[Taxacom] Asterales

[Curtis Clark]

On 3/12/2012 8:56 PM, Pekka T. Lehtinen wrote:
> For me it is really absurd that some people want to discuss about
> CORRECT pronunciation of some Latin words using alternatives of English
> pronunciation. If the name of a group of organisms happens to be exactly
> the same in Latin and in English, then and ONLY then, there would be
> some need of this kind of discussion. Latin names are ALWAYS pronounced
> according to the rules of the Latin language and for most single words
> these rules have nothing to do with rules of pronunciation of English,
> be it English, American or Aussie. For me it is quite easy to make this
> kind of generally valid note, as my mother language happens to be rather
> similar in regard to the pronunciation rules of Latin. This is not the
> first time, when pronunciation rules of English have been tried to
> become adapted to Latin. Although the position of ENGLISH as the most
> practical language of global communication is undoubted, THIS DOES NOT
> MEAN that its pronunciation rules could be used either in Latin or in
> any other independent language. Some people cannot pronounce English
> correctly, some other people cannot pronounce Latin correctly.

For me, it is absurd that a non-anglophone should try to dictate the 
pronunciation of words in English, regardless of their source. For 
better or worse, there is a centuries-long history of the pronunciation 
of Latin using English pronunciation rules. I am perfectly capable of 
pronouncing Latin in the Italian and German traditions and the 
"classical" pronunciation taught in the 1960s, and I can do a passable 
job of pronouncing it in the manner used in the Renaissance in the south 
of France (from my studies of early music), and in the modern view of 
the "classical" pronunciation. If I were to attempt any of those with 
fellow Anglophone botanists, most would initially be unable to 
understand me, because they all learned Latin names with English 
pronunciation rules.

When Armen Takhtajian visited Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in the 
mid-1990's, we found that his pronunciation and understanding of English 
were impeccable, except that he could not understand English 
pronunciation of Latin names. Those of us in the audience who knew 
European pronunciation (his was closer to the German pronunciation of 
Latin than to the Italian) translated the names for him.

This is a small price we all pay to live in a multilingual, 
multicultural world with a complex history.

-- 
Curtis Clark        http://www.csupomona.edu/~jcclark
Biological Sciences                   +1 909 869 4140
Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona CA 91768