# How to pronounce?



## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

Hey guys I I was wondering how to pronounce Ranitomeya? I always just call them thumbnails, but wanted to know how to say their real name, sound a little smarter  lol


----------



## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

heatfreakk3 said:


> Hey guys I I was wondering how to pronounce Ranitomeya? I always just call them thumbnails, but wanted to know how to say their real name, sound a little smarter  lol


Hey

While we're at it, what about some other frog name's. This would be a neat thread and I could stop looking like an idiot.


----------



## PantMan (Dec 10, 2009)

Agreed. It actually may make a nice sticky some day. maybe we could include some plant names as well.


----------



## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

Yeah that sounds great guys! And I'm with you Glenn! Lol, usually when you try to pronounce them yourself, in your head it sounds good, but when you say it it sounds stupid! Lol. Also knowing all the names makes you sound smart


----------



## HunterB (Apr 28, 2009)

I say Ran-it-toe-may-yah but rana is prounounced rona so maybe its ron-it-toe-may-yah
Lol quite confusing


----------



## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

Thanks Hunter, thats kind of what I thought, just double checking. Okay guys, anyone else that has frogs you dont know exactly how to pronounce, post em here!


----------



## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

Bakhuis???

Anyone?

I've heard Back-house. Not sure about that...


----------



## NathanB (Jan 21, 2008)

we need videos or recordings of someone


----------



## Baltimore Bryan (Sep 6, 2006)

I always thought ranitomeya was just as it sounds: ran-it-oe-may-ah. As far as bakhuis, I've never heard anyone say it, but I think I read on some old thread it is like buck-whee
Bryan


----------



## PantMan (Dec 10, 2009)

Ohh Tay


----------



## melissabyrd (Aug 31, 2010)

thanks Mike, I needed a good laugh tonight!


----------



## Quaz (Nov 13, 2005)

rain-i-toe-mia= Ranitomeya

Back-oo-iss = Bakhuis

Gal-act-ta-not-iss = Galactonotus

Tare-i-bill-iss or Tare-ee-bill-iss = Terribilis

my take...


----------



## BOOSHIFIED (Jun 23, 2009)

Lamasi?

I've heard 

Lama-see
La-ma-sigh


----------



## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

The best... dendrobates

Den-dro-bay-tees - NOT Den-dro-bates. Good thread.


----------



## alex111683 (Sep 11, 2010)

On most of the names I see them in spanish especially the thumbs. The reason for this is because most if not all are coming from an area which is predominantly spanish speaking. except for Brazil of course but portuguese is spanish influenced right? I am able to understand some of the things that are said in portuguese. If you haven't figured by now I do speak spanish, it's actaully my first language. In most cases in spanish, the way it looks is the way it sounds.


----------



## eldalote2 (Jun 3, 2009)

Because these are Latin names and Latin is a "dead" language there is no set way to pronounce the names. 

While I say Dendrobates and it rhymes with "crates" I have also heard Dendrobat(ie)s where the e is not silent. 
Edit: Just like what Stemcellular said above. I obviously don't read.

I am also southern born and raised so we have a southern twang. 

I think this is why we stick to the shortened names when talking face to face to avoid sounding silly!
Fun thread btw!


----------



## alex111683 (Sep 11, 2010)

Well at least for the name of the morph/area they are from it's spanish.


----------



## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

I pronounce lamasi lama-see. That's what I've been told. But I have heard it both ways.


----------



## Bcs TX (Sep 13, 2008)

I agree this is a good thread.
Now is is a to may to frog or a tom o to frog. 
Sorry,
Could not resist.

-Beth


----------



## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

I have another, I am pretty sure on this one to, just want to double check. Oophaga?


----------



## tachikoma (Apr 16, 2009)

eldalote2 said:


> Because these are Latin names and Latin is a "dead" language there is no set way to pronounce the names.
> 
> While I say Dendrobates and it rhymes with "crates" I have also heard Dendrobat(ie)s where the e is not silent.
> Edit: Just like what Stemcellular said above. I obviously don't read.
> ...


Latin may be a dead language but there are fixed ways to pronounce the language. The catholic church has actively spoken Latin since the 3rd century as it was the language spoken by the aristocracy and it is also the official language of the Holy See. The language has evolved just as any other language does in time but for the most part it does have set rules and phonics. Also since most of the words we are considering were created within the last several hundred years or so by scientists and naturalists, we can probably be safe following the current standard Latin pronunciations found in any modern Latin book.


