Pronunciation of Biological Latin

7/24/2019 Pronunciation of Biological Latin

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Pronunciation of Biological Latin

Including Scientific Names of Plants and Animals

by Peter Ommundsen

Latin biological names in English speech are usually pronounced with English letter sounds. or e!ample" virusispronounced #$ye%rus# in English" but would ha$e been pronounced #weeros# in the Latin of ancient &ome. An AnglLatin pronunciation has been in use for centuries" and incorporates features of late &oman dialects that differ fromclassical Latin.

A current book showing pronunciation" meaning" and deri$ation of many scientific Latin ta!onomic names of NorthAmerican wildlife" plus a discussion of the history of pronunciation" is Lexicon of British Columbia Mammals.'lic(HERE.

RULES FOR THE ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION OF BIOLOGICAL LATIN: )Also see &eferences*Se$eral authors ha$e identified rules that describe the traditional English pronunciation. +sage $aries amongindi$iduals and continues to e$ol$e" but the descripti$e rules ser$e as a con$enient pronunciation benchmar(.Letter Sounds:Letter sounds are as in English words )and therefore $ary with dialect*.,he digraphs AEand OEare treated as the letter E.

LON- Eas in me" we" be anaemia" caecum" aether" chamaeleon" lar$ae" $ertebrae" foetus" amoeba"phoeni!.

S/O&, Eas in met" wet" set aesthetic" aesti$ate" aestuary haemorrhage" oesophagus" oestrogen.Note the AEending in group names dog family" 'anidae" )#'AN%id%ee# not #caniday#*" rose family"&osaceae )#ro%SA0%see%ee#*" cat subfamily" felinae)#fe%LINE%ee#*" oli$e tribe" oleeae)#ol%EE%ee%ee#*" etc.1AEand OEare often now written simply as E anemia" fetus" ameba" estrogen.2

Cor Gpreceding AEor OEis pronounced as though followed by E'aesar 3 #seesar#caecum 3 #see(um#coelom 3 #seelom#algae 3 #al4ee#

CHis pronounced as K:corus" eco" crysanthemum.THas in tora!" tymus" tu4a )#,/OO%4a#*

A final $owel is always $oiced" as in flora" hero" Apollo.fung!3 #+N5%eye"# !as in alib!

cocc!3 #'O'6S%eye"# !as in alib!o$ale3 #oh%7A0%lee"# eas in Simile" 8aphne" hyperbole" anemone" Aphrodite" 'hloedifficile3 #dif%ISS%il%ee"# )as in the bacterial species name Clostridium difficile, C. difficile%#see dif%ISS%il%eeeas in 8aphne" hyperbole" anemone" Aphrodite" 'hloestapes 3 #S,A0%pee9# eas in Achilles" meninges" diabetes

Some initial consonants are silent when followed by a consonant.pterosaur 3 #,E&%o%saur#pseudopod 3 #SOO%do%pod#
http://capewest.ca/pron.html#classicalhttp://www.chapters.indigo.ca/item.asp?N=35&R=737280&act=A03&Item=978096820841&Section=books&Catalog=Books&Lang=en&zxac=1http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/item.asp?N=35&R=737280&act=A03&Item=978096820841&Section=books&Catalog=Books&Lang=en&zxac=1http://capewest.ca/pron.html#Referenceshttp://www.chapters.indigo.ca/item.asp?N=35&R=737280&act=A03&Item=978096820841&Section=books&Catalog=Books&Lang=en&zxac=1http://capewest.ca/pron.html#Referenceshttp://capewest.ca/pron.html#classical


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pneuma 3 #NE:%ma#gnathous 3 #NA,/%ous#phthegma 3 #,/E-%ma#chthamalus 3 #,/A;%al%us#

ctenoid 3 #,EN%oid#mnium 3 #N0%um#tmema 3 #;EE%ma#

Stress and "o#e$ $en%tEnglish pronunciation conser$es the classical &oman accent position" but $owel length rules are uni


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Laterallus 3 #lat%er%AL%us# )compare to lateralis" single $" below.*,yrannus 3 tir%ANN%us# )compare to montanus" single n" below.*Narcissus 3 #nar%SIS%sus#'anadensis 3 #ca%na%8EN%sis#

;acrophyllum 3 #mac%ro%ILL%um#)b* are stressed on the ne+t to $astsyllable IFthe $owel is $on%)or transliterates to a Latin long $owel" for e!ample" -ree( eta and omega*" including somdigraphs.)Applies to many Latin inflectional suffi!es americanus" lateralis" alp!nus" ros!nae.*Ornatus 3 #or%NA0%tus#Pectoralis 3 #pec%to%&A0%lis#Lateralis 3 #lat%er%A0%lis# )'ompare to laterallus" double%l" abo$e.*;ontanus 3 #mon%,A0%nus# )'ompare to tyrannus" double%n" abo$e.*;aculata 3 #mac%you%LA0%ta#Brachialis 3 #bray%(ee%A0%lis#+mbellata 3 #um%bell%LA0%ta#oramen 3 #fo%&A0%men#Lupinus 3 #lu%PIE%nus#

Alpinus 3 #al%PIE%nus#Bo$inae 3 #bo$%E0E%nee#/omininae 3 #hom%in%E0E%nee#/ominini 3 #hom%in%E0E%nye#/ominina 3 #hom%in%E0E%na#Ea and >b do not apply./yperbole 3 #/i%PE&%bol%ee#&hinocerus 3 #rhi%NA:%ser%us#Esophagus 3 #es%O%ag%us#-eophagus 3 #4ee%O%ag%us#Euphagus 3 #0OO%ag%us#Eupoda 3 #0OOP%od%a#Bicolor 3 #BI'6%ol%or#

