pronouncing names (ae endings)

[Eric Dunbar]

I remember learning two (then again, my education in Latin was mostly in the
Netherlands): "real" Latin and "Catholic" Latin. IIRC real Latin gravitated
towards soft pronunciation of cs (i.e. your seram-bisi-dee) whereas Catholic
(in more ways than one ;) Latin used hards cs.

I'm partial to trying to stick to the two and avoiding too much
Anglicisation (or whatever language happens to be involved). I still
remember having a conversation with a Chinese fellow, fresh off the boat
about the local flora. We had a hell of a time understanding each other, but
when it came to plants we were able to communicate quite easily using very
strict classic Latin pronunciation (probably easier for me than he since
English is more closely related to Latin than Mandarin Chinese).

English is such a stupid language. Chinese vs. chitin. Nearly everyone I
know will pronounce the former softly and the latter harshly.

Anyway, it's a Monday, I haven't had my coffee yet and I already feel like I
need a nap (plus, it was 32°C out yesterday and it's forecast to get that
warm again tomorrow (yes, Ontarians are soft)).

Eric.

> From: Robin Leech <releech at TELUSPLANET.NET>
> Reply-To: Robin Leech <releech at TELUSPLANET.NET>
> Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2002 05:44:37 -0600
> To: TAXACOM at USOBI.ORG
> Subject: Re: pronouncing names (ae endings)
> 
> Now, which Latin pronunciation rules are you to follow?  There are at least
> 3 to my knowledge.  OK, so we skip Latin.  There is no uniform pronunciation
> within any one language that will "fill the bill".  This is the reason for
> Mandarin Chinese - so that those of one part of the country can understand
> others.