----------



## ritersofly (Oct 23, 2010)

heatfreakk3 said:


> I have another, I am pretty sure on this one to, just want to double check. Oophaga?


I have heard

Oh-fah-guh and
ooh-fah-gah (ooh is like pronouncing hoot).

think it might just also be peoples accents and dialects that come into play .


leucomelas?? lol for a very long time I felt very awkward saying this name I thought it was pronounced

leh-oh-comb(no B)-eh-las. As you can see it's very awkward to say.

but after watching a vid or two its

luke-oh-mel-as. right???


----------



## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

Thanks lol, I always pronounced leucomelas as luke-a-mel-es, not sure if thats right or not. Thats what I have heard people pronouncing it.


----------



## Freeradical53 (Jan 25, 2008)

Need a Sticky..


----------



## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

I agree  ha


----------



## Suzanne (Dec 28, 2008)

Oophaga = oh - oh - fa - ga ("a' spoken as in Ah*a*! Like saga for instance). The oh-oh means egg in latin (like in oocyte = egg cell). Faga = eating. 

Bakhuis = "Bak ('a' is like in awkw*a*rd) - h -oh - is" The name is from Surinam, the language is Dutch.
that 'ui' really is a tough one for people that don't speak Dutch.


----------



## boabab95 (Nov 5, 2009)

for leucomelas, i've always heard "Lu-com-melass" 

Oophaga "OO-***-a" (hehe)

Bakhuis "back-hugh(like the name)-is"

Lamasi "La-ma-sigh"

dendrobates "dendro-bate-ees"

Tinctorius "tink-toe-ree-us"

ranitomeya "ran-it-toe-may-a"

terribillis "tear (like bear)-I(like it)-bill-iss"

Ameerega "am-ear-egg-a" OR "am-er-egg-a" i've heard both

Bastimentos "bast-i-mentos"

Arautus "a-rat-us"
that's all I can think of right now... i'll edit it-oh wait, i can't!! argh...


----------



## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

bakhuis is pronounced (bah-quee) the S is silent (or at least thats how i learned it, its the name of a dutchman which the mountain is named after) 

and heres a simple tip, if a name ends in (i) like lamasi, it sounds like "I"
if it ends in (ii) like vanzolinii, it sounds like "E"

james


----------



## ritersofly (Oct 23, 2010)

james67 said:


> bakhuis is pronounced (bah-quee) the S is silent (or at least thats how i learned it, its the name of a dutchman which the mountain is named after)
> 
> and heres a simple tip, if a name ends in (i) like lamasi, it sounds like "I"
> if it ends in (ii) like vanzolinii, it sounds like "E"
> ...


So it's E. An-thon-yigh? sounds weird...

wait, Ep-ee-ped-do-bate-ees?


----------



## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

huh?

james


----------



## ritersofly (Oct 23, 2010)

james67 said:


> huh?
> 
> james


you said if it ends in i its pronounced I, so epipedobates anthonyi is pronounced with the I at the end? an-thon-yigh?


----------



## Suzanne (Dec 28, 2008)

james67 said:


> bakhuis is pronounced (bah-quee) the S is silent (or at least thats how i learned it, its the name of a dutchman which the mountain is named after)
> 
> and heres a simple tip, if a name ends in (i) like lamasi, it sounds like "I"
> if it ends in (ii) like vanzolinii, it sounds like "E"
> ...


Ehmm... I'm Dutch, I'm pretty sure 'Bakhuis' is pronounced 'bak-h-ois' or even 'bak-house' if you like. 'Ba-quee' sounds more like French and definitely not dutch, but hey as long as you guys can understand each other it's fine by me


----------



## jeffr (May 15, 2009)

I believe bah-quee is the Spanish pronunciation. My girlfriend is Spanish and thats the way she pronounces it


----------



## botanyboy03 (Apr 18, 2009)

I would pronounce it anthony-i, as usually proper names are pronounced as they are in their native language. In plants, I know one example is Lilium michauxii, which is mee- show zee eye, which was named after a plant hunter from France, Andre Michaux. I know a bit of latin names from my work with plants as a botanist, but I know classical latin is certainly not the same as taxonomical latin.


