pas cries pigs stat te tee Mao TEES 7 ‘ rere hete es te Sets oo Se Sess Seesrsis sets +38 ns eS vies aan i 3 rt a2 ne + eet 3 ot es etter estetatct tet tite atpred nt eater ae bib woes a patieste este itseiee tf a et oh steresesire ine i = tptdsgre plese ras fates $Sot58; iy ‘3 cr Hai ; e: Stites Geert Siteteh s2tttseis2 se tet; rertststs ‘soisaisalenlsi ered eae it Vea weal SETS Statt Heceghies ert meh qs i taba Were) coy reges' arcs a uF: te 3k £3505; beszsesegyse ay ; iL ores ile coat Fests tesece hea Hh : t sTeritat yersieess : i ; . : itis: : HEIs tetera aE eet ; i : aed ite Be Se : Petite ; ; 3 : ; se 2543 Hi cite Bite ies ‘a py ; : Hath) ay Tey bese odbc ar “T4 it se ehsttek fy aye Tety ashen isa at ; rr ae strat 4 Stucntaeanyeannt ie abla nttlta ta eh stg | erusla ae iat ces Reeetiamatie denubaeeae si uieniat sie it ts Pi ete A393 s]s . t tie a jay + ca i he Tetereett ey is +t Hane sin phe +0 t tfite ; ; ayat te tis ; : tel its fia i at is % ities Ht sree o + stat f ; t-j¢ +t Teo hing Ol OF : > BI. w > Cr DIACRITICAL MARKS as in ask i as in sofa 3 as in bay fr) as in far 6 as in father 00 shortened long a 00 as in be a shortened long e u as in her a as in line as in bone shortened long o as in bore as in hoof as in brook as in blue shortened long u as in urge ’ Principal accent 2 st9b000 TOEO O WN NMUQA UMA IOHUAA/ISIN 5 is aie a Os ee ae 4 ¥ Ci ets. vy yA, od a : pad | iota Nie TA eres he f 3 r Saree. eee) } : ¢7 i] ,« - AAAL 4 J : ie ae gibi i 7 L i ' w ' 9 " : ‘ Ai nnd iy j 1 + re. i 1 : or t } fi a THE BIOLOGIST’S HANDBOOK OF PRONUNCIATIONS By the same author A SOURCE-BOOK OF MEDICAL TERMS Charles C Thomas, Publisher, Springfield, Illinois A SOURCE-BOOK OF BIOLOGICAL NAMES AND TERMS Charles C Thomas, Publisher, Springfield, Illinois THE BIOLOGIST’S HANDBOOK OF PRONUNCIATIONS By EDMUND C. JAEGER, D.Sc. Curator of Plants Riverside (California) Municipal Museum OGICAL [ae Zags ata : A N Illustrations hs WOORS Fore es Morris Van Dame ane He Autbloti BRARY 2 U.S. DEPT. OF COMMERCE au NMESHNEFC 2 — nad SORE Hon CHARLES C THOMAS e PUBLISHER Springfield + Illinois + U.S.A ‘ CHARLES C THOMAS * PUBLISHER BANNERSTONE HOUSE 301-327 East Lawrence Avenue, Springfield, Illinois, U.S.A. Published simultaneously in the British Commonwealth of Nations by BLACKWELL SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS, LTD., OXFORD, ENGLAND Published simultaneously in Canada by THE RYERSON PRESS, TORONTO This book is protected by copyright. No part of it may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher. © 1960; by ‘CCHARLES C THOMAS * PUBLISHER Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 59-14924 With THOMAS BOOKS careful attention is given to all de- tails of manufacturing and design. It is the Publisher’s desire to present books that are satisfactory as to their physical qualities and artistic possibilities and appropriate for their particular use. THOMAS BOOKS will be true to those laws of quality that assure a good name and good will. re So oo tae Printed tn the United States of America PREFACE IT IS A COMPLAINT all too common among those who are beginning the study of the biological sciences that they can make little satisfactory progress in the pronunciation of the numerous scientific names and terms they must use. Their path is made thorny by the fact that advanced students and even many teachers of scientific studies, to whom they look for guidance, mispro- nounce, often atrociously, many of the terms. Per- haps all, both students and teachers, would gladly improve their pronunciation if they could find ready at hand some small but adequate book of reference. In response to the demand of these multitudes, I have prepared, with some misgivings and hesita- tion, this handy pronouncing guide. It includes not only a host of the most commonly used and often mispronounced technical terms, but also the better known generic names of plants and animals and numerous Latin adjectives and ad- jectival compounds used as specific or trivial names. As a special aid to learning, with each specific name is given its original Greek or Latin - meaning or English equivalent. Acceptable pronunciation of each word is indi- cated, by its division into parts (not necessarily syllables) by means of hyphens, by accent, and by diacritical marks. The preferred pronunciation is, Vv vi PREFACE in each case, indicated first; the less used but ac- ceptable