276 THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING. be 
Pronouncing Dictionary—continued. 
is thoroughly inaccurate and unscientific, and so entirely imsular that in speech it 
is often quite unintelligible to foreigners, even to those who are good Latin scholars. As 
one of the chief advantages of the uniform Latin nomenclature of plants is that thus a 
sort of universal or international language is created, it is evident how much has been 
lost by our prejudiced adherence to a provincial mode of pronunciation. The modern 
English system of pronouncing Latin, long familiar in Dublin usage as far as the vowels 
are concerned, sanctioned by the Professors of Latin at Oxford and Cambridge in 1872, 
and lately made obligatory for honours at Cambridge, will undoubtedly be universally 
adopted in the future. It represents the actual pronunciation of the words when Latin 
was a living language; and it conforms to Continental usage, so that by its use the 
scientific names of plants are easily understood in conversation by educated men of every 
nation. After much consideration, and consultation with several eminent botanists, it 
has been determined to follow this system in the present work. The difference between 
the method which is now happily becoming obsolete and the accurate method which is 
taking its place will be understood from the following examples, in which an attempt 
is made to represent Latin sounds by their nearest English equivalents : 
Oup Mrrnop. Correct Mrruop. 
Vowels, Vowels. 
a, short, as in fit. a, long, as in bather. ; i 
; en: a, short, as in (part. a, long, as in psdlmist. 
Osea »  slénder. (ees evils 
ia p> tht: Toot Wace e » » slénder, 6, veined. 
Oh. a5 Peottens On ,». voter. La os ,, thin. ie 3 » machinist. 
u; 5, »,  stzbborn. Wy, gp » mule. 0, » rotten, Of ae : voter, 
Yo» »  eynical. Ys» » cypher. uri » powerful. ou, 5, 4,  séler. 
‘ y is sounded nearly like i, but the exact sound 
Diphthongs. : . 
Py cannot be represented in English. 
as ee in feed. 
ei as in the word eye. Diphthongs. 
au as aw in baw. 
ail 
co \ nearly as ai in pain. 
el 
Consonants. ; 
au as ow in house. 
ec and g hard before a, as in cats, gaping. 
” ” » © 4, Cows, goring. Consonants. 
z5 3 ay nu » cud, gulping. 
e and g soft beforee  ,, central, gentleman. g always hard, as in good. 
1 oO -- i » cireular, gin. e 4 . ;, muscular. 
” ” » JY 5, eynical, gymnast. chee, 5 ,, Christian. 
