How do YOU pronounce spongodes?

Fizz71

FragSwapper
Last time I read a pronunciation thread on here it got quite interesting since even the "experts" pronounced "cheatomorpha" differently from one another but right now I'm really curious how "spongodes" is supposed to be pronounced.

For the longest time (in my head) I pronounced it something like "spong-gōdz"...that a long O like "goats" with a "d".

Then I heard it more like "spong-gōdēz" wtih a long o and long e.

Anybody have the official pronunciation?
 
I don't know about official. People can't even agree on "acro PORA" v. "a CROP ora" and "monti PORA" v. "mon TIP ora".

I say "spun GO deez".
 
Again, there is NO pronunciation rule for taxonomic latin. In general, you must be consistent between words, and it should come out fluidly. There is really only "some/many/or most people say it this way...". That said, most people in the field would probably say it close to spun-GO-deez.

btw I say ACRO-pora... simply because the root is acro, not acrop. Is it right? yes. So is the other way.
 
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Again, there is NO pronunciation rule for taxonomic latin. In general, you must be consistent between words, and it should come out fluidly. There is really only "some/many/or most people say it this way...". That said, most people in the field would probably say it close to spun-GO-deez.

btw I say ACRO-pora... simply because the root is acro, not acrop. Is it right? yes. So is the other way.

Sometimes my anal retentive OCD perfectionist personality has a hard time dealing with not having an official ruling. :)

I just hate pronouncing a word in my head for years only to speak it the first time aloud to somebody I respect in the industry who then looks at me with a blank stare and says "huh? Oooohhh...you mean [yada-YADA-yada]" and I'm left slapping my forehead in personal disappointment and require years of retraining my brain to pronounce it differently. I still pronounce Salifert test kits like "sail-fert"...read it online for years like Sailfert that I just can retrain myself!

You say some things fast enough and nobody notices but there is a BIG difference in "sponge" vs. "spun-go" and "ode" vs. "oh-dee" just like "chee toe" and "key toe" (of cheatomorpha). I think spun-GO-deez sounds more latin so that's what I'll go with!

Thanks everybody..please feel free to keep posting your own translation...I'm still curious how others I see around say it.
 
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