OT: latin pronunciation - Acorus

Which brings us to another name.  If you think about it, the accent should
probably be on the second syllable, something like "a-CORE-us", with the
"a" pronounced as in "at".

At least that's how I say it.  But then I've probably got it all wrong
anyway.

By association, that brings us back to "pseu-duh-CORE-us" or perhaps
"pseud-a-CORE-us", by exactly the same logic that Gary's professor Dr.
Jesse Clovis argued for another name!

[chuckling now]

Then there's the discussion of "i" at the end of a name.  Most
English-speakers say it like "eye", but I was taught it should be "i".  The
double "ii" is another issue.  I've been taught it must be said "ee-ee",
but my brain won't bend quite that far, and I just say "ee" (but sometimes
I accidentally slip into the "eye" thing, since it seems all the rage, and
everyone else is doing it too).  Most English speakers say "ee-eye" for the
double "ii", but somehow I doubt that would be proper Latin (might be some
odd southern dialect?),

Then there is another thing I was taught.  This is that examples such as
the already given one with "a single i at the end of a latin name such as
Phlox drummondi" is incorrect.  In botany, the standard most botanists
follow is that a "hard" consonant is followed by a double "ii", and a vowel
or "soft" consonant is followed by a single "i".  There is a whole list of
rules on formulating the end of a name to match gender, plurality, etc.,
but this one was always a puzzle for students, and I'm not sure it is
actually published as a rule anywhere, for botanical nomenclature.  Anyway,
I learned that this example would properly be "Phlox drummundii".  Names
like "watereri", or "luthyi" have one "i" because they are soft vowels.
The same convention is not followed in zoology, where my professors taught
me that it was a single "i", no exceptions (again, I think it is not
written in stone).

Perhaps somebody here knows the rules for sure?

Regardless, these conventions only apply to the Latinized botanical names
of the species and their subspecies and varieties, not to cultivar names,
which is mostly what we are dealing with in this group.


Dave

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