pronunciations

[Ernest Williams]

Lep folks,

Despite some saying that pronunciations don't matter, they DO matter to
many people.  When I started working with leps, I was very hesitant to
pronounce the names of many species for fear of saying them wrong - and at
the first Lep. Soc. meeting I attended (20 years ago), I asked someone a
question about _anicia_ (a-NISS-ee-a, soft "c") and I didn't understand the
reply, which referred to a-NICK-ee-a (hard "c").  That one may be moot now,
but the point is still there.  Communication does not always take place
when the same name is pronounced differently.

Once I started to put a talk together for the annual Lep Soc meeting about
pronunciations of scientific names, but I was told that someone had already
done that previously, that it was not helpful, and that I was foolish if I
thought I had much to say about the matter.  What I HAVE learned is this:

1. There are no single correct pronunciations of scientific names.  Though
the names have originated in Latin and Greek, they are quite modernized and
(generally) anglicized.  In short, no one can tell you that your
pronunciation is wrong.
2. There may be some rules, however, about pronunciations - accenting the
penult or antepenult, for example - that are useful, but they are not well
known or well followed.
3. People who have studied Latin and Greek pronounce many names a little
differently than people who have not studied classical languages.
4. Despite the above points, many names are pronounced in a fairly standard
manner by most lepidopterists.  That is what Mark is referring to.
5. We all are so used to our own pronunciations that other pronunciations
can be distracting and perceived to be "wrong".  E.g., the when there are
two i's at the end of the name, I say "ee-eye", as with the name of my
favorite bug _gillettii_, and I'm so used to that pronunciation that others
seem strange.
6. When a species or genus is named after a person, there is also the
question of whether you should pronounce the scientific name the way the
person pronounced his/her name.  Should _Speyeria_ be SPEY-er-EE-a,
SCHPEY-er-EE-a, or Spe-YER-ee-a?  If you think you know the answer to this
one, could you please tell me how to pronounce _weidemeyerii_? (note the
two i's at the end-).

That's enough.  Besides, someone will want to correct something I said!

Ernest Williams


>Stan Gorodenski wrote:
>
>> It may be the 'strange stares' are because they also don't know how it
>> is pronounced, and are wondering if they have been
>> mispronouncing it all
>> along.
>
>Yes, this is true (and makes the whole thing rather amusing).
>
>>  I have never felt gun-shy about the possibility of
>> mispronouncing  a scientific name.  Whomever I am talking to
>> knows what
>> I am referring to, and when I do learn I am incorrectly pronouncing
>> something, I change it.
>
>Well I have, and my point was that I think this may have at least SOMETHING
>to do with the reticence to adopting a more "common" use of scientific
>names.
>
>Personally, it would be of value to me if someone were to publish some sort
>of "recommended pronunciation".  Then, since none of us should consider
>ourselves more or less qualified, we could all comfortably blast the crap
>out of it.
>
.................