----------



## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

Maybe it's just because of the way I read it in my head, but for the most part I hate hearing "eye" when the name ends in i. I'm not convinced that the ii makes the "ee" sound and the i makes the "eye" sound either, but that's just me. So, for me it's lamas(ee), bassler(ee), etc. The one exception is for anthonyi which (for me) _is_ anthony(eye).

The two species that I find particularly peculiar is terribilis and variabilis. I hear people pronounce (especially at microcosm) tear(as in bear)-ee-bliss, which leaves out a whole syllable, it's terri(as in terrible)-bill-iss. Variabilis I've heard a lot of "very-ah-bliss" which once again leaves out a syllable, it's "very-ah-bill-is" (you might think of the word "variable")


----------



## Baltimore Bryan (Sep 6, 2006)

SmackoftheGods said:


> Maybe it's just because of the way I read it in my head, but for the most part I hate hearing "eye" when the name ends in i. I'm not convinced that the ii makes the "ee" sound and the i makes the "eye" sound either, but that's just me. So, for me it's lamas(ee), bassler(ee), etc. The one exception is for anthonyi which (for me) _is_ anthony(eye).


I also think it sounds weird to say "eye" when it ends in an "i", but maybe that's just because I wouldn't normally pronounce it like that. I always thought it would be "lama-see" but I've never heard it spoken so I could be wrong. I know they weren't named originally taking into consideration how American hobbyists would pronounce the names (although that would be convenient...)
Bryan


----------



## HunterB (Apr 28, 2009)

SmackoftheGods said:


> Maybe it's just because of the way I read it in my head, but for the most part I hate hearing "eye" when the name ends in i. I'm not convinced that the ii makes the "ee" sound and the i makes the "eye" sound either, but that's just me. So, for me it's lamas(ee), bassler(ee), etc. The one exception is for anthonyi which (for me) _is_ anthony(eye).
> 
> The two species that I find particularly peculiar is terribilis and variabilis. I hear people pronounce (especially at microcosm) tear(as in bear)-ee-bliss, which leaves out a whole syllable, it's terri(as in terrible)-bill-iss. Variabilis I've heard a lot of "very-ah-bliss" which once again leaves out a syllable, it's "very-ah-bill-is" (you might think of the word "variable")


I pronounce terribilis and variabilis the same so I agree there
I always pronounced anthonyi as the way it reads - an-th-on-ee


----------



## hukilausurfer (Aug 31, 2009)

I took a latin class once and was taught that a's are pronounced aw(as in *aw*kward). So i pronounce Dendrobates as den-dro-baw-tis.


----------



## Quaz (Nov 13, 2005)

now that's wierd. Dendo-baw-tis... hmmm... I'd know what you were saying though. 

Is it (ah-zur-us) or (ah-zur-ius)?

Or (Gal-act-tahn-oh-tus) or (gal-act-toe-not-us)

Is is (file-oh-bates) or (file-oh-bate-ees)?


----------



## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

Baltimore Bryan said:


> I also think it sounds weird to say "eye" when it ends in an "i", but maybe that's just because I wouldn't normally pronounce it like that. I always thought it would be "lama-see" but I've never heard it spoken so I could be wrong. I know they weren't named originally taking into consideration how American hobbyists would pronounce the names (although that would be convenient...)
> Bryan


I know it's not based on the way Americans would say it. I've never taken a latin class before, but there _are_ latin based languages out there. In latin based languages "i" is typically pronounced "ee" and "e" is typically pronounced "eh." So that's what I try to follow.

Also, latin is a dead language. But what a dead language means is _not_ that no one know hows how to speak it. It means that there are no longer any additions into that language. For instance, a few decades ago the French language adopted the English word "super." I'm sure you can think of dozens of examples among the English language that have been added to the dictionary in the past few decades (my favorite is that last year Webster introduced Stephen Colbert's word "truthiness" as an accepted English word). English is not dead. These changes do not occur in Latin. Thus Latin is pronounced "dead." The argument that Latin is a dead language and thus no one knows how to _really_ speak it is fallacious.


----------



## botanyboy03 (Apr 18, 2009)

Quaz said:


> Is is (file-oh-bates) or (file-oh-bate-ees)?


It would be PHIL o bat ees. Phyllo refers to leaves, so its like Chlorophyll (KLOR oh phil) or Phyllodes, both plant terms.


----------



## tclipse (Sep 19, 2009)

*
Pronunciation Guide for Amphibians' Scientific Names*

That should help.


