Re: OT: pronunciation of chrysographes
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: OT: pronunciation of chrysographes
- From: "* A* M* <w*@Ra.MsState.Edu>
- Date: Thu, 5 Feb 1998 06:49:02 -0700 (MST)
On Thu, 5 Feb 1998, Beth Metty wrote:
>
> Many of you undoubtedly know this, but I found it fascinating. I asked
> a friend who was a linguistics major why plant names are often
> pronounced in two different ways - CLEMatis and cleMAtis, for example,
> and she said the choice of pronunciation depends on whether you are
> treating the word as a foreign word in the language, in which case you
> give it its foreign (in this case, latin) pronunciation - cleMAtis. If,
> however, you are treating the word as one which has been absorbed into
> the language you are speaking (english), then you pronounce it as you
> would any english word, moving the accent forward as we do in english -
> CLEMatis. Interesting, huh? Beth
>
Even in the South where the King's English is often butchered
terribly, there are variations on the above. In Texas the prevalent
pronunciation was #2 above, but when I moved to MS, I heard only #1 and
was corrected for saying #2!
With the sino-siberian I have heard KRIS-o-grafs (i both long and
short) and chris-OG-ruh-feez (short i).
Remember the previous discussion of pronouncing 'spuria.'
In the West, be sure to wear your boots with spurs when out in the garden
viewing the plants.
What can be used as a mnemonic device for the sinosiberian?
Walter Moores
Enid Lake, MS 7/8
