The "how do you say that?" thread!!

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kozmo

New member
I think there is a lot of confusion out there on just how you are supposed to pronounce certain geckos, so I will get things started with the way I have been told to pronounce them, or how I always thought it was supposed to be pronounced. Feel free to chime in!

Diplodactylus = dip - low - dack - til - us

Nephrurus = Nef - roo - rus (roo like kangaroo, rus like rusty)

Oedura = Oh - dur - uh (dur as in during)

Strophurus = Stro - fur - us (stro as in stroke)

N. Amyae = Aw - me - eye (aw like when the doctor says "say awwwwww") :D

S. Ciliaris = silly - ar - us

S. Williamsi = Will - yums - eye

Rhacodactylus = Rack - oh - dack - til - us

R. Leachianus = Leech - e - aw - nus

R. Ciliatus = Silly - aw - tus

R. Auriculatus = Uh - rick - yul - ah - tus

R. Sarasinorum = Sarah - suh - nore - um (nore as in snore)

Eurydactylodes = Yuri - dack - til - odes

E. Agricolae = Ag - ree - coal - eye (ree as in reed)


Those are most of the ones I can think of off the top of my head, the Australian ones I have trouble with the most, which is why I started the thread in this section. I'm looking forward to everyones responses.
 
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geckodan

New member
N. Amyae = Aw - me - eye (aw like when the doctor says "say awwwwww")
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We Aussies call these Ay - mee - ay except for a mate who can't read or write particularly well who calls them yam-yams
 
miguel camacho!

miguel camacho!

New member
i think chahoua is a major one you left out...

before i had heard it from anyone, i pronounced it as chihuahua (or however you spell the dog's name), then i heard it pronounced ka-hoo-uh, then i heard it pronounced chuh-hoo-uh, which is the way i pronounce it now.
 
K

kozmo

New member
Ken: How do you pronounce amyae? I asked someone and they told me "aw - me - eye" I didn't mean a dragged out "awwwwwwww" I was just giving a reference to the sound made when saying it.

Miguel: I have always said ka - hoo - uh, I too have heard it pronounced chuh-hoo-uh which could be right, because the 'ch' is more of a chuh sound like in "lunch" for example, but I am not certain.

But then you have the word Conch which people swear is pronounced Conk, but my argument is, if lunch is "chuh", why is conch "kuh".

I have heard Chahoua both ways and I guess based on my Conch logic, I should be saying "chuh - hoo - uh" :D
 
chahoua

chahoua

New member
Oedura = Oh - dur - uh (dur as in during)
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This is actually pronounced E-dur-uh. The O is silent, and the E is actually a hard E, and I know that it's hard for some people to get used to. I still go back and forth on this one even though I know the correct pronunciation because of the habit of pronouncing it wrong for almost 20 years. :lol:

N. Amyae = Aw - me - eye (aw like when the doctor says "say awwwwww")
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I know that the Dan (and other Aussies) have this one correct with ay-mee. Even knowing this, I still use the incorrect American pronunciation all the time. :p

i think chahoua is a major one you left out...
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This one is actually kuh-hoo-uh. I say chuh-hoo-uh and kuh-hoo-uh, depending on whether I remember to say it correctly or not. Once again, years and years of mispronunciation makes this one hard for me to say correctly all the time as well. I'm still working on it. :)

E. Agricolae = Ag - ree - coal - eye (ree as in reed)
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OK, now here's one that I'll blow your mind with.
The correct pronunciation is Uh-gri-koh-lee. :shock:
I had this one dead wrong from my first read too, as we all did, and if you don't like Uh-gri-koh-lee as the pronunciation, I'll let you argue with Aaron Bauer. I'm not going to tell him that he's wrong. :)

This one hasn't been so hard to start saying correctly since we haven't been pronouncing it wrong for as many years as some other names.
 
A

Amyae

New member
Hi all,

Well, probably we spaniards and other latin language speakers have not the nicest enclosures or the biggest collections, but we can spell their names better than any other people :D

So you can see and keep them and I can spell their names :lol:

Best regards,

Luis Casasús
 
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Shawnsc10

New member
umm, kozmo, some of those Aussie Geckos are native to our country, so I think us Aussies would know how to pronounce our own Geckos, no matter what the name is. I am not saying that you are wrong but Danny is right, Amyae does not have a 'w' in it so,, yeah, it is properly said as, A-MEE-AY.Another one is the Velvet Genus- Oedura. I have met many people that say it different: O-EE-DUR-AH
EE-DUR-AH and OH-DUR-AH. Nice to learn some of your species though.

