Rambomessiah
Premium Member
That's what I thought but I keep running into people who say zen e yah.
Tomato .................... toe mah to............tah may tah
The "How do you pronounce things" thread
- Thread starter Pineapple House
- Start date
That's what I thought but I keep running into people who say zen e yah.
Tomato .................... toe mah to............tah may tah
LobsterOfJustice
Recovering Detritophobe
duh-trite-iss
staticpig5
New member
You know, this thread is AGES old but every single new member should be FORCED to read every word before they go to the LFS for the first time. I live in middle Tennessee and listening to the average red neck trying to say these things at the fish shop is priceless! "Hay, how much is this...umm...yellow thang?"
reefboarder
Intelligent Donkey
Where is this proven to be the correct pronunciation? Its driving me batty.
Bunnylicked
New member
How about zoanthid? I've heard it pronounced zoo-an-thid and zoe-an-thid. Which is correct?
Also, chaeto is kay-toe, right? And one other - is nudibranch nude-ee-brank?
Also, chaeto is kay-toe, right? And one other - is nudibranch nude-ee-brank?
StephLionfish
New member
I've always pronounced Chaeto " Chay-toe"... I've heard people call Nudibranch "Nude- ee- bronk". Zoanthid " Zoe-an-thid"
There's names of fish that I have no idea how to pronounce... Took me a website to figure out that Pterois is " Tare-oh- eese "...
But things like Dendrochirus Brachypterus?? I have no idea how to pronounce that. ( I mean, I kind of do...but not enough to say it in public )
There's names of fish that I have no idea how to pronounce... Took me a website to figure out that Pterois is " Tare-oh- eese "...
But things like Dendrochirus Brachypterus?? I have no idea how to pronounce that. ( I mean, I kind of do...but not enough to say it in public )
I don't know where it's proven but that is the way it's pronounced. Remember, it comes from a Green stem, not Latin.
Porites is a very porous coral. Pore in Greek is po-ros (πόρος). I have always heard Porites pronounced Po-RIGHT-ees. That's the same as what you're talking about, I'm just trying to show that the accent is on the second syllable.
Just remember, most of the scientific names, especially the Latin ones, are not pronounced in Latin. They're pronounced using what is generally accepted as scientific Latin pronounciation, which only occasionally matches true Latin pronounciation. Then there is always the argument over what exactly is true Latin pronounciation.
Until recently (meaning sometime in the last few decades), Latin pronounciation was what we now call ecclesiastical Latin. Latin was a common language in use all over Europe until only a couple of hundred years ago and it's still used in the Roman Catholic Church. Over that period of time, pronounciation has changed and even the Roman alphabet has changed. Many of the letters weren't around during the time of Julius Caesar (IVLIVS CAESAR). By the way, that's how his name would have looked in his day. The letter 'J' and the letter 'U' didn't exist back then. Actually the letter 'U' did exist but it was written as 'V'. The letter 'V' was the later invention and it was invented as a consonantal 'U.' After the letter 'V' was invented, they started writing 'U' as 'U.' Confusing, right?
And there was no 'J.' 'J' was invented as a consonantal 'I'. However, there was no consonantal 'I' in CAESAR'S time, so his first name was written IVLIVS. They didn't have lower case letters either. That came much later.
That's why I crack up laughing when I see people arguing for what they consider the correct pronounciation of Classical Latin (meaning around the time of Caesar and Cicero) yet their text books are written with today's punctiation and with both upper and lower case letters, including 'j', 'u', 'k' and other letters that you won't find in any of Cicero's originals. What is called Classical Latin pronounciation is nothing more than reconstructed Latin pronounciation. It's how they think it was probably pronounced based on reading Virgil and other Latin poets.
Way too much, I know. LOL
Anyway, the pronounciation of Porites is correct the way you heard it.
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It's pronounced zoe-AN-thid. Scientific names of more than two syllables are accented on the next to last syllable if the vowel of that syllable is followed by two or more consonants.
So we know that it's the second syllable that is accented. As far as the pronounciation of the first syllable 'zo', that's Greek, meaning animal. In Greek it's ζώο, pronounced zoe -- the same way we pronounce it. If the word starts out with zoo, then we pronounce it zoo (like where they keep all the animals, which is why it's call zoo).
The second syllable is Latin, meaning flower. In other words, animal flower. In Latin the word for flower is chrysanthus. Actually that's one Latin word for flower. There are others.
It's pronounced KEY-toe (short for Chaetomorpha). You're correct on nudibranch. It's NUDE-e-brank. And the plural is spelled nudibranchs.
