whats the fun of entertaining your garden friends.. if you cant slaughter latin ???? the most entertaining.. is adding a southern drawl to latin ... which to my midwestern ear ... lol ... you may a well be speaking greek .... like that is any better ... what a hoot;.... have a great day .... ken

* Posted by beachplant 9b (beachplant@excite.com) on Sat, Jul 10, 10 at 11:18 ...Latin is a dead language, has been for years. So noone really knows how all those dead people pronounced things, they didn't leave a Websters behind with the correct way to pronounce them... Strictly speaking, this isn't true. Latin pronunciation (and how it changes) was reconstructed many years ago, and there are many corroborating sources. I'm of the "pronounce it as if you want to be understood" camp. So if I say "uh DEN ee uhm" and you understand "uh DEE nee um" that's fine. But it can't be completely arbitrary..I wouldn't say "cross GOOOSH um TERGEL" and expect you to get the same thing. -R

I didn't read the whole thread but have you asked anyone who actually lives there? We have lived in many areas where the local's pronunciations of words differ from common pronunciations. Some examples - Americanized pronunciations like bue-NA vist-A for buena vista and mar-tin-EZ for martinez (both in Augusta, GA). Woh-STAH for Worcester, MA. All-ba-KNEE vs. Al-BAY-knee for the towns in NY and GA. I haven't always enjoyed our frequent moves. But it has given me greater affection for people and areas of the country I might have ignored if I had lived in one place all these years.

I speak Latin on a daily basis, being in the medical field. That being said, Botanical Latin is HARD for me to speak, I and I gather that is because it actually was not meant to be spoken. In Medical Latin, you still get variations on pronounciation. But never spelling. Which is why, I, also an English Major, don't focus so much on pronunciation. And, also why I want to follow ENGLISH rules for a LATIN language, that wasn't even designed to be spoken. For example, for acetabulum (the socket where your femur rests in your hip bone), I personally pronounce it: "ey-see-tab-you-lum". Some folks pronounce it, "as-see-tuh-bul-um", others pronounce it, "as-e-tab-you-lum". None of the pronunciations are incorrect, not because they are all correct, but because we all understand what is being referred to, despite cultural differences in dialect and how those differences play in pronunciation of words, if that makes sense. Same with vena cava: it is ALWAYS spelled the same, but some say, "vee-nah cah-vah", and others, "vay-nah cay-vah" or, "vee-nah cay-vuh". When it comes to Botanical Latin, it is even harder, as many plants are named after PEOPLE. Like Hoya siariae. Named after Simeona V. Siar, PhD, Hoya siariae would be easy to pronounce, you'd think. But it is not. See, not only do you have to take into account the Botanical Latin, you also have to take into account the ethincity and locale of the person the plant was named after! I think, please don't quote me, that Simeona was from the Philippines. Their pronunciation of words, including surnames and nouns, will vary from English, and their pronunciation of Botanical Latin will also vary from ours. And, due to differences worldwide, in language AND pronunciation, we cannot subscribe agreed upon rules of pronunciation. Botanical Latin is a worldwide language, which makes it impossible to make rules for. To even attempt ot somewhat correctly pronounce Hoya siariae, you'd have to find someone who knew Simeona or knew her Native language. I don't, so I have to make an educated guess on how to pronounce the botanical name. And, because my language is English, and not Botanical Latin, whatever comes out is OKAY! As long as I do not mis-spell the language, any way I speak it, is fine. My pronunciation guess for Hoya siariae is: Hoy-ah see-ah-ree-ay.