.
Did Hugo De Vries really develop the mutation theory?
Hugo De Vries was instrumental in advancing the study of genetics through his research on plant heredity.
Alongside Correns and von Tschermak, Hugo De Vries helped bring Mendel's laws back to scientific prominence.
Many biology textbooks credit Hugo De Vries for formulating the mutation theory of evolution.

Surface Forms

Hugo De Vries main

Morphology

Hugo + De + Vries

This is a personal name (a proper noun) and the individual words 'Hugo', 'De', 'Vries' do not convey the fact that he was a Dutch botanist or his scientific contributions. Proper names are referential and largely arbitrary across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would not be able to derive the MWE's biographical meaning.

Etymology

Hugo De Vries studied garden plants and saw sudden, new traits appear, a clear image of a plant suddenly changing that he called 'mutations'. That's why he helped bring back Gregor Mendel's ideas, known as 'Mendel's laws', and became famous for the 'mutation theory' of evolution.