Archilochus 3 #ar(%ILL%o(%us#Pardalis 3 #PA&%dal%is#/elostoma 3 #hel%OS,%oh%ma#

Stomata 3 #S,O;%at%ah#Echinodermata 3 #e%(i%no%8E&%mah%ta#Parenchyma 3 #pa%&EN%(im%ma#Streptomyces 3 #strep%,O;%is%ee9#Scleropages 3 #s(ler%OP%a4%ees#,roglodytes 3 #tro%-LO8%it%ees#/aematopus 3 #he%;A,%op%us#


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Alcyon 3 #AL%see%on#'lematis 3 #'LE;%ma%tis#Saccharomyces 3 #sac%(a%&O;%is%ee9#8ifficile 3 #dif%ISS%il%ee#

O!alis 3 #O@%al%is#;onticola 3 #mon%,I'%ol%a#Pterophyta 3 #ter%O%fit%a#Pterodroma 3 #ter%O88%dro%ma#Bryophyta 3 #bry%O%fit%ta#-astropoda 3 #gas%,&OP%od%a#'opepoda 3 #co%PEP%od%a#8isporum 3 #8IS%po%rum#'hiroptera 3 #(y%&OP%ter%a#Epiphysis 3 #e%PI%is%is#'erebrum 3 #SE&%eb%rum#Spermophilus 3 #sper%;O%il%us#Syl$ilagus 3 #sil%7IL%ag%us#Spilogale 3 #spi%LO-%al%ee#/emionus 3 #hem%E0E%on%us#/ernandieae 3 #her%nand%E0E%ee%ee#Neotoma 3 #ne%O,,%om%a#'yclamen 3 #SI'6%la%men#,he stressed ,o#e$is short e!cept if Uas in humerus" numeral" 4ugular if preceding a $owel )hem!onus-a$!idae* or if as in media" splenius" radius" planaria" phobia" mammalia" cepacia" rosaceae etc. )Stresse$owel % A" Eor O% followed by a single consonant" then two or more $owels" of which the first is E" Ior-.*

And note the #S/# sound that may be gi$en to cand tfollowed by ! dementia" motion" Botia 3 #bosha#"acacia 3 #a(aysha#" species 3 #speeshees#.

Notes:Some doub$e consonants)and #mute# consonants followed by $or r* are treated as single consonants )e.g." ,/"P/" '/" B&" 8&" ,&" PL" +*

Sacrum % #SA0%crum# 3 &ule =b rather than =a.

?ebra 3 #?EE%bra# 3 &ule =b rather than =a.-labrum 3#-LA0%brum# 3 &ule =b rather than =a.;itral 3 #;0%tral# 3 &ule =b rather than =a.Ni%ra 3 #N0%gra# 3 &ule =b rather than =a.7ertebra 3 #7E&%te%bra# 3 &ule >c rather than >a.Palpebra 3 #PAL%pe%bra# 3 &ule >c rather than >a.

Agnata 3 #A-%na%tha# 3 &ule >c rather than >a.Perognatus 3 #pe%&O-%na%thus# 3 &ule >c rather than >a.?alo.us 3 #?AL%lo%fus# 3 &ule >c rather than >a.Enhydra 3 #EN%hid%dra# 3 &ule >c rather than >a.'allitrice 3 #ca%LI,%ri(%ee# 3 &ule >c rather than >a.7eratrum 3 #$e%&A0%trum# 3 &ule >b rather than >c.

,he letter /is treated as two separate consonants because it has a #6S# sound

A+is" ,a+us )short #a# as in cat* following &ule =a rather than =b.'hionodo+us )short #O# as in cot* following >a rather than >b

Co))e)orat!,e na)es)eponyms*,a!a may commemorate personal names or surnames such as Alice EastwoodCs 8aisy" 7irginiaCs :arbler"and :ilsonCs /oneycreeper. ,hese names are treated as latini9ed possessi$e nouns )AliceCs 3 aliciae,:ilsonCs 3 wilsoni*. ,he classical accent may be determined by the Latin form of the name. If :ilson werelatini9ed as :ilsonius the pronunciation of wilsoni would be #wil%SO%nye.# If :ilson were latini9ed as


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:ilsonus" the pronunciation of wilsoni would be #:IL%so%nye.# Archi$al records indicate inconsistency inlatini9ation of names" so some fle!ibility e!ists in pronunciation" and there is precedent in both classical anmodern Latin for conser$ation. ,hus #:IL%so%nye# )&ule >c * is preferable to #wil%SO%ni"# whereas andersois best treated as #an%der%SO%ni# rather than #an%8E&%so%ni.#

aberti 3 #a%BE&%tye# 3 &ule >aaliceae 3 #al%IS%ee%ee# 3 &ule >ccalderi 3 #'ALL%de%rye# 3 &ule >chendersonii 3 #hen%der%SO%nee%eye# 3 &ule >clewisii 3 #lew%ISS%ee%eye# 3 &ule >c$irginiae 3 #$ir%5IN%ee%ee# 3 &ule >c

'ertain contract!onsending in 0!c" 0!d" and 0!tretain the $owel


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Pronunciation of Biological Latin