"Zi-ni-fura"? I've always pronounced it "Zen-oh-for-a". Everybody has a
different idea of how things should be pronounced. Since scientific names
are a jumble of latin, greek, people's names, etc, there are many ideas
as to how to pronounce the result. And then you have differences in
pronunciation from country-to-country.
My suggestion: don't worry about it. I've been told, and must concur, that
there are no right ways and wrong ways to pronounce scientific names. I
generally break a name down into its root words and pronounce each as a
stand-alone part of the whole, eacn with it's emphasis intact: "ZEN-o-FOR-a"
But that's just me.
We all make mistakes, too. The first time I ordered an Aporrhais from a
dealer over the phone I realized I'd always pronounced it with the "h" in
the wrong place, from simply not reading it properly: Aphorrais.
I asked for an "A-for-ais" and Leonard Hill said "A-pour-hyse?" (the last
syllable like the german word for "hot") and I turned red with embarasement.
Oh, well, now I know.
Scientific names are fun...and they just take practice.
Peter Egerton
Vancouver, Canada
("Z" is pronounced "zed" and a chesterfield is a couch)
At 04:46 PM 4/17/00 EDT, you wrote:
>I could use some general advice. I'm trying to bootstrap myself, advance from
>beginning shell collector to advanced beginner or even intermediate. I'm
>okay at a casual level. I've read a mess of field guides If I find
>something on a Caribbean beach, more often than not, I can identify it,
>albeit with the common name. It's those scientific names that stump me.
>I've tried to memorize them, but they just don't stick.
>
>It was bafflingly me. Years ago, when I gardened, I didn't have trouble
>remembering the formal names of the plants in my perennial border. I think
>that's because I talked to other gardeners. Hearing people pronounce the
>names made them stick in my mind.
>
>A short while ago, as part of my self-improvement campaign, I ordered a book
>from a shell dealer.
>
>"I'd like," I said. "Recent Zee-noh-for-uh."
>
>"Oh, you mean Recent Zi-ni-fura."
>
>Oooooh. That's how you pronounce xenophora? The dealer was very polite. She
>didn't make me feel bad it all. But the exchange strengthened my resolve to
>learn.
>
>I've been reading these Conch-L messages on and off for couple of years. I
>know the topic of pronunciation has come up before, but when it did, I was
>still just absorbing general information and getting oriented. Now I'm ready
>to hunker down.
>
>Different people take in information in different ways. I've gotten a fair
>amount from reading. But there's the isolation factor, I don't know anyone
>locally who is interested in shells. (Generally speaking, if people in
>Connecticut are interested in the water at all it's as a place to sail their
>yachts. Marine life is simply a reason to buy anti-fouling paint.)
>
>I absorb some things more effectively when I hear them spoken. I don't
>suppose anyone has made an audiotape or videotape about shells or mollusks?
>
>It's clear to me that hanging with people who talk about shells would do me a
>world of good. If I can get out of work on time tomorrow, I'm going to drive
>up to the Mystic Shell Club meeting and see if some of their smarts will rub
>off on me.
>
>Does anyone have any other suggestions?
>
>
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Peter Egerton, Vancouver, Canada
Collector of worldwide Mollusca,
student of zoology and computers for life.
Step into my website:
http://www.intergate.bc.ca/personal/seashell/index.html
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