# Dendrobates pronunciation



## gadgetbob (May 5, 2005)

Having bought my first froglets a few weeks ago. I thought I should know how to pronounce their scientific name. I assume it is den-drow-*bait*-tees. My daughter thinks it is just den-*drow*-baits.
Are either of us right?
Thanks!
Bob


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## Guest (May 17, 2005)

I vote for the second one. Drow. At least thats what i say and will continue to use wether im right or not.


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## StevenBonheim (Feb 22, 2004)

Your guess is correct!! Some say Den-dro-bat-ees, instead of 'bait'...'bait' is more American.


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

I've heard both from people who should know the difference. I think the actual pronunciation is Dendro-bay-tees, but I say it the lazy way regardless.


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## Guest (May 17, 2005)

*aaa,,, eee, iiiii, ooooo, uuuuu yyy??*

in scientific name, e's like in Dendrobates, Magnoliaceae, etc... sound like e, not a. It just seems natural to me to pronounce it the first way.


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## Guest (May 18, 2005)

I still think its dendro(baits) It reads that way and i cant find any evidence to prove it either way.


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## Mantellaprince20 (Aug 25, 2004)

it is Den - drow - batees. Keep in mind these names are NOT written in english, and may have funny pronunciations when sounded out with the laws of english.


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

Mantellaprince20 said:


> it is Dend - drow - batees. Keep in mind these names are NOT written in english, and may have funny pronunciations when sounded out with the laws of english.


The Greek/Latin origins of scientific names and their pronunciation can be especially problematic for native English speakers. You will probably hear "Dendrobates" pronounced as either "Den-drow-batees" or Dend-row-batees" although some will glide the "d" between the 1st and 2nd syllable. You will also hear every mangled version of the word possible if you hear enough people pronounce it.

People may find this site useful.

http://www.saltspring.com/capewest/pron.htm#rules

Bill


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## josh_r (Feb 4, 2005)

ive had friends bash on people for saying a name wrong. i usually say, "who cares how they said it....as long as it got the point across." after all, thats part of why hobbies like this are fun.


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

Josh,

I agree that bashing on people for mispronounciation is a poor use of time and energy. Working with individuals from around the world tends to expand your ability to track odd pronunciations and get the intent. 

But I'll still reserve the right to tweak my colleagues in England for their inability to spell properly :twisted: 

Bill


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## Guest (May 19, 2005)

*Dendro....what?*

While we are on the subject, it just occured to me that dendro means tree. So does dendrobates mean tree frog, or tree dweller, or something like that?


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## unbrokenchain42 (Dec 18, 2004)

I think it means "leaf stalker" or something similar (suggesting their habit of stalking fallen leaves for invertebrates.) and I pronounce it "dend-row-bait-ees"


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## Arklier (Mar 1, 2004)

I say it Dend-row-baits. I don't care if it's the right pronunciation or not. As Shakespeare said, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."


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## Guest (May 23, 2005)

Of course the pronounciation changes from place to place, but I am reminded of a friend in Costa Rica who told me that Latin is closer to the Spanish way of saying things, so he was in fact correct in his style. Down here, we say Den dro bat tis, with a long o and short a.
j


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## Guest (May 27, 2005)

academics use BAT...not saying it right...wait, yes I am!


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## Guest (May 31, 2005)

i dont know anyones latin history in here but im in my second year and looked at the word and i think it should be pronounced like this: 

Dend-row-bait-ees 

I came to this conclusion by examining (latin) words with a similar consonant - vowel pattern and endings, and then looking at where the accent marks(indicating long vowels) were placed.

Ill ask my magistra what she thinks tomorrow.


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## dendrophile (Oct 27, 2013)

I agree, the latin pronunciation is Den-dro-bay-tees. I'm one of those grammar nazis but probably only because I was an English major


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## Parkway Drive (Aug 21, 2009)

^Almost a decade later ^


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Indeed-is Dendrobate actually a word? 

