[Taxacom] Asterales

[Weakley, Alan]

There are variations by continent and country as to the "correct" pronunciation of Latin names, including this one.  Most countries "spin" the pronunciation towards the pronunciation of their own language.  Ken's version is the more usual European Plus version, though the romance language Europeans, South Americans, etc. do it slightly differently:  Ast-er-AH-layss.  The usual pronunciation in the U.S. is As-ter-AY-leez, but we are, of course, heathens (which has nothing to with Air-ihk-AY-leez).  The Italians have probably the best claim to their pronunciation of Latin names being the closest to right

In the U.S. Magnolia is invariably pronounced Mag-NOLE-ee-uh.  My former landlady (an Italian) insists that the proper pronunciation is Ma-NYOLE-ee-ah.  Which does make sense in Italian and also actually comes close to the pronunciation of the name of the honoree, the Frenchman Magnol.  No hard G sound in there.  

Some books suggest that any Latin name must be read exactly as if it were in Latin.  Therefore the tree genus Halesia, named in honor of the Englishman Stephen Hales ("HAYLZ"), should be pronounced Huh-LEEZ-ee-uh, or Huh-LEEZH-uh (turning Hales into a two syllable word).  But it seems a strange kind of honorific that totally distorts the honoree's name into something unrecognizable....  so, I say (and promote) HAYLZ-ee-uh.

Alan Weakley, Ph.D.
Director and Curator, University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Biology and Curriculum for the Environment and Ecology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Mail:  Campus Box 3280, UNC-CH, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3280
Email:  weakley at unc.edu
Phone:  919.619.1101



-----Original Message-----
From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Kenneth Kinman
Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2012 10:30 PM
To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Asterales

Hi Reg,
       I guess your question is mainly about which syllable is emphasized.  I'm a zoologist, not a botanist, but I believe the emphasis is almost always on the penultimate syllable for such ordinal names.  So Asterales would be pronouned: as-ter-AH-lees.  
         ----------Ken                              
------------------------------------------------------
      I am an amateur (hobbyist) upgrading the Wikipedia article on Asterales. Would someone know for sure the correct pronuncitiaon of Asterales? 



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