Who asked me about my species phal. collection?

[greenbean]

Great collection Al! Someday I hope to have a collection of species phals like that!

On pronunciation, we probably should follow "proper" Roman latin pronunciations, but I have always gone by "pronounce it however you want, as long as all the letters are there and you don't add any extras." Many scientific names are latinized versions of names or non-latin words, so I don't think there are any "rules" set in stone. As several people have pointed out already, it depends on what language you speak and the roots of that language. It even varies within a language. One of my horticulture professors pronounces the double i as "eye" and I say "ee-eye". She says Orchidacee-ee, I say Orchidace-ae (long "a", just to be clear").

Bottom line, it's not the end of the world if you pronounce it differently than someone else. Besides, we Americans just love to break the "rules" and mess everyone else up! jk

[Hedge]

On the topic of pronunciation, when I did a gardening course my tutor was of the opinion that as long as the two people having the conversation knew what the other meant, pronunciation was not that important As she was an instructor of many years she had heard most variations, and she also runs a nursery producing ornamental grasses,(whose names make orchids look easy), I think this advice is good.

I did Latin at school and my teacher would have a lot to say about the way most people pronounce botanical Latin

In my experience, Brits tend to say "ii" ee -eye like the song.

Nice collection, Al

[RosieC]

I think I agree with your teacher Hedge.

It's pretty much the same with spelling for me (which I am useless at). As long as the person at the other end knows what I mean that's all that matters.

[Bird Song Farm]

Originally Posted by RosieC

I think I agree with your teacher Hedge.

It's pretty much the same with spelling for me (which I am useless at). As long as the person at the other end knows what I mean that's all that matters.

Al