Pronunciation Guide

[Austin]

Ok so Porites is por-EE-tees , not POR-aights. Right? Is it FAH-VEE-uh or fah-VEE-uh or something totally different? Is it AY-can or Ah-CAN or AH-can or ay-CAN?

 

I've searched and searched and a pronunciation guide is no where on the tubes. Does any one of you geniuses want to post up some phonetic guides to pronouncing the hobby's more challenging terms?

 

I hope I'm not alone here with the special talent of SAYING THE NAME OF EVERY CORAL AND FISH WRONG AND SOUNDING LIKE A TARD.

[pismo_reefer]

wow....

 

wiki.

[gabe_j]

i sound like a ra-tard all the time people get used to it. honestly i couldnt't help you sorry i'm just as lost i get corrected ALL the time lol.

[Deleted User 6]

TAY-Ung

 

GO-BEE

 

FEESH TAY-Unk

 

imo

[pismo_reefer]

wom-batt!

[Austin]

FUH-UKK YOO GUYZ

 

I checked wiki - not much in the way of pronunciation.

[Deleted User 6]

FUH-UKK YOO GUYZ

 

lol

[chrisinmd]

Im glad im not the only one with this problem i feel so stupid when i'm at the fish store and say somethig and they look at me like What are you talking about

[bananahands]

G

Im glad im not the only one with this problem i feel so stupid when i'm at the fish store and say somethig and they look at me like What are you talking about

+

 

+1. Im not even sure about the basics like "cheato". Is it "Cheeto" or "kay-tow"? Or even "chay-tow"?

[Aegeon]

When it comes to taxonomic (scientific) names, there are rarely "correct" pronunciations. Many names are based (at least loosely) on Latin (or Latin-sounding) words. Since Latin is a dead language, often correct pronunciation is up for debate.

 

Here is an interesting article from Glassbox with some good rules of thumb.

 

Just remember that "ch" is pronounced as a "k" in scientific names. It took me forever to stop pronouncing Chaetomorpha like "cheeto-morpha".

 

Also, as long as you sound like you know what you're talking about, people will almost never correct you. Most of the time they don't really know how a word should sound, either. If you sound confident when you say it, they'll automatically question how they've been doing it, and they wind up feeling like the idiot, regardless of who's actually correct.

[Markushka]

I just say em how I feel, use latin pronunciation rules.

[Thunil]

I think asking somebody to post up a pronunciation guide is a pretty big ask, lots of work. Why dont you post a few words at a time and let people post up how to pronounce them. Eventually getting a list together

 

Pretty sure it's FAR-vee-uh and ah-can, also I would think that it is por-I-tees rather than por-ee-tees, but i always thought it was por-aights, I think it would have a double I in the middle if it was por-I-tees

 

Edit: It would also depending if you are speaking with an American, English Australia etc. accent. I agree with what was said above though, in general Latin scientific pronunciation rules, as you would use in all scientific names

[Markushka]

When it comes to taxonomic (scientific) names, there are rarely "correct" pronunciations. Many names are based (at least loosely) on Latin (or Latin-sounding) words. Since Latin is a dead language, often correct pronunciation is up for debate.

 

Here is an interesting article from Glassbox with some good rules of thumb.

 

Just remember that "ch" is pronounced as a "k" in scientific names. It took me forever to stop pronouncing Chaetomorpha like "cheeto-morpha".

 

Also, as long as you sound like you know what you're talking about, people will almost never correct you. Most of the time they don't really know how a word should sound, either. If you sound confident when you say it, they'll automatically question how they've been doing it, and they wind up feeling like the idiot, regardless of who's actually correct.

 

there are actually are standards for latin pronunciations .

 

Latin spelling and pronunciation

[Thunil]

But you have to remember that taxonomic names aren't really Latin any more and therefore don't have to follow latin rules.

