Looking for info on how to Pronounce Latin Scientific Names

[Brian Shrimpton]

All,

I have been searching the web for information on how to pronouce Latin Scientific Name. I've decided this is a personal growth item for me since I'm starting to do fish talks and this has been a limitation.

I think what I want is something simple such as:
borellii - Bor-ELL-ee-eye
cacatuoides - ka-ka-too-OI-deez
hongsloi - HONGS-low-eye
nijsseni - nEYE-zen-eye

If anyone know of a website that contains this information that would be great.

I found a listing that the ACA actually had .wav files that would pronounces that names. I can't find that on their current web site. This would be excellent if there is a site that has that functionality.

Brian

[Bas Pels]

Latin is dead - and I wonder whether anyone can tell how to pronounce Latin

Still, if someone who is not Dutch (what I happen to be) pronounces his fishes names, I hardly understand them - because they speak the names so strangely - to my ears

So a common pronouncation would be helpfull, I'd say

[Mike Wise]

Ah, Latin, the dead language they forgot to bury! Actually Latin has been spoken for about 2500 years - it still is spoken today. Like any living language it has evolved over the centuries. When I was taught Latin, I was taught Classical Latin - hard C's and G's, etc - instead of the "Church Latin" which is spoken today with some soft C's (and Ch) and G's. The great Roman philosoper/statesman, Cicero, for example was once asked by a Greek pen pal about how he pronounced his name. Cicero wrote back that it was pronounced "Kee -kee-ro", not "Sis-ser-o".

So, I guess the answer to your question depends on who you ask. I tend to use my own "butchered classical Latin". Most people seem to understand it as well as anyone else's. I suggest you find a Latin language text book. My books all have a pronunciation guide in the back. Oh, one other thing, "borellii, hongsloi, & nijsseni" are all Latinized surnames of people (Borelli, Hongslo, & Nijssen). As such, they should be pronounced as that person pronounces his name, with a possesive ending. It woud be interesting for most English speaker to pronounce "luelingi" correctly because we find it hard to pronounce Lüling's name the way he did. We just don't have vowels with umlauts (ä, ö, ü). I don't think the classical Romans had a Latin word for cockatoo. These parrots were unknown to the West until a few hundred years ago.

[Bas Pels]

It woud be interesting for most English speaker to pronounce "luelingi" correctly because we find it hard to pronounce Lüling's name the way he did. We just don't have vowels with umlauts (ä, ö, ü).

We Dutch people don't have the umlauts - but we do have the same sounds

Some people say Dutch is hard to pronounce. Beleive me, it is as easy as 123 (een, twee, drie )

[PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn]

Some people say Dutch is hard to pronounce. Beleive me, it is as easy as 123 (een, twee, drie )

just try this then

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllllantisiliogogogoch

I have no problem pronouncing Dutch, I just get all the words mixed up (I end up working out a sentence that uses Welsh, Dutch, and English)

[Sébastien Bochenko]

French article about latin pronounciation: http://www.destin-tanganyika.com/Articl ... latine.htm

I don't have any link about the french one...

[Bas Pels]

just try this then

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllllantisiliogogogoch

[Livio Leoni]

A good page about curiosities of Biological Nomenclature (there's a Cichlid too).

http://home.earthlink.net/~misaak/taxonomy.html


Livio

[Dean Hougen]

Reading various books and websites such as those being mentioned by others in this thread, not to mention listening to other hobbyists, is very useful. Beyond that, my best advice for how to pronounce Latin scientific names is "with confidence." If you speak them like you know what you are saying, very few people will question how you do it. For those few who might question you, you can simply roll your eyes at them as if to say, "Are you kidding?" Getting it "wrong" (different from how someone else does it) is not a big deal.

If you are worried about being understood, just add a bit of text to your presentation, spelling out the names so your audience members can read them while you pronounce them.

Don't let this limitation slow you down! If people are asking you to speak, it probably means they know you have good info to share and we all like "good sharing."


Dean

[Pam Chin]

Hi Brian,

I agree with Dean... Say it with confidence!

The most important thing is they understand what you mean even if you don't say it they same way they do.

Think about other speakers who you have heard in the past, no one really says it the same way!! Everyone has their own twang!

Cichlid Power!
Pam

[fishboykaps]

This book is old, one authors is shady and the Taxonomy is out of date and its been a while since i have looked at it but i think under each fish profile there is a pronunciation for the scientific name, i think its really the only valuable thing i have gained out of the book.

http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Tropical ... 63-6113563