Common names

[Anne Kilmer]

Kenelm Philip wrote:
> 
>         This subject, like collecting, keeps coming back.

snip
> 
>         As for pronounciation of Latin or Greek names, let the sounds fall
> where they may. Europeans use different criteria from North Americans for
> Latin pronounciation--but I have seldom heard a scientific name pronounced
> so that I could not figure out which species was being referred to, as long
> as the speaker got the letters in the right order. 
> 
>                                                         Ken Philip
> fnkwp at uaf.edu

The trick is to pronounce the words "plonkingly" (to quote my hero) as
if you knew what you were doing. If you sound sure, people will assume
you are right ... and may even change their own perfectly good
pronunciation. 
My brother, a classics professor in Ottawa, says they get a wild
assortment of pronunciations of latin ... even Catholics from different
countries pronounce the words differently. 
Just as long as you're having fun ... 
Anne Kilmer
Mayo
Ireland