PRONUNCIATION OF BIOLOGICAL LATIN

Naturalists and gardeners often lament that they feel intimidated about pronouncing the Latin names of plants. If you've avoided calling rosebay willowherb Chamaenerion angustifolium because you didn't want to tie your tongue in knots, you're not alone.

Latin biological names in English speech are usually pronounced with English letter sounds. For example, virus is pronounce “vye-rus” in English, but would have been pronounced “weeros” in the Latin of ancient Rome. An Anglo-Latin pronunciation has been in use for centuries, and incorporates features of late Roman dialects that differ from classical Latin.

Rules for the English pronunciation of biological Latin

Several authors have identified rules that describe the traditional English pronunciation. Usage varies among individuals and continues to evolve, but the descriptive rules serve as a convenient pronunciation benchmark.

Letter sounds

Letter sounds are as in English words (and therefore vary with dialect).

The diphthongs ae and oe are treated as the letter e.

aesthetic, aestivate (pronounced as short English e as in met or iii as in is)

larvae, vertebrae (pronounced as long English e as in me, we)  

oesophagus, oestrogen (short e sound)

foetus, amoeba (long e sound)

Note the ae ending in animal and plant family names: Canidae, the dog family, is pronounced “canidee”, not “caniday”, similarly Salmonidae, Rosaceae etc.

(ae and oe, following American trends, are now often written simply as e: anemia, fetus.)

c or g preceding ae or oe is pronounced as though followed by e:

caecum = “seekum”

coelom =  “seelum”

algae = “aljee”

A terminal vowel is always pronounced:

ovale = “oh-VAY-lee”

bacilli = “bas-ILL-eye”

difficile = “dif-ISS-il-lee”

Stress and vowel length

English pronunciation conserves the classical Roman accent position, but vowel length rules are unique, and are much more regular than those of classical Latin.

Words of two syllables:

are stressed on the first syllable:

Femur ="FE-mur"

Sinus = "SI-nus"

Rosa = "RO-sa"

(a) The vowel of the first syllable is short if followed by two or more consonants:

Comma (o as in cot) (Compare with coma, with one m, below)

Fossa (o as in cot)

Hosta (o as in cot)

Rattus (a as in cat)

Vespa (e as in met)

Septum (e as in met)

Cistus (i as in mit)

(b) The vowel of the first syllable is long if followed by a single consonant:

Coma (o as in go) (Compare with comma, with double-m, above)

Ovis (o as in go)

Rosa (o as in go)

Crocus (o as in go)

Ramus (a as in gate)

Fagus (a as in gate)

Canis (a as in gate)

Salix (a as in gate)

Felis (e as in me)

Femur (e as in me)

Sedum (e as in me)

Lepus (e as in me)

Iris (i as in hi)

Pinus (i as in hi)

Plica (i as in hi)

Words of more than 2 syllables:

(a) are stressed on the second to last syllable if:

the vowel of that syllable is followed by two or more consonants (making the vowel short)

Maxilla = "mac-ZILL-a"

Patella = "pa-TELL-a"

Chlorella = "Klo-RELL-a"

Lamella = "la-MELL-a"

Medulla = "med-ULL-a"

Narcissus = "nar-SIS-sus"

Canadensis = "ca-na-DEN-sis"

Macrophyllum = "mac-ro-FILL-um"

 

(b) are stressed on the second to last syllable if:

the vowel is long in the language of origin

Pectoralis = "pec-to-RAY-lis"

Maculata = "ma-cu-LAY-ta"

Brachialis = "bra-ke-AY-lis"

Umbellata = "um-bel-LAY-ta"

Foramen = "fo-RAY-men"

Lupinus = "lu-PYE-nus"

Alpinus = "al-PIE-nus"

Bovinae = "bov-EYE-nee"

Homininae = hom-in-EYE-nee"

Hominini = hom-in EYE-nye"

Hominina = hom-inEYE-na"

Equisetum = "ek-wi-SEE-tum"

Oenothera = "en-o-THEE-ra"

 

 (c) are stressed on the third to last syllable if 2a and 2b do not apply.

Oesophagus = e-SAW-fag-us"

Stomata = "STOM-at-a"

Echinodermata = "e-ki-no-DER-mah-ta"

Parenchyma = "pa-REN-kim-ma"

Clematis = "CLEM-ma-tis"

Oxalis = "OX-al-is"

Monticola = "mon-TIC-ol-a"

Pterophyta = "ter-OFF-fit-a"

Bryophyta = "bry-OFF-fit-ta"

Gastropoda = "gas-TROP-od-a"

Copepoda = co-PEP-od-a"

Disporum = "DIS-po-rum"

chiroptera = "ky-ROP-ter-a"

spermophilus = "sper-MOF-il-us"

sylvilagus = "sil-VIL-ag-us"

silogale = "spi-LOG-al-ee"

hemionus = "hem-EYE-on-us"

cyclamen = "SICK-la-men"

The stressed vowel is short except: if u as in humerus, numeral, jugular; if preceding a vowel (hemionus, Gaviidae); or if as in media, splenius, radius, planaria, phobia, mammalia, rosaceae etc.

Reference

This bulk of this article was extracted from http://www.saltspring.com/capewest/pron.htm  where further information can be found, for example on commemorative names, classical pronunciation and other exceptions to the rules above.

David Walker