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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