alternatives are placed afterwards. It should ever be remembered that while there are formal rules of pronunciation they have not always been observed. Long usage has in certain cases established other ways of sounding some let- ters, especially vowels, and of placing accents. It is also well to keep in mind that words, especially derived ones, may be pronounced differently by phonetic experts and by reputable biologists resid- ing in different countries. The individual prefer- ences are indeed many. The scientific names of both plants and animals are generally cast in Latin form even though they may be compounded from Greek or other stems. It has been agreed that they should, for the most part, be pronounced in conformity to Latin rules and practice. Accordingly I have given in the in- troduction the more important rules governing the syllabification and accentuation of Latin words. A table showing the needed diacritical marks and the sounds of the letters which they govern has been located for ready reference inside both the front and back covers of the book. To add interest and to help the student in learning, a number of illustrations have been placed throughout the text. These call attention to often mispronounced words. Those who use this Guide are urged to read carefully the Introduction and to make an earnest effort to master the brief but highly important material found there. They may then proceed to PREFACE vii pronounce intelligently and with ease and accu- racy, the names and terms they use. Gardeners and horticulturists, specialists in ani- mal husbandry, foresters, naturalists, and stu- dents of the biological sciences will often need to consult the Guide. Teachers, especially, will wel- come this aid as they prepare to give their lectures or conduct recitations. All will find it to be a most profitable and interesting spare-time pleasure (although at times embarrassing) to run through the lists of familiar generic and specific names as well as oft-used technical terms and underline the great number of mispronunciations they have been habitually making. In preparing the long list of words (there are more than 9000), a guide to whose pronunciation is indicated, the author tried particularly to in- clude only those most likely to cause difficulty. Thus many commonly used terms and generic names of obvious sound and accentuation have been omitted. This has made it possible to keep the book down to a size easy to handle, and to render it valuable as a constant desk or brief-case com- panion. The author realizes that although he has spared no effort to here present a thoroughly reliable work, there still must be errors which have slipped in. Constructive criticisms and corrections are ac- cordingly invited for the purpose of helping to at- tain to a more uniform and correct standard of pronunciation in future editions of the HANDBOOK. Viii PREFACE Se EE I have been fortunate in securing the advice and generous assistance of many able students of the principles of phonetics, and to them I am deeply indebted. A list of the more important and helpful books consulted is appended. EDMUND C, JAEGER Riverside, California INTRODUCTION UNFORTUNATE AS IT Is, the “English method”’ of pronouncing Latin is used, both in this country and in England, by most biologists, in the pro- nunciation of biological names cast in Latin form. According to this system the vowels are given their customary English sounds as are the consonants, except that ch is pronounced as k; c, g, and gg are usually soft before e, i, y, and the diphthongs ae and oe. The usual Latin rules of accentuation are observed. The use of the ‘‘English method”’ of pronuncia- tion goes back to the period when this method was used in the English Law Courts. Later it was widely taught in English and American schools. More recently it has been superseded by the ‘‘Con- tinental method,’’ which is now used exclusively in the secondary schools and colleges of the United States and many parts of Europe. Since there are those who may prefer to pro- nounce words in accordance with the Continental or Roman method the following explanation of diacritical marks and sounds of consonants and diphthongs will be useful: Long Vowels a like a in ah en Suite.) they Mm tera YS: machme a oa mole i. el,” mule iz INTRODUCTION Short Vowels a like a in idea Cw.) tere et it opin 0, 0, Obey, Usa: weld eek Consonants c likec income ch = ch; “ ‘chemistry g és g é give ele ey ko, Loom Silice > son ie ee “ time Nees Wee Se qm. sun — «quice Diphthongs ae nearly like ai in aisle Oe >) 2. “Ol COM UD? Sig "Ou * Spout eu “ “eu “ feud el ‘: oe eie ten vi = “we “ cui (kwe) CONCERNING THE SYLLABIFICATION AND ACCENTUATION OF LATIN WORDS OR OF GREEK WORDS CAST IN LATIN FORM 1. A syllable consists of a vowel or diphthong* with or with- out One or more consonants. Accordingly, a word has as INTRODUCTION x1 many syllables as it has separate vowels or diphthongs. 