pronunciation help... Chaeto

Im just curious how everyone says some common words in this hobby.

First off is chaetomorpha. I always thought it was key-toe-morf-ah. The "chaet" in many biology terms is keet (like in polychaete), so thats just how i assumed it is said. Another biological term which I know for certain the pronunciation is chaeta. It is pronounced key-tah (similar to cheetah). So am I correct when I say Key-toe. (actually when I say it, it comes out key-doe....hmmmm)

Another word is montipora. Ive always said mon-ti-pore-ah. But ive heard some say mon-tipera.  So what is it? Does the "pora" part have the same sound as it does in Acropora?

Chaetomorpha.  I say ky-toe-more-fuh.  I pronounce the "chae" as ky like the word Chaetodontidae, not like Polychaete.
As for Montipora, I say Mon-ti-pore-uh.  But that is because I say it wrong.  I'm pretty sure it should be mon-tip-ura but I have that American slur.

Adam

I recall reading an article by (or an article quoting) JEN Veron about pronouncing acropora and montipora.  He claims the Australians (and he is Australian) pronounce it wrong:  acrop - ora and montip - ora.  The proper pronunciation is acro - pora and monti - pora.  And to me that makes sense.  All these names are usually a combination of two latin or greek words to describe the creature.  Acropora is from Acro meaning "terminal" or "outer most" and pora meaning "pore" or "hole".  This is one of the defining characteristic of acropora (they all have single "pores" at the very tip of the branch).  So the two words are acro and pora.  Throw them together and it's acro-pora.  As for chaetomorpha, I don't know, my latin and/or greek is kinda rusty 

Short Version Latin Lesson:

Two vowels are always pronounced separately unless they form a diphthong (where 2 vowels run together).

The Latin diphthongs are:

ae as in pile.

au as in cow

oe as in soil

ei as in reign

ue as in you

ui as in quick

Also...

ch is pronounced as ‘k’, it is an emphasized ‘c’.

Adam has it correct....   ky-toe-more-fuh

I found an online dictionary that has .wav format pronunciation. In the word chaeta, it says the ae is a long e sound (as in bee). And if the word is in its plueral form, chaetae, the second ae also has a 'bee' sound. It says the origin is latin from the greek work khait, meaning long hair.

http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/c/c0223200.html

Here is another word with the 'ae', polychaete and the pronunciation can be read and heard here...

http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/p/p0421500.html

Scientists only say it wrong because they are not linguists.  They've been "not linguists" for so long that they think they are saying it right.

Seriously, shouldn't Latin names be pronounced in Latin pronunciation.  I'm no linguist either, but I have wondered how to pronounce many of the scientific names correctly.  If you're now going to tell me that even if I learn to prounce the Latin words I'll still be saying it wrong I'm not even going to try.

I guess I'll have to fall back on Gold Stripped Maroon Clownfish.

Many words have several correct pronunciations. I just like to use the one that is most widely accepted so I don't sound like an idiot.  For example, how do you say Caribbean? There are two common pronunciations, and both are accepted. I know I use them both. I say it differently when I say, "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Royal Caribbean".

Jake as far as zooxanthellae, I just avoid saying it and use Symbiodinium microadriaticum instead.

I say it zoh-zan-thell-ee. The 'ae' again making a long e sound as in bee.

That brings up another good word that i hear lots of different pronunciations; zoanthid.

I believe its zoh-an-thid, although I hear many say zoo-an-thid or zoos for short. Should we call them zoas (zohs) for short?

Hey at least I pronounce Zoanthid correctly.  I even have mom saying "Zo's".  Also, I'll have you know I'm constantly correcting people who say Anenome.  That one drives me crazy.

Adam, maybe we could make everyone happy and call them Clownemone Fish.

Jake, I now understand that Scientific names can be made up of words of different origin.  What I don't get is why they can be made up of words of different origin.  It seems very arbitrary to me.  I thought scientists lived by rules.

Another thing I don't get is that if names can truely be arbitrary such as naming something after the person who discoved it or someone the discoverer liked, why is it that I always read about fish, or other things, that they have decided the original name was not correct for.  One day I discover some new deep sea fish and name it Spenceropticus, because I discovered it and it has big eyes.  So then 20 years later a smarter scientist comes along and says "nope you named it wrong.  It is a Hixenburgerbinoculos", because he came from a small town in Bavaria named Hixenburg and he discovered it has telescopic vision.

Ok this is a little outlandish, but they are often changing the names of things and I don't get why.  If my name is Will and tomorrow my mom says I really think you should have been a Jeremy, as far as I'm concerned my name is still Will because that is what I have gone by for 30 years.

Enlighten me.

Here's a funny story.

Anthony Calfo told us that recently (2000) the common colt coral (Cladiella, or Alcyonium) was renamed to Klyxum sp. by Aldersdale.  Which he named after a student of his, because the name sounded cool.