Also anyone with Latin knowledge mind shedding light on why the id is added if saying, say. Dendrobatid frogs or Dendrobatidae? Is that some sort of pluralizing thing?


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## cml1287 (Mar 29, 2012)

Dendrobait said:


> Indeed-is Dendrobate actually a word?
> 
> Also anyone with Latin knowledge mind shedding light on why the id is added if saying, say. Dendrobatid frogs or Dendrobatidae? Is that some sort of pluralizing thing?


Has to do with taxonomic rank. A tinc is a dendrobates, which is in the dendrobatidae family. The "ae" ending is usually indicative of a taxonomic family, so to say "dendrobatidae family" is redundant, but it can be helpful for the purpose of explaining the system. Dendrobatidae consists of several genera including ranitomeya, oophaga, dendrobates, etc. 


I think, and I may be wrong, dendrobatid a is non-species specific name for any given frog which is a dendrobatidae. 

You can also read more about their structure here


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## aspidites73 (Oct 2, 2012)

Here's the rulebook!!

Latin Pronunciation Guide


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## edwardsatc (Feb 17, 2004)

aspidites73 said:


> Here's the rulebook!!
> 
> Latin Pronunciation Guide


If it were only that simple ... 

Greek is also used in taxonomic terms. For example, the term "Latin name" is actually a bit of a misnomer and Binomial Nomenclature is full of terms that are Greek in origin or a mixture of Greek and Latin. Many taxonomic prefixes are Greek (gastro-, hydro-, phyllo-,and *dendro-*) or Latinized Greek. 

Often specific epithets are derived from someones name or a place (_americanum_), as a pun (_Agra phobia_) or even anagrams (_Asio otus_ (long-eared owl) and _Otus asio _(eastern screech owl)), so Latin is relatively useless in these cases also. There is a wasp named _Mozartella beethoveni (Mozart and Beethoven)_, an extict lizard named _Barbaturex morrisoni_ (Jim Morrison), the spider _Pachygnatha zappa_ the mudskipper genus _Zappa_(Frank Zappa), a Bolivian orchid _Maxillaria gorbatschowii_ (Mikhail Gorbachev), etc ...

So, my point being that if looked at from a strictly Latin sense, you'll often be wrong ...

More fun with Taxonomic names here:

Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature: Etymology: People


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## aspidites73 (Oct 2, 2012)

Very interesting post! I was taught that scientific names were always pronounced in latin. Here is an excerpt from New World Encyclopedia on the subject. It was accessed here: Binomial nomenclature - New World Encyclopedia




> Derivation of names
> 
> The genus name and specific descriptor may come from any source. Often they are ordinary New Latin words, but they may also come from Ancient Greek, from a place, from a person (preferably a naturalist), a name from the local language, and so forth. In fact, taxonomists come up with specific descriptors from a variety of sources, including inside-jokes and puns.
> However, names are always treated grammatically as if they were a Latin phrase. There is a list of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names.


From the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature



> Alphabets and symbols that can be used - Only the 26-letters of the Latin alphabet a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z are used for scientific names of animals


Same source:



> Basing a specific name on a personal name - A specific name based on a personal name should follow Latin grammar; it may be a noun in the genitive case, a noun in apposition (nominative case) or an adjective or participle (Article 31). A noun in the genitive case is formed by adding a standard ending to the name or to the stem of the name if the Latin equivalent of the personal name is used. The standard endings are -ae for a woman, -i for a man, -arum for more than one woman, -orum for more than one man or a mixed group. The standard endings –ensis, -ense are used for place names, and not personal names. A Latin equivalent for a personal name can be used. Names in languages using non-Latin characters must be transliterated into Latin characters. Care should be taken because incorrectly formed names usually cannot be changed afterwards (34). Examples are given in Table 1 below.






edwardsatc said:


> If it were only that simple ...
> 
> Greek is also used in taxonomic terms. For example, the term "Latin name" is actually a bit of a misnomer and Binomial Nomenclature is full of terms that are Greek in origin or a mixture of Greek and Latin. Many taxonomic prefixes are Greek (gastro-, hydro-, phyllo-,and *dendro-*) or Latinized Greek.
> 
> ...


