Rules for pronunciation of scientific names

Vowels. All vowels in scientific names are pronounced. Vowels are generally either long or short, and in the examples which follow a long vowel sound is indicated by a grave accent (* ) » and short vowels by an acute accent (') ; e.g., mate, mat, mete, met, bitte, bit, rope, rot, cute, cut, by, symmetry. A vowel at the end of a word has the long sound, except when it is a_; a final a has an uh sound, as in idea. The vowel in the final syllable of a word has the short sound, except es, which is pronounced ease.

Diphthongs. A diphthong consists of two vowels written together and pronounced as a single vowel. The diphthongs are ae (pronounced e), oe (usually pronounced e, rarely e), oi (pronounced as in oil), eu (pronounced u), ei (pronounced^ ), ai (pronounced a), and au (pro- nounced as in August).

Consonants. _Ch has the k sound, except in words derived from a language other than Greek. When c_is followed by ae, e, oe, j_, or y, it has the soft (s) sound; when it is followed by a, o, oi, or u, it has the hard (k) sound. When g is followed by ae, e,i, oe, or y, it has the soft (j_) sound; when it is followed by a, o, oi, or u, it has the hard sound (as in go). In words beginning with ps_, pt, et, en, gn, or mn, the initial letter is not pronounced, but when these letters appear together in the middle of a word the first letter is_ pronounced. An . at the beginning of a word is pronounced as z, but as ks when it appears elsewhere in a word. When a double_c is followed by i_or y_, it is pronounced as ks.

Accent. The accented syllable is either the penult or the antepenult (in very long words there may be a secondary accent on a syllable near the beginning of the word). The principal rules governing the syllable accented and the vowel sound (whether long or short) are as follows:

1. The accent is on the penult syllable in the following cases:

a. When the word contains only two syllables. Ex.: Apis, Ulmus.

b. When the penult contains a diphthong. Ex.: Hemileuca, Lygaeus, Nymphaea, Spiraea.

c. When the vowel in the penult is followed by . or z. Ex.: Agromyza, Melospiza, Corixa, Lespedeza, Prodaxus.

d. When the vowel in the penult is long. Whether this vowel is long or short often depends on the derivation of the word and the vowel sound in the source language. For example, in words derived from the Greek ....., meaning thigh, the . is long(ex.: epimeron, Diapheromera); while in those derived from ^..., meaning part, the . is short (ex.: Heteromera). The penult vowel is usually long in the following cases:

1) Words derived from Latin past participles and ending in -ata, -atus, or -atum. Ex.: maculata. (The penult vowel is short in such Greek plurals as Echinodermata.)

2) Latin adjectives ending in -alis. Ex.: orientalis, verticalis, lateralis.

3) Words ending in -ina. Ex.: Sparflna, Glossina, Hetaerfna.

4) Words ending in -ica. Ex.: Formica, Melica, Myrmfca, Fulica.

5) Words ending in -ana, -anus, or -anum. Ex.: Tabanus, Porzana, mexicanum.

6) Words ending in -ura. Ex.: Thysanura, Xiphosura, Cihaetura.

7) Words ending in -odes or -otes. Ex.: Sabulodes, Sphecodes, Hylodes, Epirotes.

8) Words ending in -ates. Ex.: Acerates, Dryobates, Hippelates.

9) Words ending in -ales. Ex.: the names of plant orders, e.g., Graminales.

10) Words ending in -inae. Ex.: the names of animal subfamilies, e.g., Papiliomnae.

11) Words ending in -osis. Ex.: pediculosis, trichinosis; there are a few exceptions in modern usage, e.g., metamorphosis.

12) Words ending in -soma. Ex.: Calosoma, Eriosdma.

13) Words ending in -pogon. Ex.: Andropogpn, Calopogon.

14) Words ending in -chlora. Ex.: Augochlora.

15) Words in which the vowel of the penult is u, except when the u_is followed by h Ex.: Fenusa, Ctenucha, Sambucus. Exceptions: Libellula, Betula, Campanula, Sanfcula.

16) When the vowel is followed by z. Ex.: Agromyza, Trioza, Lespedeza, Ophiorrhlza.

e. When the vowel of the penult is short and followed by two consonants, except a mute followed by\_ or r. Ex.: Pseudococcus, Chlorella, Caulophyllum, Vanessa, Chlorotettix, Coreopsis, Latrodectus, Lithospermum, Erianthus, Agrostis, Gryllotalpa, Rhododendron, Dermestes, Pyromorpha, Cordulegaster. When the vowel of the penult is followed by a mute (b, hard c, d, g, k, p, q,_t, ch, ph, or^h) and j_or r, the accent is on the antepenult; ex.: Geometra, Anabrus, Ranatra, Melanoplus, Rhombolytrum, Stenobothrus.

2. In other cases the accent is on the antepenult.

a. The vowel of the antepenult is long in the following cases:

1) When it is followed by another vowel. Ex.: Epeolus, Sialis, Rhodiola, Hepialus, Keris. This includes the names of animal families which have a vowel immediately preceding the -idae; ex.: Danaidae, Trupaneidae, Gaviidae, Meloidae, Gruidae, Stratiomyidae.

2) When it is a_, e, o, or u, followed by a single consonant and two vowels, the first of which is e, j_, or .. Ex.: Araneus, Geranium, Castanea, Phacelia, Telea, Orthezia, Nemobius, Numenius, Pogonia, Picea, Sialia, Lanius, Conopodium. This is the case in the names of plant families (e g., Malvaceae).

3) When it is u_ and followed by a single consonant. Ex.: Lingua-tulida, Reduvius, Cordulia, pellucidus.

4) When it is a diphthong. Ex.: Clathroneuria, Linotaenia.

b. The vowel of the antepenult is short in other cases. This includes all animal family names in which the antepenult is followed by a consonant (except when the vowel is u); ex.: Anatidae, Trypetidae, Mimidae, Chrysopidae, Agromyzidae. The following names, and others with similar endings, have the antepenult vowel short: Heterocera, Geocoris, Conocephalus, Troglodytes, Empfdonax, Chauliognathus, Pantographa, Chironomus, Mallophaga, Orthoptera, Micropteryx, Chilopoda, Tria'toma, Neurospora, Droso- phila, Trichomonas, Melanostoma.