names of people and plants
Brian Whyer (Fri, 11 Apr 2003 02:16:31 PDT)

I try to pronounce botanical latin with all vowels short and equal,
except for a few that sound wrong, or rude, in English. i.e. Pinus and
Picea are better with a long i, and i is also sometimes pronounced as an
e, so you have another choice. I cannot see a good reason for trying to
echo the name of the commemorated person, as for some oriental, eastern
European or Asian names I have no idea how they might be pronounced, and
in my limited worldly travels I found names of artists or composers I
thought I knew well, are even spelled differently in some countries. I
am sure people who do not have English as a first language, or at all,
would have quite a different viewpoint to me. I don't recall being
corrected in the Cape when I said clivia with 2 short i's, but I was
when I said disa with i as an e. A local river on the Cape is the Disa
with a long i.

"Mingies" is (I think) pronounced as in Ming dynasty, with a Scottish
accent of course.

Another problem is when the common and latin name are the same, e.g.
aubrieta, 3 syllables in common usage, 4 in botanical latin.

But who I am to comment with an uncommon name like mine, that people
hesitate over.

Brian Whyer, (as in wire) zone 8'ish, Buckinghamshire, UK

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