----------



## afterdark (Jan 16, 2007)

I've got one that has stumped me. Uakarii.

Personally, I'm all, YOO-AH-CAR-EE.

Like an Italian guy is calling you a....car-ee. "Eh Bub - You-a-caree!"


----------



## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

I think you forget the last I. car ee i



afterdark said:


> I've got one that has stumped me. Uakarii.
> 
> Personally, I'm all, YOO-AH-CAR-EE.
> 
> Like an Italian guy is calling you a....car-ee. "Eh Bub - You-a-caree!"


----------



## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

afterdark said:


> I've got one that has stumped me. Uakarii.
> 
> Personally, I'm all, YOO-AH-CAR-EE.
> 
> Like an Italian guy is calling you a....car-ee. "Eh Bub - You-a-caree!"


I'm pretty sure it's "Ooh-Kar-ee." My brother is all about asian languages and he told me it looked like the English attempt to spell an asian word phonetically, in which case it would be pronounced ooh-kar-ee.


----------



## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

but it's latinized, so latin pronunciation should prevail


----------



## tclipse (Sep 19, 2009)

frogfarm said:


> I think you forget the last I. car ee i


Yup.. check the link I posted, the ones that end in "ii" are pronounced ee-eye (ee-eye-oh, and on that farm he had a..... Ranitomeya vanzolinii). That link might not have all of the names we're looking for, but we can compare a ton of the sounds to what we're trying to figure out. 




frogfarm said:


> but it's latinized, so latin pronunciation should prevail



^These are both "right" by the accepted scientific standards.. it doesn't matter who created the name or where that person was from, they should all be pronounced by the Latin phonetics. Google says so  (several university & research sites, I'm not quoting wikipedia here)


----------



## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

frogfarm said:


> but it's latinized, so latin pronunciation should prevail


Doesn't make a lot of sense to me to name an animal after someone if you're going to butcher his/her name in the pronunciation....

I think Mark Pepper got off easy. Even in the latinized form the A. pepperi sounds pretty much identical.


----------



## botanyboy03 (Apr 18, 2009)

SmackoftheGods said:


> I'm pretty sure it's "Ooh-Kar-ee." My brother is all about asian languages and he told me it looked like the English attempt to spell an asian word phonetically, in which case it would be pronounced ooh-kar-ee.


I think it is named after an indigenous language word in South America, as well as it is the name of a Monkey.


----------



## Chris Miller (Apr 20, 2009)

botanyboy03 said:


> I think it is named after an indigenous language word in South America, as well as it is the name of a Monkey.


Correct. In the description paper (Brown 2006) identifying _Dendrobates_ (now _Ranitomeya_) _uakarii_ as a new species, it mentioned that the common name (the red uakari Dendrobates) and the specific epithet are derived from the red uakari a highly endangered monkey that shared ranges and red skin coloration with the frog.


----------



## afterdark (Jan 16, 2007)

We have a winner:Bald Uakari - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


----------



## btcope (Jan 7, 2009)

i've found that since none of my friends know what the hell i'm talking about anyway, i can pretty much make it up as i go along. 

"what's that one called again?"
"those are the blue guys. you can tell because they're blue."

azureus....

spanish "ah-soo-ray-oos"
american english "a-zur-ee-us"
the dude i bought them from "a-shure-us"
california hillbilly "the blue guys"


----------



## thedude (Nov 28, 2007)

boabab95 said:


> Ameerega "am-ear-egg-a" OR "am-er-egg-a" i've heard both


i always heard: "am-ee-air-ga"




SmackoftheGods said:


> I'm not convinced that the ii makes the "ee" sound and the i makes the "eye" sound either, but that's just me.



first of all, have fun in a spanish class  and second, how are you not convinced another language is pronounced the way its pronounced?? in spanish, "ii" is pronounced as a "y", you dont have to be convinced, cause thats just the way it is


----------



## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

> first of all, have fun in a spanish class  and second, how are you not convinced another language is pronounced the way its pronounced?? in spanish, "ii" is pronounced as a "y", you dont have to be convinced, cause thats just the way it is


actually, in spanish, LL is pronounced Y (but sounds like E) not "ii" like quesadiLLa 
Vs are also pronounced similarly to Bs
james


----------



## thedude (Nov 28, 2007)

james67 said:


> actually, in spanish, LL is pronounced Y (but sounds like E) not "ii" like quesadiLLa
> Vs are also pronounced similarly to Bs
> james


crap your right! i knew i wasnt gonna retain much from that spanish class  didnt have a very good teacher anyway. to anyone thats gonna take a spanish class....make sure they can speak fluent ENGLISH too


----------



## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

I always thought ae at the end was pronounced as a long a


----------



## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

lets put this thread to bed....

heres a list of latin pronunciations, including the accepted scientific pronunciations.


