Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Pronunciation
"Pam" wrote in message ... Sue & Bob Hobden wrote: "sacha" wrote in message after another Bob: I've always pronounced "Ceanothus" as "Key-An-Oh-Thus", with the emphasis on the "An". Is this correct, or am I completely wrong (does it have a soft C for example). kee-a-no-thus (a hard c, it's Latin ) Actually its Greek, from keanothus, meaning 'plant with spiny leaves'. Proper pronunciation of the Greek would give you kee-a-no-thus, just as you indicate. However, on the west coast of North America, the native habitat of the majority of ceanothus species, and throughout the rest of North America, it is pronounced see- a-no-thus. The convention for pronouncing botanical Latin in this country is to pronounce the 'c' as soft when followed by the vowels e, i or y and hard when followed by any other letter. I always knew it to be see-a-no-thus as well and everyone else I know round these here parts (Kingston, Surrey) calls it that. I would guess that none of us studied Latin though which would explain the mispronunciation you live and learn Nicky |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
What's the correct pronunciation of "Cecil Brunner"? | Roses | |||
Pronunciation | United Kingdom | |||
Pronunciation of Ceologyne | Orchids |