Shawn
 
K

kozmo

New member
Shawnsc10 said:
umm, kozmo, some of those Aussie Geckos are native to our country, so I think us Aussies would know how to pronounce our own Geckos, no matter what the name is. I am not saying that you are wrong but Danny is right, Amyae does not have a 'w' in it so,, yeah, it is properly said as, A-MEE-AY.Another one is the Velvet Genus- Oedura. I have met many people that say it different: O-EE-DUR-AH
EE-DUR-AH and OH-DUR-AH. Nice to learn some of your species though.

Shawn
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Huh? I didn't say it had a 'w' in it, I was using the 'w' to refer to the sound that I thought it makes when being pronounced. I don't keep any Australian geckos myself, I just don't know how to say their names, that's why I started this thread and I put how I thought they were said by looking at them, I didn't mean to imply that my way was right, sorry for any confusion.

It seems like "ay-mee-ay" is a total switch around of the letters when its pronounced, but if you say it's right, I'll take your word for it :D

Are those "ay" said like "eye"??
 
chahoua

chahoua

New member
But then you have the word Conch which people swear is pronounced Conk, but my argument is, if lunch is "chuh", why is conch "kuh".
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http://m-w.com/dictionary/conch

This is because the root word is not English, so the standard English pronunciation doesn't apply. For example, if you were in Turkey, and saw the name Haci, as in the Haci Özbek mosque, your tendancy would be to say Hah-see, since that's how you'd most likely pronounce it in English, but the actual pronunciation for Haci is Hah-ji. The Ö in Özbek makes an eu sound, as in the French word for 2, deux.

I'm not trying to be a bore here, but the point I'm trying to make is that you must try to keep in mind the origins of any root words that are used in the names, and try to use them for reference on how to pronounce it correctly. And there's always the dictionary. :roll: :D

I'd be willing to bet that we actually pronounce more genus and species names incorrectly than we do correctly. :lol:

Another one is the Velvet Genus- Oedura. I have met many people that say it different: O-EE-DUR-AH
EE-DUR-AH and OH-DUR-AH.
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Shawn, O-ee-dur-ah is the prevelant pronunciation in the US too, but E-dur-uh is the actual pronunciation. It's another one that I'll let you tell Aaron Bauer that he's saying it's incorrectly. :p I don't want to be the guy telling the Systematician that he's wrong. :)
 
K

kozmo

New member
I'd be willing to bet that we actually pronounce more genus and species names incorrectly than we do correctly.
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oh I do for sure! I need to clarify, since I think some people may be a bit confused by my original post, I in no way was implying that the way I wrote them out above were the correct pronunciations, what I was doing was writing the way I have either been told they were pronounced, or how I thought they were pronounced just by looking at them. I wanted to find out the right way from everyone else, and get some others opinions too since at some point, everyone has pronounced at least one of these guys completely wrong :lol:
 
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geckodan

New member
My "yam yam" friend also keeps a pair of "salted Salebrones" (Saltuarius salebrosus) and Nefroors elvis (Nephrurus levis)
 
chahoua

chahoua

New member
My "yam yam" friend also keeps a pair of "salted Salebrones" (Saltuarius salebrosus) and Nefroors elvis (Nephrurus levis)
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Hahahaha! I like the Nefroors elvis too. The King would be proud! :p

Dan, on a more serious note, how do you Aussies pronounce Saltuarius? I most frequently hear sal-tear-eee-us here in the states.
 
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Shawnsc10

New member
GO THE YAM YAMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wish I had some! My Nefroors elvis really do sing! Nah, just joking, but they seem to like to yap and bark when I go to touch or pick them up.

Hey Danny, in your opinion, which Genus is better to keep? let me re-phrase that, which Genus is easier to keep, Saltuarius or Phyllurus?

Shawn
 
Hilde

Hilde

Administrator
Staff member
If in doubt and you have access to the 'net, you can always check out Pronunciation of Biological Latin Including Taxonomic Names of Plants and Animals

The digraphs ae and oe are treated as the letter e.

Short e as in met, wet, set: aesthetic, aestivate, aestuary haemorrhage, oesophagus, oestrogen.

Long e as in me, we, be: anaemia, aether, chamaeleon, larvae, vertebrae, foetus, amoeba, phoenix.

Note the ae ending in group names: dog family, Canidae, ("CAN-id-ee" not "caniday"), rose family, Rosaceae ("ro-SAY-see-ee"), cat subfamily, felinae ("fe-LINE-ee"), apple tribe, maleae ("MAL-ee.ee"), etc.

[ae and oe are often now written simply as e: anemia, fetus, ameba, estrogen.]
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