----------



## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Excellent


----------



## crank68516 (Aug 30, 2010)

I know its a plant but what about neoregelia?

Its been giving me trouble and I'm not sure where to start. I just always call them neo's.


----------



## botanyboy03 (Apr 18, 2009)

As a plant person by trade, it is NEE-oh-reg-eel-ee-ah is how I have always heard it pronounced.


----------



## boabab95 (Nov 5, 2009)

botanyboy03 said:


> as a plant person by trade, it is nee-oh-reg-eel-ee-ah is how i have always heard it pronounced.



agreed!!!    ^^^^^^^


----------



## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

james67 said:


> lets put this thread to bed....
> 
> heres a list of latin pronunciations, including the accepted scientific pronunciations.


So, "i" is pronounced "ee" and "ii" is pronounced "ee-ee" so vanzolinii would be "van-zoe-lee-nee-ee?"


----------



## afterdark (Jan 16, 2007)

SmackoftheGods said:


> So, "i" is pronounced "ee" and "ii" is pronounced "ee-ee" so vanzolinii would be "van-zoe-lee-nee-ee?"


The way I read it is the first 'i' is short and the second is long.

So - van-zoe-lee-nee-eye?


----------



## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

van-zoe-leen-e-eye ?


----------



## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

afterdark said:


> The way I read it is the first 'i' is short and the second is long.
> 
> So - van-zoe-lee-nee-eye?


It says right next to the "ii" "for biological names both "i"s are short"


----------



## botanyboy03 (Apr 18, 2009)

frogface said:


> van-zoe-leen-e-eye ?


That's about how I would say it. Van-zo-lin-e-eye


----------



## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

SmackoftheGods said:


> So, "i" is pronounced "ee" and "ii" is pronounced "ee-ee" so vanzolinii would be "van-zoe-lee-nee-ee?"


admittedly that chart is a bit confusing, there are a couple of factors including where the vowel occurs in the name and how many syllables the word has

van-zo-lee-nee-eye

undoubtably named for Paulo emilio vanzolini (herpetologist) pictured below









heres some more on biological latin i dug up, which really resolves it:

"Taxa may commemorate personal names or surnames such as Alice Eastwood's Daisy, Virginia's Warbler, and Wilson's Honeycreeper. These names are treated as latinized possessive nouns (Alice's = aliciae, Wilson's = wilsoni). The classical accent may be determined by the Latin form of the name. If Wilson were latinized as Wilsonius the pronunciation of wilsoni would be "wil-SO-nye." If Wilson were latinized as Wilsonus, the pronunciation of wilsoni would be "WIL-so-nye." Archival records indicate inconsistency in latinization of names, so some flexibility exists in pronunciation, and there is precedent in both classical and modern Latin for conservation. Thus "WIL-so-nye" (Rule 2c ) is preferable to "wil-SO-ni," whereas andersoni is best treated as "an-der-SO-ni" rather than "an-DER-so-ni."

aberti = "a-BER-tye" = Rule 2a
aliceae = "al-IS-ee-ee" = Rule 2c
calderi = "CALL-de-rye" = Rule 2c
hendersonii = "hen-der-SO-nee-eye" = Rule 2c
lewisii = "lew-ISS-ee-eye" = Rule 2c
virginiae = "vir-JIN-ee-ee" = Rule 2c"

rule 2a: "Words of more than 2 syllables are stressed on the second to last syllable if
the vowel of that syllable is followed by two or more consonants (making the vowel short)"

rule 2b: "Words of more than 2 syllables are stressed on the second to last syllable if
the vowel is long"

rule 2c: "Words of more than 2 syllables are stressed on the third to last syllable if 2a and 2b do not apply.

james


----------



## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

Decided to bring this thread back. How do you pronounce spindly as in spindly leg syndrome?


