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Re: Botanical Latin

At 09:45 PM 7/16/98 +0100, you wrote:
>I once asked Dr. Michael Madison....  "Is it Rha-PHID-0-phora or
>Raphi-DOPH-ra?"....(This is a genus in Araceae)....  Mike, a noted
>Taxonomist in Araceae, smiled and said "Yes."  then he added.... "It does
>not matter how you pronounce a botanical name as long as the person to whom
>you are directing your comments understands which plant you are
>discussing....  Both, latin and greek are basically dead languages and the
>only reason we need them is for people all over the world to understand
>conversations about a particular plant."
>
>So, use the Latin or Greek for communication but don't get excited about
>the spelling or pronounciation....
>
>Dr. Tom Croat of the Missouri Botanical Garden says that I mispronounc and
>misspell everything....  "But", he adds, "we all know what he is talking
>about..."
>
>Hope this helps.....
>Dewey
>
>Dewey E. Fisk, Plant Nut
>THE PHILODENDRON PHREAQUE
>Your Source for Tropical Araceae
>
It would help more if your source knew what he was talking about.  Greek is
not a dead language.  "Modern Greek" is the Greek spoken over the past
2,000 years and is still spoken by residents of Greece and the Greek isles.
 The language has changed less in that time than has English since the 17th
century.  Margaret
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