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Southern California
Wildflowers
Guide to the Pronunciation of Specific, Generic and Family Names |
In those cases where there are similar forms of names such as peninsulare and peninsularis which follow the same pronunciation, I have only included one. I have attempted to spell these names phonetically as closely as possible to the way I say them. It is sometimes very difficult without using pronunciation symbols to spell phonetically the way a word sounds. For example, how do you easily convey by phonetic spelling the difference between the 'th' in 'thee' and 'theme', the different sounds an 'O' makes in the words 'off,' 'comb,' 'odd,' or 'cotton,' or the different ways of pronouncing an 'E' in the words 'pet,' 'they,' 'crooner,' and 'median'? So even though I have tried to be as consistent as possible, my choice of spelling is an imperfect one, and you may not agree with the way I have done it. However I believe in most cases that it does convey an accurate pronunciation. The stressed syllable is the one that is capitalized. This guide contains the names of all the taxa in my website. And in case it is not obvious, I adhere for the most part to the American/English manner of pronunciation. However, for the sake of what sounds better to my ear, I occasionally depart from this practice. Names in yellow are alternative pronunciations. The case of personal names converted into botanical names is one of the most vexing, and the one that I have struggled over the most. I have simply given up on trying to maintain any consistency. I usually attempt to preserve the pronunciation of the original name when it sounds right to me as with newberryi (NOO-ber-ee-eye), adamsii (AD-ams-ee-eye), Brodiaea (BRO-dee-a) and purshii (PER-she-eye) but it is not always possible to do it gracefully, and in many cases I find myself ignoring the Jepson Manual advice because I just don't like the resulting sound, as with most multi-syllable names such as davidsonii (day-vid-SONE-ee-eye), heermannii (heer-MAN-ee-eye), abertii (ay-BERT-ee-eye), Brickellia (brik-ELl-ee-a) and hendersonii (hen-der-SONE-ee-eye). I think this is the reason that there is a general rule in the pronunciation of Latin words that no syllable before the antepenultimate should be stressed, because it just sounds wierd. The bottom line for me is that when the resulting botanical name contains either two or three syllables, it is always possible to stress the first syllable comfortably (IVES-ee-a, AK-ton-eye, BOWL-zee-a, NEE-lee-eye) but when there are four or more syllables it usually becomes awkward. The case of foreign names adds an additional complexity,
since in these situations as with domestic names we are advised to maintain
the original pronunciation. Gilia, for instance, therefore should be pronounced
JEE-lee-a, because since it is an Italian name we should follow Italian
pronunciation rules, according to which a 'g' before an 'i' is pronounced
like the 'j' in jello, and an 'i' is pronounced as EE. Pluchea derives
from the French name Pluche (pronounced PLOOSH), so Pluchea should be
pro- |
| Keep this in mind that...... "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson "Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." Oscar Wilde "Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are the dead." Aldous Huxley "No well-informed person ever imputed inconsistency to another for changing his mind." Cicero |
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Genus and Species names quadrifo'lia (kwad-ri-FO-lee-a) xalapen'sis (za-la-PEN-sis) Yu'cca (YUK-ka) |
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Photograph identifications, L-R: Idaho
blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium idahoense var. occidentale), Yellow-
eyed grass (Sisyrinchium elmeri), Hoary fuchsia (Epilobium canum ssp. canum), Western mountain aster (Aster occidentalis var. occidentalis), Beautiful hulsea (Hulsea vestita ssp. callicarpha) |