----------



## HunterB (Apr 28, 2009)

Spin-deli is how I say it


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

heatfreakk3 said:


> Decided to bring this thread back. How do you pronounce spindly as in spindly leg syndrome?


Spindly - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary even has a little button that will pronounce it for you...


----------



## freaky_tah (Jan 21, 2009)

As far as the ii ending goes, I work professionally with fish, and everyone I've ever been taught by, or worked with pronounces that ending with a long E sound followed by a long I (fish names often end in ii). As probably a non helpful example Actinopterygii is pronounced act-in-opt-er-ij-ee-eye. I usually hear the same pattern for yi endings, like anthonyi (anthony-eye)


----------



## MountaineerLegion (Apr 8, 2008)

thedude said:


> crap your right! i knew i wasnt gonna retain much from that spanish class  didnt have a very good teacher anyway. to anyone thats gonna take a spanish class....*make sure they can speak fluent ENGLISH too*


TRUTH! Many years ago the USAF saw fit to stuff me into a Russian class with an "off the boat" instructor...I can ask for a big bottle of vodka and a pretty girl and thats it...nothing else stuck.


----------



## Afemoralis (Mar 17, 2005)

eldalote2 said:


> Because these are Latin names and Latin is a "dead" language there is no set way to pronounce the names.


I agree with the sentiment above, but not the reasoning. The names are Linnean binomials- and distinctly not latin (for which rules on pronunciation exist). Linnean taxonomy is a tremendous mixture of latin, ancient greek, proper names in of many origins, and so many other elements that if you have a preferred pronunciation, chances are it is defensible. 

It helps to know what languages the words originated from- "Dendrobates" for example, is latinized ancient greek (δένδρον (dendron)-tree and (bates)-one that treads), so there is little justification of using latin pronunciation for the word... unless you go with the argument that the whole system is sufficiently "latinized" in terms of endings that it merits a uniform pronunciation...

Here is a helpful list of some common roots on wiki:
List of Greek and Latin roots in English - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Generally the two groups of folks I've encountered who have the strongest feelings about the subject are 1) Native speakers of romance languages, who claim proper pronunciation on the basis of their language having a closer relationship to Latin than English does, and 
2) Jerks.

With group 1, I've been told that "Hyla" should be pronounced "Ee-la", despite the fact that Hylas was a little boy that Zeus abducted... in ancient Greek mythology. 

With group 2, I'll ask for their justification for the pronunciation, and then give them the actual etymology of the words they are swinging around. The derivation is normally printed right in the original species description.

For most of us though, it really doesn't matter much. Do your best. Get all the letters in there, and point while smiling. 

Cheers,

Afemoralis


----------



## Chris Miller (Apr 20, 2009)

Afemoralis said:


> Generally the two groups of folks I've encountered who have the strongest feelings about the subject are
> 
> 1) Native speakers of romance languages, who claim proper pronunciation on the basis of their language having a closer relationship to Latin than English does, and
> 2) Jerks.


Made my day!


----------



## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

Truncatus? Long a or short a sound?


----------



## Phyllobates azureus (Aug 18, 2010)

frogfreak said:


> Bakhuis???
> 
> Anyone?
> 
> I've heard Back-house. Not sure about that...


The BBC pronounces it back-hoo-is. 

Personally I'd like to know how to pronounce Eleutherodactylus. Personally I pronounced it "ell-yooth-ero-dack-till-us".


----------



## Phyllobates azureus (Aug 18, 2010)

Here's a few more that I know:

Hyloxalus: Hill-ock-sall-us (alternatively hill-oz-all-us) 

Subpunctatus - Sub-punk-tat (pronounce like "cat")-us

Phyllobates: Fill-oh-bat-eez

Aurotaenia: Or-oh-ten-ee (with emphasis)-uh

Adelphobates: Ad-elf-oh-bat-eez

Castaneoticus - Cas-tan (pronounce like "van")-oh (pronounce like "saw")-tick-us

Alternative, Cas-tane (pronounce like "gain")-oh-teek (pronounce like "meek", with emphasis)-us


Heres some that I would like to know how to pronounce:

