Pronunciation dilemmas for Galanthophiles ('Poculiform' etc.)

[annew]

I think we all have our favourite ways of pronunciation. As long as you are communicating effectively with your listener, and they understand to what you are referring, I don't think it matters.
How many different ways of pronouncing Androsace have we heard? Are there any that fail to get across which plant we're discussing?
I have a poculiarity (!) in that if a plant is named after a person, I like to try and respectfully pronounce the person's name correctly. So I would pronounce Roscoea as Ross-koh-ah.
Leucoxylon - Loo-cox-illon? No, Loo-koh-z-eye-lon...

[Hoy]

Think this is more difficult for you English speaking than for me speaking Norwegian. I just pronounce  the letters the same way as I do in Norwegian!
What I have discussed with others are where the stress is and whether oe is o + e or ø!

[Alan_b]

Here's one I wouldn't mind help with.  Leucoxylon  Discuss...

Leuco-xylon i.e. leuco as in 'Leucojum', xyl as in 'xylophone', on as in 'on' would be my guess.  That's based on the fact that lots of words are prefixed with leuco or leuko, meaning white, so it's natural to pause momentarily after leuco then begin again with the rest of the word.

[Jupiter]

Yes I agree Alan, except I thought leuco meant yellow, and xylon wood.

This subject is so interesting to me as I often find myself the odd one out with my pronunciations. I persist though because I believe that pronouncing the names phonetically, exactly as they are written with no emphasis on any syllable over another makes the most sense. If everyone followed this simple rule there would be less confusion.

[Maggi Young]

I think  *leuco* is white   - 
lots of choices for yellow in latin  *flavus*  *aureus*  *croceus*  .......and *xanth* is Greek for yellow I think.

[Jupiter]

Ahh of course it is Maggi, I was getting mixed up with my Zanthoxylum simulans, which I grew from seed and is a member of the family now. She's a bit prickly, but so is my wife, so she fits right in around here!  Shhhh... Don't tell her I said that. 

Ps. She read this... But she laughed so I don't think it will impact on my "cuddle quota"

[johnw]

Jupiter - Is Z. simulans the species they use for the very best Sichuan peppercorns?  I am addicted to them but no one can tell me if piperitum is preferred!  I understand they are scraggly trees but possibly very hardy. A local cook goes to Chengdu several times a year and brings me back explosive ones but even he didn't realize they came from a tree.

Hope you can enlighten, I thought I'd ask before your wife gives you a good swat.

johnw

[Mariette]

Once upon a time, there was a German priest in my family, whose penfriend was an English vicar. When the Englishman paid his first visit to his German friend, he regarded Latin as the decent way to greet his colleague : "Amice !" (Oh friend!) The German, hearing something that sounded like " a mice ! ", was consterned to feel his foreign friend confronted with a mouse in his household.
He would have pronounced " Amice!" rather like "Ameekeh!".
This little story of former times demonstrates, how different Latin and botanical names are pronounced in different countries.
Indeed, only pen and paper will help. At least, I always found English people very friendly and helpful when necessary!

[fixpix]

Well, me being a Romanian, and thus let's say 50% of Roman origin (hehehe), and also having taken Latin classes both in highschool and college I would say without the "Q" sound.
Romanian is a very phonemic language and thus we read everything we see (write).

[Jupiter]

fixpix, you are who we need in this discussion. How about the 'y' in phyllum? And how would you pronounce phyllostachys?

[fixpix]

Well, I am not a scholar really. And who knows if there's an internationally recognized Latin pronunciation.
for me y=i as in "in".
phyllostachys would be "filostakis" both "y" as simple "i", not as diphthong "ai".
Same goes for the other two vowels, "o" and "a".
"O" as in "or" and "A" as the first sound in "under".
It is a little difficult, as our vowels are clearly pronounced.

[Hoy]

I do not pronounce Latin "y" like that!

"y" is a very different sound from "i". "i" is as fixpix says like "i" in i[/]n, but "y" is more like the "y" in yellow but as a vowel not a consonant, and not a diphthong either.
"o" is like "o" in sophisticated.
"a" is like "a" in father, but a little shorter.

"phyllum" has the same "y" some above.

[Jupiter]

Thanks fixpix and Hoy. This is what I suspected and I agree with phyllum being pronounced fill-um and phyllostachys, fill-o-stak-iss. I know you're not scholars but you have two advantages over me; 1. you've actually studied it, and 2. you are in European countries and therefor closer to the source, if you will.

I have another question, diphthongs such as eae and oides. How do you pronounce your plant family names? Does oides in latin equal oy-deez, or oh-eye-deez, or oh-id-ess?

[Hoy]

These are not diphthongs as far as I know, in Latin the only diphthongs are "au", "eu" and "ui"; easily pronounced in Norwegian but maybe not in English?

"ae" and "oe" is like single "e" (but I often say "æ" and "ø").

Vowels marked with ¨ like "öe" in "Kalanchöe" is pronounced as single letters. The same in "-oides" => "oh-id-ess".

This is my understanding of it and not necessarily everyone's! And my English isn't good enough to say this correctly I presume

[johnralphcarpenter]

My wife says "Tom-aye-toe"  and I say "Tom-are -toe".