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Latin pronunciation of Linnaean taxonomy


hillfarm
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I asked this as part of a thread about studying Latin, but it got lost in the discussion of language, so I'm repeating it here in hopes that someone will see it.

 

We have chosen to study modern languages rather than classical ones at this time (dd is 11) and I am very happy with that. However, the one area that I need some Latin is that of pronouncing the scientific classification names of animal and plant species. I need secular, not ecclesiastical pronunciation.

 

Having worked in the scientific arena, I have heard a lot of variation in pronunciation from researcher to researcher, not to mention the differences between that conference in Maine I attended and the one in Alabama:001_huh:. I would like to start dd on the correct path for pronunciation of these names. Can anyone recommend a book, guide, DVD, website, or whatever that could help me? Surely there is some standard for this!

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

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What's more important - the original Latin pronunciation, or the current standard? Due to language evolution, these two may be different, but does that make the current standard incorrect or inferior? A common example would be homo sapiens - should we pronounce the 'sa' as 'sah' or 'say'? How about Cro Magnon, should we go with the French pronunciation?

 

Anyway, for current standard pronunciation, I would suggest a dictionary. For Latin pronunciation, you could peek at the introduction in Wheelock.

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