Quinquevittatus
Epipedobates
Colostethus
Vanzolinii


----------



## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

Hi all. Nice this thread! Start by saying that I’m Italian, so I apologize for my bad English, the Linnaean taxonomy lists the various species in Latin, so the exact pronunciation should reflect the Latin pronunciation. In Italian, Ranitomeya is Rani-to-mè-ya, Dendrobates is Den-dro-bà-tes, Oophaga pumilio is Oo-fà ga pu-mì-lio, Aurotaenia is a-u-ro-te-nia, Castaneoticus is Ca-sta- ne-o-tì-cus.
I try to do the spelling: Ranitomeya = Ra (as a in "SAturday") - ni (as the y of "Yesterday") - to (as o in "Ohio") - me (as e in "bEt" ) - ya (as the y of "Yesterday" and as the a of "Ave").
So it is in Italian.
Have a nice day to everyone


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

with respect to castenoticus the pronunciation if we are going by latinization is kas-TAN-nee- for the first part since it is derived from the latin for chestnut an allusion to the use of the Brazil nut pods for tadpole deposition sites. The etymology of the name can be found in the original description which can be seen here http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/handle/2246/5075/N2988.pdf?sequence=1 (free access) 

Ed


----------



## Phyllobates azureus (Aug 18, 2010)

afterdark said:


> I've got one that has stumped me. Uakarii.
> 
> Personally, I'm all, YOO-AH-CAR-EE.
> 
> Like an Italian guy is calling you a....car-ee. "Eh Bub - You-a-caree!"


I believe it's pronounced like the monkey, so Wha-kar-ee-i.


----------



## MarcNem (Dec 13, 2008)

You can always trust Google on not 

Click the listen button

https://translate.google.com/?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&client=tw-ob#auto/en/Ranitomeya


----------



## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

As I said in another thread on the same topic, the Latin pronunciation changes depending on the language of belonging: so eg, the pronunciation of Latin by an Englishman differs from the pronunciation of a German or a Frenchman. 
That said, any Latin-English grammar can give correct references. 
With regard to the common pronunciation in English, I found this example that perhaps can be useful:

Pronunciation of Dendrobates tinctorius

That said, me and my friends commonly pronounce "anthonyi" with English pronunciation, not in Latin as we should. Even the use of language has its own weight!

@Ed: Very interesting your link posted above! I could not find the etymology of "Ranitomeya": do you have any information about it?


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

The problem with Ranitomeya is that is was described in a small self published journal with a very small circulation... This is the discussion from the frognet archives https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/frognet/conversations/topics/50855


> Hi Ilene,
> 
> To cite from the original 'publication':
> "Tomey has a keen interest in living things, he loves to know habitats and
> ...


Some comments 

Ed


----------



## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

I think the waters have been "mudde"d.....


----------



## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

Thank you very much, Ed. Your posts are always enlightening! A couple of months ago I was going crazy on Greek vocabulary to find where the suffix "-tomeya" ("rani-" was clear enough) could derive or could mean.


----------



## FroggyKnight (Mar 14, 2013)

rigel10 said:


> Thank you very much, Ed. Your posts are always enlightening! A couple of months ago I was going crazy on Greek vocabulary to find where the suffix "-tomeya" ("rani-" was clear enough) could derive or could mean.


You weren't the only one I had tried off and on to find the meaning since I first joined the hobby, but with no luck. 

Thank you Ed! The name of the genus makes so much more sense now!

John


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

There is a lot of good history in the frognet archives that these forums miss out as its "ancient history"..... There aren't a lot of us old timers around anymore to remember those conversations and chase them down for you guys.... 

I should also note that if people contact Chuck Powell, they can purchase (inexpensively) the back issues of the now unpublished American Dendrobatid Newsletter which has a number of husbandry suggestions but also is a good indication of what was going on in the hobby back in the day. 

Some comments 

Ed


----------



## FroggyKnight (Mar 14, 2013)

Judy S said:


> I think the waters have been "mudde"d.....


Haha. Ha.



Ed said:


> There is a lot of good history in the frognet archives that these forums miss out as its "ancient history"..... There aren't a lot of us old timers around anymore to remember those conversations and chase them down for you guys....
> 
> I should also note that if people contact Chuck Powell, they can purchase (inexpensively) the back issues of the now unpublished American Dendrobatid Newsletter which has a number of husbandry suggestions but also is a good indication of what was going on in the hobby back in the day.
> 
> ...


I need to remember to view some of those frognet archives, they really are a great resource...

Thanks for the tip about the Newsletter, I have heard of it but still haven't gotten my hands on a copy. I might see what Chuck has, just for fun 

John


----------

