pronunciations

[Eric or Pat Metzler]

Good topic, and the answers are already known.  We just have to do our
research.

Don Borror was an expert on the subject.  He taught classes and wrote the
book referenced by Jane Dillonaire.  I have copies of several editions of
his class notes that were the basis for the book.  If you want to talk about
pronounciation, you have to have a copy of Don's book.  It is still
available and inexpensive.

In the meantime, we have to remember two things.

FIRST of all, scientific words are latinized, they are not necessarily
Latin.  For example, a species named after Bethune as bethunei does not
become "beh thu neee iii."  It is "beh thune i."   It is Bethune's name with
a long i on the end.  We don't change Bethune's name just because we
latinized it.  On the other hand, some words, like Patricia, are Latin words
and need no modification in spelling nor pronounciation.  A copy of good
Latin dictionary is very helpful for learning these things.

Also, Borror makes a point of stressing the root of the word when trying to
understand the pronounciation.  Many of the scientific words were created
from Greek roots, thus their pronounciation relies on knowledge of Greek.
As all of us try to apply our high school and college Latin to scientific
names, we will not know the answers until we know the roots of the words,
and from whence they came.  So, add a good Greek dictionary to your list of
books to buy.

For names from Russian, add a Russian dictionary.  You get the idea.

Until the early 20th century, and much later for experts like Borror and
Franclemont, knowledge of Greek and Latin roots was required for persons who
coined a scientific name.  These subjects were commonly taught.  These guys
knew what they were talking about.  If you look at many of Grote's
descriptions, he even gives the scientific name in Greek as well as Latin.

Secondly, Look at different pronounciations of the same word.  People in
"Deh troit" Michigan bristle at persons who say "DEEE troit," and try to get
by saying "Orrr eee gahn" in the state of "Ore eh gun."

So, for common words, like the dae ending of animal family names, or the
aceae ending of family plant names, Borror is the undisputed authority.  For
all others, whether "Cat ah ca lla" or "Cat OH cay lah," you have to know
the roots and the correct combinations.  Everything else is just guessing.

Cheers from Columbus, Ohio

Eric

"Jane Dillonaire" <jdillonaire at rcn.com> wrote in message
news:9jsn87$jo3$1 at bob.news.rcn.net...
> According to Borror (in _Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms_),
the
> diphthong "ae" is pronounced as a long e - like in "Pete".  By the way, I
> find this book indispensable.  Knowing the meaning of the roots helps me
to
> remember the species as well as the scientific name.
>
>



 
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