Pronunciation of Latin plant names.

kindredspirit

http://www.finegardening.com/pguide/pronunciation-guide-to-botanical-latin.aspx

Protein · Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 10:52 pm Post subject:

I too have used this.. its great to get your head around those tricky pronunciations.... great recommendation!

walltoall · Posted: Thu Nov 25, 2010 9:45 pm Post subject: Latin pronunciation

Interesting site KindredSpirit and some really amusing pronunciations.
Exclamation

"Abelmoschus" Exclamation

is right off the wall, I'm afraid.
Latin is the root language of English and the 'Latin' used in botany is absolutely phonetic for an English speaker so long as you break the word down to its basic syllables. (and pick the right breaks). Pronouncing botanical names is easy-peasy if you unravel the syllables. You WILL get it right and with VERY little effort. You all know that I talk a lot of rhubarb. Well watch out for rhubarb in Latin it only has one syllable. Rheum contains "eu" nothing to do with those bsatrads currently screwing us. It means that Rheum is pronounced exactly like "room" and not ray-umm! Hawh?

The initial 'a' in "Abelmoschus" rhymes with HAY. So the word is pronounced able - moss - cuss or words to that effect.
She pronounced it as if it was German. abble- moshes:oops:
Now I think that's enough rhubarb from this place for one night.

vincentdunne · Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 11:52 pm Post subject:

Good site, Kindredspirit, it is a good help in prune-ounce-e-eish-e-ens.
The only problem is that it is american, but that is a small quibble.
Walltoall, you are right of course, you will find variations, but then, you will find variations in all words (listen to people pronounce 'vulnerable').
The important thing is to pronounce your latin names with confidence, then the other person will think you are right and they are wrong. lol

walltoall · Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 12:17 pm Post subject: pronouncing latin plant names

Well said VincentDunne. The more confidence you have in your pronunciation the more likely it is to be right. BTW, my accent is Fingallian and I pronounce "100" as "wun-hun-durt". I also read "boo-kiss" and used to milk "key-owse". I often wonder how anybody understands my English. Laughing

vincentdunne · Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 3:07 am Post subject:

When I worked in England for a while, they would try to get me to say 'turty tree and a turd'.

walltoall · Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 4:35 am Post subject: latin pronunciation

thats how I say it too. But I say 'themms' for the longest river in Berks. and they say 'temms'. BTW, turty tree and a turd in Latin would be something like XXXiii + i/XXXiii but i haven't a clue how to pronounce it. Or is turty XXL? Have we a latin matemathician in de house?

kindredspirit · Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 6:38 am Post subject: Re: Latin pronunciation

Sive · Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 12:45 pm Post subject:

My favourite ( Dublin ) pronunciation is " fillum "......I hate the American "movie" which has crept in. SO much nicer to go to see a "fillum" with a friend ...!

walltoall · Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 11:00 pm Post subject: latin pronunciation via german

Evening KindredSpirit if we can't be pedantic we can't have an argument about anything. "The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog" is one of the best know sentences in English. But we would say as gaeilge "Léim an sionnach glic tar dhroim an mada falsa" proving beyond doubt that Irish does not devolve from a Germanic ancestor. My lady wife being icelandic speaks a tongue very closely aligned to the language spoken by the angles and saxons when they landed in merry England. Actually the modern european language that most resembles modern English is possibly Dutch. But that won't help us to glibly trip those "Latin" botanical names off the tongue. Rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb BTW, Sive we go to the picktchers in Fingal. South-siders and Corkonians go to see fillums and movie buffs are the stuffed shirts from Ranelagh. and Montenotte