FW: common names vs technical names
Michael Gochfeld
gochfeld at eohsi.rutgers.edu
Thu Jan 13 16:15:24 EST 2000
Having conversed using "technical" names with some foreign language
speakers, I will say that the names often work, but it's sometimes a
real challenge when the English-speaker (me) would normally mispronounce
a latinized name, that my companion (a Spanish-speaker) likewise
mispronounces differently. It's sometimes quite a challenge to figure
out what we're talking about. In Borneo I tried to discuss some
butterflies with a young Japanese student. He spoke English quite
well with pretty good pronunciation and diction, but I couldn't fathom
his pronunciation of the species---or his conception of how the
latinized names should sound. Probably I would have had less trouble if
they were names that I knew beforehand.
Mike Gochfeld
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