HoppeHunting Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Hi all, How do you all go about pronouncing the scientific names of species that you find? So far, I've just gone with what sounds right and tweaked it based off what I hear others say. Most genus and species names are derived from Greek and Latin I believe, so looking at pronunciations in those languages may help. But is there any outside resource that you all use, or do you just say it how you see it? I'd hate to disrespect a shark by butchering his name! The Hunt for the Hemipristine continues! ~Hoppe hunting!~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Maybe this thread could be helpful, I don’t think the sharks will mind. “...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin Happy hunting, Mason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 I think this is very difficult. Apart from the Latin, some are ancient Greek or modern place and peoples names, look at the number of Chinese names for taxa now. Our phonetics don't even cover some of the sounds made. I've even heard well known names like Diplodocus pronounced with emphasis on different syllables. Spelling it correctly is most important, I guess. Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Breakin' Rocks Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Indeed .. I muddle through it all the time. I try to find lectures on the sharks I'm interested in on Youtube. That helps .... 'hopefully' the researchers/scientists rattling off the names know how to pronounce them. Where is John Cleese when you need him ? 2 hours ago, HoppeFossilHunting said: Hi all, How do you all go about pronouncing the scientific names of species that you find? So far, I've just gone with what sounds right and tweaked it based off what I hear others say. Most genus and species names are derived from Greek and Latin I believe, so looking at pronunciations in those languages may help. But is there any outside resource that you all use, or do you just say it how you see it? I'd hate to disrespect a shark by butchering his name! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 I agree with Tidgy's Dad that spelling is the most important thing. Being at home in two languages shows me that English and German paleontologists often put the emphasis on different syllables, so which is correct? I sometimes wonder what comes out of the mouths of Russians and Chinese. Of course, it's probably best to be able to pronounce a name correctly in your native language, so I'd suggest hanging out with experienced collectors and experts while keeping your mouth shut. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Yes, spelling is the most important part. In the natural history museum in Leiden where we prepped Triceratops fossils in a lab where visitors could see it and ask questions, a common question was how to pronounce Triceratops. And they're get different answers depending on who they asked. About half the team put the emphasis "RA" in Trice-RA-tops. And the other half pronounced it as Tri-CERA-tops. And there's names like Coelacanth, Coelodonta, Coelophysis and Opistocoelocaudia. The pronunciation tends to vary wildly. I myself am guilty of being inconsistent with these names. Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 In Germany they say Treeceratops. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 7 hours ago, Ludwigia said: In Germany they say Treeceratops. We talking this or are we talking this? “...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin Happy hunting, Mason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 I am one who learned early in my education how to pronounce the scientific names. I have a Master's Degree in Horticulture and learned well over 4000 scientific plant names throughout the years. My first instructor sat on the plant naming board and so he was a stickler for the correct pronunciation. Kind of drilled it into my head. It was interesting how later in other classes the instructors struggled with names. Learning the correct pronunciation also aided in the correct spelling. One hint is that a lot of the multiple vowels a sounded in the pronunciation. I too have noticed that with scientific names even professionals have a difficult time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoppeHunting Posted February 25, 2018 Author Share Posted February 25, 2018 15 hours ago, oldtimer said: I am one who learned early in my education how to pronounce the scientific names. Awesome! Would you mind if I sent you a couple PM’s with a few shark names that I’ve found particularly difficult to pronounce? The Hunt for the Hemipristine continues! ~Hoppe hunting!~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 9 hours ago, HoppeFossilHunting said: Awesome! Would you mind if I sent you a couple PM’s with a few shark names that I’ve found particularly difficult to pronounce? Sure. I would give it a shot however I probably could not pronounce it well in print/text. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cam28 Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Every shark lecture I've seen, the Carchar.. sharks i.e. Carcharodon, Carcharocles, etc. is pronounced "Car-car", i.e. Carcharocles is "Car-car-o-kleez". Why the "H" is silent I have no idear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 4 hours ago, Cam28 said: Why the "H" is silent I have no idear When you think about it, “H” is almost always silent. I’m no linguist, but maybe Latin/Greek (whichever it comes from) doesn’t have a “ch” sound, rather the ch in the root carchar (means knife like I believe) was originally K followed by a breathy “h” (hard to to in text) to emphasize the second syllable. Or they just decided it would be that way and I’m conjuring up nonsense, which may be more likely. “...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin Happy hunting, Mason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 9 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said: When you think about it, “H” is almost always silent. I’m no linguist, but maybe Latin/Greek (whichever it comes from) doesn’t have a “ch” sound, rather the ch in the root carchar (means knife like I believe) was originally K followed by a breathy “h” (hard to to in text) to emphasize the second syllable. Or they just decided it would be that way and I’m conjuring up nonsense, which may be more likely. You're actually pretty close, history-wise! Most of the Latinate / Romance languages lost their hard 'h' over time with the vulgarization of Latin, whereas the Ingvaeonic root languages (Germanic, and to some hybridized extent, English) retain a harder 'h.' A good example would be our "hospital" where the 'h' is audible, whereas in French, hôpital, the 'h' is silent. In English, various phonemes are present to give 'h' a bit more punch, such as "shout." In the Romance languages, the 'h' serves a different role, such as in the Italian phoneme of 'gh' ("alghe"), but many of which are borrow words. ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 Waa caint chuall juz speek Amuricane? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aplomado Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 If you want to pronounce dinosaur names, this website has recording of them; very useful: https://www.usborne.com/quicklinks/eng/catalogue/catalogue.aspx?cat=1&loc=uk&area=H&subcat=HP&id=6500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 6 hours ago, caldigger said: Waa caint chuall juz speek Amuricane? Thems wern't bread fer it. Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoppeHunting Posted February 27, 2018 Author Share Posted February 27, 2018 2 hours ago, aplomado said: If you want to pronounce dinosaur names, this website has recording of them; very useful: https://www.usborne.com/quicklinks/eng/catalogue/catalogue.aspx?cat=1&loc=uk&area=H&subcat=HP&id=6500 Thanks! If only there was a shark one as well... The Hunt for the Hemipristine continues! ~Hoppe hunting!~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malone Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 On 2/24/2018 at 6:28 PM, oldtimer said: I am one who learned early in my education how to pronounce the scientific names. I have a Master's Degree in Horticulture and learned well over 4000 scientific plant names throughout the years. My first instructor sat on the plant naming board and so he was a stickler for the correct pronunciation. Kind of drilled it into my head. It was interesting how later in other classes the instructors struggled with names. Learning the correct pronunciation also aided in the correct spelling. One hint is that a lot of the multiple vowels a sounded in the pronunciation. I too have noticed that with scientific names even professionals have a difficult time. I know this is off topic but I was wondering why there is so little information publicly available on pollia condensata chemistry,as it produces they shiniest object known. I could imagine that being a characteristic of the forbidden fruit. I could only find a couple papers on the color structure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 check your mailbox,Malone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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