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

wow this is an old thread lol

you can pronounce it however you want as long as people will understand you lol.

this is how google would pronounce it:
Google Translate

I, personally, pronounce it with a long E at the end, like in tee-shirt or week. Sort of like this:
http://translate.google.com/#en/en/dendro bay tees


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## edwardsatc (Feb 17, 2004)

A good reference:

https://archive.org/details/biologistshandbo00jaeg


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## p51mustang23 (Mar 18, 2014)

StevenBonheim said:


> Your guess is correct!! Some say Den-dro-bat-ees, instead of 'bait'...'bait' is more American.


I say den-dro-baut-ees. I've never heard it pronounced out loud before, but I do tend to pronounce things right the first time. Never thought that it might be pronounced differently. Now I need to know! lol


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## DorisSlammington (Jan 12, 2014)

How do you pronounce "leuc" is it luke or leek or look? also, how do you pronounce pumilio, is it poo-mill-ee-o or poo-mee-leo?


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## Hayden (Feb 4, 2007)

"Leuc" is pronounced like Luke.


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

Nice thread - to which I was uncertain whether to take part because I'm not American or English (i.e. I'm not well versed in English). 
It must be said that Latin is pronounced in a different way from a French, a German or an Englishman. But the language closest to Latin is not Spanish, as someone wrote above, more than is Italian or French. All these languages ​​are derived from Latin. 
Above there are references that give you the answer with regard to the English language. 
For example, correct pronunciation of "pumilio" would be "poo-mee-leo", as you write, or pu - ("u" as put) - mi -("i" is long as in machine) - lio-("i" as in pit and "o" as in off). 

P.S.: I decided in the end because I'm a Latin teacher.


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

Above are the links regarding the pronunciation - they are very clear.
Leuc should be "le ("e" as in pet) - u ("u" as in put) - co ("c" as your K and "o" is short)- me ("e" is long)- las ("a" is short).


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

In Latin, if the penultimate syllable is long the accent falls on it, if it is short the accent moves to the antepenultimate syllable, even if it is short. The Latin accent never falls over the antepenultimate syllable. I do not know if I said this well in English, but that it is written in the first pages of any Latin grammar, which you can see. 
Last thing: although many words are derived from the Greek, the Linnaean taxonomy is in Latin.
Greetings


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## DorisSlammington (Jan 12, 2014)

rigel10 you have geeked farther than I could ever geek. My hat is off to you. I only wish. Only wish I could dive into science and marry it as hard as you.


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## Enlightened Rogue (Mar 21, 2006)

rigel10 said:


> In Latin, if the penultimate syllable is long the accent falls on it, if it is short the accent moves to the antepenultimate syllable, even if it is short. The Latin accent never falls over the antepenultimate syllable.


I couldn`t feel any dumber right now


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

A last consideration. I have tried to indicate above the Latin pronunciation of words relating our frogs, but it does not mean that the pronunciation indicated by the other participants of this thread is wrong. In fact, we must consider the linguistic convention and the use of language by the community of speakers. But here we get into areas that is outside of our narrow self-interest.
However, when I see a video on Youtube, if I hear indicate a frog as "ra-nee-tò-mee-ah", it does not mean that this is wrong because in Latin it should say "ra -nee-to ("o"short) - mè ("e" is long) - ya ". The language changes over time. I mentioned above that Latin spoken by an Englishman is different from Latin spoken by a Frenchman or an Italian.
Also Latin we learn in school it is pronounced by us in a different way than Latin spoken at the time of Cicero and Caesar, as evidenced by the works of the ancient Latin grammarians.
That said, here in Italy, we indicate Epipedobates anthonyi, saying "anthonyi" as if it were an English word (and not as a Latin word).
Finally, I'd like someone more versed than me and master of the English language intervene with authority, like the printed book indicated by Edwardsatc, to settle this interesting issue.
I hope I have expressed myself well in English and sorry for the long post.


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