FW: common names vs technical names

[Kondla, Norbert FOR:EX]

Good point about pronunciation and the 'comfort' factor.  Once upon a time I
wondered if I was pronouncing the latinized names correctly.  Since I have
never knowingly talked with a Latin scholar about butterflies; I finally
concluded that my pronunciation could be just as "correct" as the next
butterfly afficiendo. And I also concluded that to me the fine points of
pronunciation were less important than the communication value.  From
meeting people in the field over the years and running into the language
barrier I discovered that the technical names work, despite pronunciation
differences, for both plants and butterflies. For the comfort factor, I have
noticed that most people can be taken aback by anything new to them; there
is nothing wrong with sharing knowledge, and the only way to get comfortable
with something new is to play and work with it.  

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Walker [mailto:MWalker at gensym.com] 
Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2000 12:23 PM
To: Kondla, Norbert FOR:EX; 'lepsl'
Subject: RE: common names vs technical names


It would really help if there was a common pronunciation (and perhaps some
guidelines for doing it).  I am comfortable saying "Chrysanthemum" because I
know how to say it (although I don't know if I could've spelled it had
Norbert not already done so).  I usually use a Latin pronunciation, but then
I get some strange stares from folks when I use it.  It makes me a tad bit
gun shy - and it's through comfortable use that these labels become "common"
in our vocabulary anyway.

Just a thought.

Mark Walker
still in Houston, TX


Norbert Kondla wrote:

> 
> Just an observation that has likely been made by others: 
> since backyard
> gardeners have no difficulty uttering the word 
> "Chrysanthemum" I see no
> reason why us intelligent butterfly people should have any difficulty
> uttering or spelling or remembering the words "Pieris marginalis".  
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Norbert Kondla  P.Biol., RPBio.
> Forest Ecosystem Specialist, Ministry of Environment
> 845 Columbia Avenue, Castlegar, British Columbia V1N 1H3
> Phone 250-365-8610
> Mailto:Norbert.Kondla at gems3.gov.bc.ca
> http://www.env.gov.bc.ca
>