Reptile & Amphibian Forums

After reading some of the topics present on this forum, consider this question an amusing distraction at best, stupid at worst, but being the beginner that I am, I am seriously curious about the following:

Who decides on the pronunciation of a scientific name? Does it simply follow the Latin and/or Greek rules of phonetics as applied by the individual speaking? Does anyone care? Do taxonomists make reference to scientific names in writing more than in the spoken word, so that it truly is of no consequence?

I have been doing all of my "research" by reading, therefore I have not had the pleasure of hearing anyone say "Nerodia erythrogaster flavigaster".

Many thanks for any comments.

`Who decides on the pronunciation of a scientific name?'

Whoever's pronouncing it, so far as I can tell.

`Does it simply follow the Latin and/or Greek rules of phonetics as applied by the individual speaking?'

Nope. Well, I seem to recall hearing somewhere that Europeans tend to follow classical Latin rules of pronunciation, but Americans certainly don't.

`Does anyone care?'

Yup. And you can often find books or web sites that tell you `the rules' of pronouncing systematic names, but, in my experience, the rules generally don't fit what I hear professors say, and often just aren't applicable (because they require you to already know which syllables of a given word should be stressed, or something of the like).

`Do taxonomists make reference to scientific names in writing more than in the spoken word, so that it truly is of no consequence?'

Lots of scientists (and not just taxonomists) use systematic names in speech on a regular basis, so the pronunciation does matter to some extent. In general, though, what really matters is that you pronounce them in a way that's intelligible and doesn't sound too awkward.

Patrick Alexander

I get the names straight from the source. Whenever I find a new species, I stick a microphone towards their snout, and I ask them "what is your name?"

Most of the time I get no response, but occasionally I go get some hissing sounds, and also an occasional "rib-bit". I have never heard them say anthing like "Pituophis melanoleucus catenifer." I guess scientific names are simply objects of human construct for human convenience. It makes no difference to the animals what they are called.

Phew. I am very much relieved to know that my two common eastern garter snakes won't be offended if I address them with a slightly incorrect inflection. I will also give the microphone approach a shot and see what happens. I'll be sure to publish any transcript of the interview that may be of scientific interest.

Regards
H. sapiens massachusettsiensis