Plz solve pronunciation argument!

[sharky]

Aspidites: AS-pə-DYE-teez (ə is pronounced like 'e' in 'the', but not 'thee')

• melanocephalus: me-LAN-o-se-FAL-lus
  Usually pronounced mel-LAN-o-SEF-ə-lus, but the emphasis should always be on the second last syllable.
  (sometimes pronounced me-LAN-o-KEF-a-lus, but that's based on the greek, which was derived from the latin word anyway)
• ramsayi: RAM-zee-ee
  (but usually RAM-zee-eye, although this is incorrect)

Antaresia: An-TEAR-eez-EE-ə
(TEAR, as in tear a piece of paper)
Commonly used as An-tə-REEZ-ee-ə, but because it named after the star Antares, it is pronounced the same.

• maculosa: mac-yoo-LO-sə
  Latin for 'spotted'
• stimsoni: stim-sun-EE

Often pronounced stim-sun-EYE

• childreni: chill-dren-EE
  Again, often chil-dren-EYE

I thought I put this in here for those to lazy to click Redfox's thread link

 

[Skeptic]

I've always thought it was 'eye'

Have a read of this.
PRONUNCIATION OF BIOLOGICAL LATIN Including Taxonomic Names

 

[littlemay]

Even latin scholars cannot fully agree on latin pronunciation. One of the big issues is that Latin utilises so many loan words from Greek, which have differing rules of pronunciation in themselves. Even before this, pronunciation rules are insanely complex. It really is just a big mess.

From my own training in classical latin i have never pronounced i as 'eye'. I was taught that a long i (marked with a macron: ī) was pronounced i as in 'machine' (ee), where as a short i (marked with a breve: ĭ - or not at all) was pronounced i as in 'fit' (iy). It is literally that a long i takes double the time to say as a short i.

E.g.:

fīdo = fee-do
plico = pliy-ko

The question is whether the vowel in the particular word is long or short. On consulting my favorite reference grammar (Kennedy's Revised Latin Primer), i came across the following rules for final vowels:

I final is long: dīcī, plēbī, dolī (dee-kee, play-bee, doh-lee)
Exceptions:
- Vocatives and Datives of Greek nouns, but datives are sometimes long.
- Particles such as sicubi, necubi, nisi, quasi. Mihi tibi, ubi, and ibi are doubtful.

All that said and done, this is classical latin pronunciation we're talking about here. It's very possible that the scientific community has come up with its own rules of pronunciation for it's own purposes. If they have, i wonder what they have come up with and why? Someone should write a thesis on it...

 

[littlemay]

My understanding of this, gleaned from a book on botanical nomenclature many years ago, is that where names end in a single i “...i” the pronunciation is “ee”. Where names end in a double i “...ii” the pronunciation is “eye”.

Here i think is a good example of the difference between classical latin pronunciation and what must be modern scientific latin.

In classical latin you would pronounce both of the i in ii as independent vowels (iy-ee or ee-ee depending on whether the initial i was short or long). In your example, blue, the two vowels are being pronounced together as a diphthong (single vowel sound unit).

Actually, I once read that you pronounce those words as "eye-ee", just like pronouncing "Hawaii".

Your example is a little different because you don't actually have two single i vowels together, what you have is an ai diphthong (pronounced 'eye') with a single i vowel. Hence it is Ha-wai-i (ha-why[eye]-ee). But the principle is the same, just depends on whether the initial i vowel is long or short

 

[JM1982]

lol broccili? or brocieye? :lol: one of those things where dif people will always say it their own way.

Montysrainbow,
Did you change your pic especially for this thread?

 

[R33C3]

Lol, what have eye started!

Eye am glad Saximus was able to clear it it.


Eye also have something to admit, eye was the friend that got it wrong.
Eye thought it was bredl'y'.

(Eye couldn't keep it to myself after everyone else has been so honest)

10 points to Gryffindor.

 

[montysrainbow]

Montysrainbow,
Did you change your pic especially for this thread?

nope eye did not lol :lol:

 

[JM1982]

Not sure if eye believe you!

 

[JM1982]

(4th page and the jokes still not getn old!)

 

[andynic07]

All those who are over the jokes say "eye"

 

[the_brad]

To help solve an argument of my own, how does everone pronounce melamine? Sax your not aloud to answer

 

[andynic07]

Mel a mine

 

[JM1982]

X2

 

[andynic07]

Some say mel a mean

 

[saximus]

Merriam-Webster Pronunciation

 

[andynic07]

Merriam-Webster Pronunciation

That must be the American way , they have an accent.

 

[saximus]

That must be the American way , they have an accent.

melamine - Definition and pronunciation | Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com
^^British and American versions on that site are identical

 

[JM1982]

:shock:This thread could reach page 5!!

 

[andynic07]

My question is why are there so many people saying , mel a mine , if that isn't the way it is pronounced. I thought I could have found it pronounced my way but it seems I am having trouble.

 

[saximus]

My question is why are there so many people saying , mel a mine , if that isn't the way it is pronounced. I thought I could have found it pronounced my way but it seems I am having trouble.

I assumed it was just because that's how it is spelled. When you're talking about personal ownership of an object, there aren't many people who would say "that object is meen"