 

Look at algae for example, I've had a lecturer who's done his PhD on Marine plants and he stated that it can be pronounced Al-jee or Al-ghee algae pronunciation

[Austin]

I think asking somebody to post up a pronunciation guide is a pretty big ask, lots of work. Why dont you post a few words at a time and let people post up how to pronounce them. Eventually getting a list together

 

Pretty sure it's FAR-vee-uh and ah-can, also I would think that it is por-I-tees rather than por-ee-tees, but i always thought it was por-aights, I think it would have a double I in the middle if it was por-I-tees

 

Edit: It would also depending if you are speaking with an American, English Australia etc. accent. I agree with what was said above though, in general Latin scientific pronunciation rules, as you would use in all scientific names

 

 

Double I in the middle? Would that be the Hawaiian spelling? Just kidding.

 

I don't know if it's lots of work, any more work that some of the other guides on NR including the smash hit "Keeping Cichlids in a Reef Tank in 3 easy steps" thread that's happening somewhere close by.

 

Thanks Aegeon - that is definitely a step in the right direction.

[Yossarian88]

Ok so Porites is por-EE-tees , not POR-aights. Right? Is it FAH-VEE-uh or fah-VEE-uh or something totally different? Is it AY-can or Ah-CAN or AH-can or ay-CAN?

 

I've searched and searched and a pronunciation guide is no where on the tubes. Does any one of you geniuses want to post up some phonetic guides to pronouncing the hobby's more challenging terms?

 

I hope I'm not alone here with the special talent of SAYING THE NAME OF EVERY CORAL AND FISH WRONG AND SOUNDING LIKE A TARD.

 

If I had my way, we would anglicize everything, which works well because you would have more consistency. In the south, we say "vore dire" with a long i, not "vwhaa deer," for voir dire, which means don't have to feel pretentious about trying on a foreign pronunciation. I remember in college when I used the word "poikilothermic" on a quiz answer, and the T.A. corrected it to "cold blooded." That was a good first lesson in cutting down on syllables and simplifying language, even if my answer was perhaps more precise.

 

As it is, one of the local fish stores says Chaytoe, and the other says keetoe, so I am constantly being corrected.

[Rem]

As it is, one of the local fish stores says Chaytoe, and the other says keetoe, so I am constantly being corrected.

I had the same problem looking for macroalgaes way back.. I asked several people if they had keetoe, no one understood me, then I'd have to go through the list, keytoe, cheetoe, chaytoe, then they finally knew what I was asking for. Its a pain sometimes. Now when I offer local hobbyists and friends some chaeto, I've got to do the same thing.

[lakshwadeep]

Here's one link:

http://capewest.ca/pron.html

This gives a more simplified guide:

http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/frank/KISS//kiss10.htm

 

Unfortunately, as others have mentioned, LFSs and most vendors have very variable methods of pronunciation.

[Neya]

Here's one link:

http://capewest.ca/pron.html

This gives a more simplified guide:

http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/frank/KISS//kiss10.htm

 

Unfortunately, as others have mentioned, LFSs and most vendors have very variable methods of pronunciation.

 

I've been told chaeto is like "kay-toe" One lfs agrees with me. Another (with more reef expirience) said "shay-toe" I didn't say anything but while I might be wrong I'm pretty sure it is not a sh sound.

 

Shrug. If I'm really not sure I just say so and people are pretty understanding. Sometimes I have to spell it out.

[fewskillz]

I've been told chaeto is like "kay-toe"

Thats how everyone I know pronounces it.

[cheryl jordan]

Kay- toe really humm

 

Cheat-toe in this here parts.

[dday80]

Chay-Toe here. I said Kay-toe and the LFS guy gave me a wtf look. Classic.

[BullDawg]

I've been told chaeto is like "kay-toe"

I believe chaeto is "properly" pronounced key-toe. Just like polychaete is poly-keet, not poly-kate. I suppose it's irrelevant, as long as they know what you're talking about.

[Austin]

Thanks all - I guess I've got some work to do. I didn't realize the pronounciation was so subjective.

 

And since that's the case, I'm going to start referring to GHA as green hair AL-GAY.

[lakshwadeep]

+1 to "key-toe", which you can see mentioned in aegeon's glassbox-design link.