2. In dividing a word into syllables, a single consonant is joined to the vowel which follows it. 3. If two or more consonants occur between two vowels, as many are joined to the following vowel as can be pro- nounced with it. 4. In compounds, the parts are separated. 5. The last syllable of a word is called the ulltima. The next to the last syllable of a word is called the penult. The sy- lable preceding the penult is called the antepenult. Words of two syllables have the accent on the penult. Thus: Latin ¢#’-ba, trumpet and dn’-céps, two headed, double. Words of more than two syllables have the ac- cent on the penult when that syllable 1s long: other- wise the accent falls on the antepenult. Thus: prae-di’-cé, to foretell but prae’-di-co, to declare. In this pronouncing guide only the primary or principal accent is indicated, since, usually, know- ing this, it is rather easy to find the secondary ac- cent. It is well to remember that the secondary ac- cent, as a general rule, can never fall less than two syllables before the primary one. A syllable is long: 1. if its vowel is long. In this book the long vowels are marked; unmarked vowels must be regarded as short. * A diphthong (Gr. di, double; phthongos, voice) is a union of two vowels pronounced as one. In ‘“‘proper’’ diphthongs, which we have in such English words as ‘“‘joy,’’ “poise,’”’ and “round,” the two vowels are blended; but in “improper” diphthongs which appear in such words as ‘“‘people,”’ “‘each,”’ and “‘pain’’ only one of the vowels, generally the first, is sounded. xii INTRODUCTION £2529 2. if its vowel is followed by ‘‘x”’ or “‘z.”’ 3. if its vowel is short but followed by two or more conso- nants. Except a mute (p, b, t, d, c, k, g, q,) followed by lorror by x orz. 4. if it contains a diphthong.* 5. final as, es, os are long. A syllable not held to be long is short. A final syllable ending in any consonant other than ‘‘s’’ is short (-is, -us, and -ys are short). There are few exceptions. In pure Latin words a vowel is long: 1. if it is formed by the contraction of a diphthong. 2. if it occurs before ‘‘gm”’ (and often “‘gn’’), ‘‘nf,”’ and “‘ns.”’ 3. if it occurs before ‘‘consonant i’ =y (with the sound of y in yet). 4. usually if the ‘“‘o”’ and ‘“‘u”’ are final. In pure Latin words a vowel is short: 1. if it occurs before another vowel or “‘h,”’ thus: vza, nthil. An exception is found in some words transcribed from Greek. 2. if it occurs before ‘‘nd’’ or amant. “ic nt.”’ Thus: amandus and COMPOUND WoRDS Many generic and trivial (specific) names of ani- mals and plants consist of fabricated compound 29 he * The most common Latin diphthongs are ‘‘ae,’”’ “‘au,’’ and “foe.” “feu’’ occurs in a few Latin words derived in part from the Greek “‘eu,’’ meaning ‘‘well, good.” “‘-eus,”” a common Latin adjectival ending, is pronounced ‘‘-é-us’’; 1.e., in two syllables. The common Greek diphthongs ‘‘ae’’ (represented by ae), ‘ev’ (transliterated ‘‘eu’’), and ‘‘o’’ (transliterated “‘oe’’) are considered long in pronunciation. INTRODUCTION xiii words. If the words are compounded from Greek words or word-stems, the parts are often joined by the use of the vowel ‘‘o,’’ often, but not necessarily, sounded as a shortened long ‘‘o”’ and marked ‘‘6.”’ Thus we have ornithopterts from the Greek stem ornithos, a bird, joined by the use of ‘‘o’’ to the word pteris, a wing. This connecting vowel ‘‘o”’ is also used in constructing some Latin compounds but the usual joining vowel in Latin compounds is ‘4.’ This we see in the trivial name alnzfolia from the Latin stem alnus, the alder, and folizum, a leaf. TRANSLITERATED WORD-ENDINGS Greek words ending in -on (-ov) and -os (os), when made over into Latin words, appear with the endings -um and -us, while those ending in long e (-n) usually have their Latin derivatives ending in -a. Thus Greek petalon (aeradov) becomes the Latin petalum, a leaf, and Greek cyamos (ktvayos) becomes the Latin generic name Cyamus, a bean. In the case’ of commemorative names ending in -1a, -lana, or occasionally in -ella, given to honor discoverers, eminent scholars, or patrons of science, every effort should be made to preserve in their pro- nunciation as near as possible the original sounds; only thus can the names be readily associated with the persons in whose memory they were originally given. Certainly Dahlia, given to commemorate the Swedish botanist Dahl, should be pronounced Da’-li-a and not D3&’-li-a as is so commonly done, and Camellia, given in honor of the botanical con- tributions of George Joseph Kamel (Latinized Xiv | INTRODUCTION form = Camelli), the seventeenth century Moravian traveller, should have the e pronounced short (Cam-él’-li-a) and not long (Cam-él-‘li-a) as so many careless persons are in the habit of doing. Pronounced otherwise, the connection between the man and the plant or animal is almost entirely obliterated and one of the chief purposes of giving the name is defeated. Sometimes words have passed over into the English language and in so doing have not only had their accent shifted and the sounds of their vowels changed, but they have also had the spell- ing slightly altered. Examples of such words are the Greek dném-0'-né (aveuwvn) which in English | appears as the plant name aném-6-né, and the Latin or-d’-tor becomes in English 6r’-d-tér. From the Latin f6-li-us, leaf, we have the English words fo'-li-dge and fé’-l1-6. Strange indeed, and rightly so, it now would sound, to hear someone speak of fo'-li-adge or of a fo’-li-6. The long o in foliage comes to us through French. WORKS CONSULTED ALLEN AND GREENOUGH: New Latin Grammar. Ginn and Company, 1903. ANDREWS AND STODDARD: A Grammar of the Latin Language. Crocker and Brewster, 1868. Brown, ROLAND W.: Composition of Scientific Words. Brown, Roland W., 1954. Bruges, C. T., MELANDER, A. L.: The Classification of Insects. Bulletin Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard Coll. K3, 1932. Crozirr, A. A.: Crozter’s Dictionary of Botanical Terms. Henry Holt and Company, 1892. Contnck, A. M. C.: Jongkindt-Dictionaire Latin-Grec- Francais-Allemand-Hollandaise. G. E. Stechert and Com- pany, 1926. Drewitt, F. Dawtrey: Latin Names of Common Plants. H. F. and G. Witherby, 1927. Essic, E. O.: Insects of Western North America. The Macmillan Company, 1926. College Entomology: The Macmillan Company, 1942. Gray, Asa: Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States. American Book Company, 1889. GoopDwIN, WILLIAM W.: A Greek Grammar. Ginn and Com- pany, 1892. GILBERT-CaRTER: Glossary of the British Flora. Cambridge University Press, 1950. HARKNEss, ALBERT: A Complete Latin Grammar. American Book Company, 1898. Hitcucock, A. S.: Manual of the Grasses of the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, 1935. _ Jackson, B. D.: A Glossary of Botanical Terms. Duckworth. Fourth Edition, 1928. Jackson, E. Hitton: Law-Latin, a Treatise in Latin. John Byrne and Company, 1905. LANE, GEORGE M.: A Latin Grammar. Harper and Brothers, 1899. XV xvi WORKS CONSULTED Lyons, A. B.: Plant Names, Scientific and Popular. Nelson, Baker and Company, 1900. MELANDER, ALEX LEONARD: Source Book of Biological Terms. The College of the City of New York, 1940. Mooney, W. D.: A Brief Latin Grammar. American Book Company, 1897. Muvnz, Puivie A. in collaboration with DAvip D. KEck: A California Flora, University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1959. Savory, T. H.: Latin and Greek for Biologists. University of London Press. Greek-English Lexicon: Liddell and Scott. Harper and Broth- ers, Franklin Square, 1889. Harpers Latin Dictionary: Revised by Lewis and Short. Ameri- can Book Co., New York. Standardized Plant Names: J]. Horace McFarland Co., Harris- burg, Pa. 1942. The Cambridge Natural History: The Macmillan Company, London, 1909-1920. The Century Dictionary and Encyclopedia: The Century Com- pany, 1911. The Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening: edited by George Nicholson: A. L. S. L., Upcott Hill, London. The Royal Horticultural Society: Dictionary of Gardening. Oxford at the Clerendon Press, 1951. Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition: G. and C. Merriam Company, 1950. THE BIOLOGIST’S HANDBOOK OF PRONUNCIATIONS at? + a ee ee a Se a 3. Fi : i— On 1 = Ay a Pain Wi. + gad eee iw . wi ee tex We