In article , Charlie
Pridham writes

Well as I understand it the original

Original? ICBN? Linnaeus? pre-Linnaeus?
They've had latin names for a good long while, since Latin was the
international language of scholars.

setting up of plant names in Latin it
was agreed internationally that the pronunciation of the Latin words
would
reflect the way the locals in a particular country would pronounce the
same
letter combinations.

Hmm ... I wonder what they reckoned people with languages who didn't
have those letter combinations (ore even any letters) were going to do?


--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

In article , Pam Moore
writes

One of Bob's unusual pronunciations is lonickera!

It has its logic. After all, we don't talk about seratonia or
serastrum.

It seems the rule in English, Spanish etc that c is (generally) k before
a,o,u and s before e,i is a post-latin thing.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

"Sacha" wrote in message
.uk...
On 29/7/05 15:01, in article , "michael
adams"
wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
.uk...
On 29/7/05 13:57, in article , "michael
adams"
wrote:


"Paul Giverin" wrote in message
...

I was just about to post here asking if anyone knew of an online
guide
to phonetic pronunciation of plant names. After many years of
gardening,
I still manage to embarrass myself in front of friends and colleagues
with some of my pronunciation





Anyway, before posting I did another "google" and came up with this:-

http://tinyurl.com/cexua

... which I hope someone else might find useful.

...

This is maybe one of the main benefits of listening to "Gardeners'
Question Time" on a regular basis, as the "correct" pronunciations,
or at least in the past maybe, Geoffrey Smith's version of some of
them,
are absorbed almost subconsciously. Which can work the other way
around as well, when trying to find things like "ceanothus" in
catalogues, confident it must start with an "S".


But 'correct' depends on where and when people learned Latin.

...

Indeed. Hence the qutation marks.

I very much doubt whether Geoffrey Smith or Fed Downham to name
but two ever learned too much Latin to start with. Well maybe
Geoffrey Smith did, but I'm sure he always used the English name and
pronounciation Saxifrage - as in greengage rather than the strict
Latin Saxigraga, i.e as in rajah. I'm sure I remember this coming
up one time on GQT - or maybe it was the other way round.

I suspect most of us pronounce things as we first heard them. So if your
first experience is of 'Nepeeeeeta' instead of 'NePETa', or even 'NEpeta'
it
will remain so for evermore - to you.
...

Think of
'lichen' - to some it's pronounced 'liken' and to others 'litchen'.
Some
say "Nyefofeea" and others 'Nipoffeea" for Kniphofia. I say CLEMatis,
my
husband says CleMAYtis etc. etc.

...

Apparently some people pronouce golf as "goff."

I pronounce that as 'pretentious' - and all those 'goffers' who wish to do
so may howl at me for my prejudices!
snip
On the subject of pronunciations. My Essex boy brother in law used to say
he enjoyed being in his 'vulva' on a long trip.
He meant volvo of course.

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message k
from Sacha contains these words:

On 29/7/05 14:37, in article , "JennyC"
wrote:


"Sacha" wrote


But 'correct' depends on where and when people learned Latin. Think of
'lichen' - to some it's pronounced 'liken' and to others 'litchen'.
Some
say "Nyefofeea" and others 'Nipoffeea" for Kniphofia. I say CLEMatis, my
husband says CleMAYtis etc. etc.
Sacha

And I say Knip-Fol-ia :~)

Is that the latin for "stealing a cutting" ?
Janet

Janet you have made my day :~))

Sacha - no idea why i say it the way i do!

Jenny