[Taxacom] pronunciation of Latin, concluding remarks

[Lynn Raw]

Pierre,

I am not sure that we should use the term native-speaker, none of us is 
born speaking a language, we learn languages as we develop post-natally. 
We do have home languages, some even two or more, that we learn as we 
grow up. My home language is English, I struggle with other languages 
but I do agree with you and others that it would be good to have a 
standard way of pronouncing Latin (and Latinised) words and that should 
be as close as possible to the original Latin. I think even cheap pocket 
Latin dictionaries have sections on pronunciation but you would never 
think that anyone read them when listening to papers at scientific 
meetings in the English world.

Forget using an English pronunciation, there is no standard for that, 
even in England, let alone the former colonies.

Lynn Raw



On Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:20:17 +0100, Pierre Deleporte wrote:
> Who says "impossible ?" It's just difficult, but maybe well worth the 
> pain.
> Many people learn foreign languages. And motivated scientists are not
> children.
>
> It's difficult, not impossible, for non-native-English-speakers to 
> learn
> some fairly correct English as professional language.
> This makes a lot of people on Earth.
> And they better learn to prononce E,glish some "academic" British or
> American way, rather than using any obscure vernacular accent far 
> from
> any academic standard (and possibly difficult to understand for many
> English speakers as well) - this for efficiency of communication and
> profit for all.
>
> So, why not make the effort for using some approximately standard
> "academic" Latin?
>
> Now, I suspect that not the same persons would have to make the 
> maximal
> effort in this case...
> As a native French speaking person, I feel very, very easy to 
> pronounce
> Latin differently than with an incredibly strange and unintelligible
> English accent. Because I expect some latin pronunciation for Latin
> words, and of course for latinized words as well.
>
> Anyone his turn, hey?... :-)
>
> Pierre
>
>
> Le 20/03/2012 15:19, Frederick W. Schueler a écrit :
>
>> * this whole discussion neglects the imprinting of the pronunciation
>> of some phonemes and the inability-to-pronounce other phonemes by
>> children as they learn their mother tongue. If such scientific study
>> of the ontology of speech shows that a single global pronunciation 
>> of
>> scientific names is impossible, it seems scientifically silly to
>> suggest it. fred (coming from a meeting where a Canadian described
>> taking a pseudonym because her Chinese friends couldn't pronounce 
>> her
>> name) ------------------------------------------------------------
>
>> Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad Bishops Mills Natural History
>> Centre - http://pinicola.ca/bmnhc.htm Mudpuppy Night in Oxford Mills 
>> -
>> http://pinicola.ca/mudpup1.htm Daily Paintings -
>> http://karstaddailypaintings.blogspot.com/ South Nation Basin Art &
>> Science Book http://pinicola.ca/books/SNR_book.htm RR#2 Bishops 
>> Mills,
>> Ontario, Canada K0G 1T0 on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain 44* 52'N
>> 75* 42'W (613)258-3107 <bckcdb at istar.ca> http://pinicola.ca/
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
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> --
> Pierre DELEPORTE
> UMR 6552 EthoS
> Université Rennes 1, CNRS
> Station Biologique
> 35380 Paimpont
> tél (+33) 02 99 61 81 63
> fax (+33) 02 99 61 81 88
>
>
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