StephLionfish
New member
It's pronounced KEY-toe (short for Chaetomorpha). You're correct on nudibranch. It's NUDE-e-brank. And the plural is spelled nudibranchs.
I learn something everyday....
How about Den-droh-KEAR-us brach-ip-TER-us. Brachy-pterus means short-winged in Greek (short-finned).
Don't forget, a lot of times the way scientific names are pronounced in the scientific community may not be the same as the way they really should be pronounced.
Most people in the reefkeeping hobby figure out how to pronounce most of the Latin scientific names but it's the Greek ones that can sometimes be difficult.
P.S. -- Ever notice how some people on Facebook like to show off by using foreign words in their posts? My favorite has to be when they write 'chow' for ciao. LOL
Then there are the ones who misspell Latin phrases to match the way they mispronounce them: ad nauseum for ad nauseam. Or they will spell ad infinitum correctly but almost always pronounce it wrong. If you're a lawyer, it's okay. They anglicize virtually all of the Latin words they use.
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StephLionfish
New member
How about Den-droh-KEAR-us brach-ip-TER-us. Brachy-pterus means short-winged in Greek (short-finned).
Don't forget, a lot of times the way scientific names are pronounced in the scientific community may not be the same as the way they really should be pronounced.
Most people in the reefkeeping hobby figure out how to pronounce most of the Latin scientific names but it's the Greek ones that can sometimes be difficult.
P.S. -- Ever notice how some people on Facebook like to show off by using foreign words in their posts? My favorite has to be when they write 'chow' for ciao. LOL
Then there are the ones who misspell Latin phrases to match the way they mispronounce them: ad nauseum for ad nauseam. Or they will spell ad infinitum correctly but almost always pronounce it wrong. If you're a lawyer, it's okay. They anglicize virtually all of the Latin words they use.
Hm, that's how I was saying it... ( the D. Brachypterus ). At least I got that one right. Thanks
reefboarder
Intelligent Donkey
So either way is acceptable? I just feel that some LFS's try to say things differently just to make you question how you've been saying it! poor-ites
The "correct" pronunciation has three syllables. The stress is on the second syllable. The first syllable sounds just like the word poor. The second syllable sounds just like the word might but without the 'm'. The last syllable sounds just like if you were telling someone how to spell the word feet: spell it with two e's. Por-IGHT-ees. It should come out as Por-RIGHT-ees.
P.S. -- Most LFS employees are "temporary" hires. They are usually very young and sometimes very enthusiastic about the hobby. Most of them are still learning. It's not usually a career choice.
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You might find this guide helpful: Pronunciation of Biological Latin.
It will give you some good general tips on where to place the stress on words with multiple syllables. I wouldn't pay too much attention to his comments on Classical Latin, which is nothing more than a relatively recent reconstruction of what scholars now think Classical Latin probably sounded like.
I prefer Latin pronunciation the way it was actually pronounced in 'more modern' times, meaning the last few hundred years. Its pronunciation then was closer to Italian then. Remember, Italian is just "street Latin." Dante first used it in writing.
VENI, VEDI, VICI to me will always be VAY-nee, VEE-dee, VEE-chee. Not WAY-nee, WEE-dee-, WEE-key. And I have a hard time saying Kaiser for Caesar. And I'm not about to pronounce virus in the so-called classical pronunciation.
The pronunciation of Latin scientific names varies somewhat depending on which country you're living in. People whose first language is English tend to anglicize it more than people whose first language is Spanish or Italian. Maybe it's because their languages are based on Latin.
It will give you some good general tips on where to place the stress on words with multiple syllables. I wouldn't pay too much attention to his comments on Classical Latin, which is nothing more than a relatively recent reconstruction of what scholars now think Classical Latin probably sounded like.
I prefer Latin pronunciation the way it was actually pronounced in 'more modern' times, meaning the last few hundred years. Its pronunciation then was closer to Italian then. Remember, Italian is just "street Latin." Dante first used it in writing.
VENI, VEDI, VICI to me will always be VAY-nee, VEE-dee, VEE-chee. Not WAY-nee, WEE-dee-, WEE-key. And I have a hard time saying Kaiser for Caesar. And I'm not about to pronounce virus in the so-called classical pronunciation.
The pronunciation of Latin scientific names varies somewhat depending on which country you're living in. People whose first language is English tend to anglicize it more than people whose first language is Spanish or Italian. Maybe it's because their languages are based on Latin.
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