Pronunciation?

[adamkwas]

OK. I thought I had the pronunciation of chameleon scientific names figured out; but I think otherwise now.

When pronouncing a name ending in ''i'' (ie. melleri, tempeli, werneri, williamsi), would you pronounce it ''eye'' or ''E''?

What about names ending in ''ii'' (ie. parsonii, jacksonii), how would you pronounce these?


Thanks,
Adam

 

[Chameleon Nation]

I have watched a lot of documentaries on jacksons from Tanz. They always pronounce it "jack-so-knee"

 

[adamkwas]

I have watched a lot of documentaries on jacksons from Tanz. They always pronounce it "jack-so-knee"

Yeah, I thought the 'ii' was pronounced as ''knee''. But was unsure of the ''i''.

Thanks!

 

[drewtt]

If the species name ends in a double i (eg; parsonii), then I believe the protocol for pronunciation would be par-so-nee-eye (with the double vowel sound). If it ends in a single i, the pronunciation depends on the individual whom the species is dedicated to (with respect to the name's 'latinization' and where the stresses are expected to be, but I believe the majority of these happenings lead to pronunciation as "eye." I'm not having much luck finding a suitable reference, but here's one example (thank you, google):

Taxa may commemorate personal names or surnames such as Alice Eastwood's Daisy, Virginia's Warbler, and Wilson's Honeycreeper. These names are treated as latinized possessive nouns (Alice's = aliciae, Wilson's = wilsoni). The classical accent may be determined by the Latin form of the name. If Wilson were latinized as Wilsonius the pronunciation of wilsoni would be "wil-SO-nye." If Wilson were latinized as Wilsonus, the pronunciation of wilsoni would be "WIL-so-nye." Archival records indicate inconsistency in latinization of names, so some flexibility exists in pronunciation, and there is precedent in both classical and modern Latin for conservation.

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

If the species name ends in a double i (eg; parsonii), then I believe the protocol for pronunciation would be par-so-nee-eye (with the double vowel sound). If it ends in a single i, the pronunciation depends on the individual whom the species is dedicated to (with respect to the name's 'latinization' and where the stresses are expected to be, but I believe the majority of these happenings lead to pronunciation as "eye." I'm not having much luck finding a suitable reference, but here's one example (thank you, google):

A++++++++++++ Post.

 

[chameleon12]

Thanks interesting info

 

[adamkwas]

Drewtt, thanks for the clarification. Really helpful.

Rep for you!