Crete Weed

How do you pronounce Hedypnois rhagadioloides anyway?

Posted on November 5, 2021 03:34 AM by arboretum_amy arboretum_amy

Comments

Calflora says hed-IP-no-is, which is not the stress I would have guessed. Unfortunately that page uses H. cretica, the old name, so no tips on how to say rhagadioloides.

Posted by arboretum_amy over 2 years ago

Stress in latin is on second syllable from the end if it's not the short one, vowel before another vowel is always short, so stress is on the third syllable from the end (e.g. Delph(i)nium), also "oi" can be called a diphthong, that way "y" is a second syllable (and it's before two constants, so it's long).

Posted by marina_gorbunova over 2 years ago

Sneaky diphthong.

Posted by arboretum_amy over 2 years ago

hadthlskdfpiht raldkgpghgnt

Posted by astra_the_dragon over 2 years ago

I have found this guide by Mike Simpson to be very useful to help students with pronunciation of scientific names: http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/plants/plantsystematics/botnames.html

But in the end, we are trying to pronounce made-up words derived from Greek or Latin roots that have been latinized and then speaking them in English (or any other language) and mostly following the pronunciation rules of the language used for communication. In the end it all gets jumbled and I usually just tell people to enunciate all the syllables and say the names with confidence.

Posted by docder over 2 years ago

Nice! Thanks Josh

Posted by arboretum_amy over 2 years ago

@connlindajo -- thought you may enjoy this journal post as well. :)

Posted by sambiology over 1 year ago

Thanks @sambiology! I LOVE it! "Rhagadioloides happens".

Posted by connlindajo over 1 year ago

Grateful that typing "hed rha" into iNat is sufficient, but honestly read it as Hedynopsis until I saw this...

Posted by vreinkymov over 1 year ago

ruh-gah-dee-oh-LOY-deez?

Posted by gorthiv 13 days ago

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