XVI 



EXPLANATIONS 



00. Thus, the oo in Hodkeri is to he pronounced 

 as in hook. In most oases, the letters oi (from the 

 Greek, meaning like to) are to be pronounced sep- 

 arately : if the i is the penultimate syllable (next 

 to the last), it is long, as in yuccol-des ; if the i is 

 the antepenultimate syllable (third from the end) 

 it is short, as in rhombol-dea. In dioicus and 

 monoicus, however, the oi is a true diphthong, as 

 in moist. It should be remembered that the final 

 e terminates a separate syllable, as commh-ne, 

 vulgi-re, gran'-de. This final e takes the short 

 sound of i, as in whip. 



These pronunciations follow, in general, the 

 common English method of pronouncing Latin 

 names. However, many of the Latinized forms 

 of substantive and personal names are so unlike 

 Latin in general construction that the pronuncia- 

 tion of them cannot follow the rule. As a matter 

 of fact, biological nomenclature is a language of 

 itself thrown into a Latin form, and it should not 

 be a source of regret if it does not closely follow 

 classical rules in its pronunciation. It has seemed 

 best to make an exception to the literary rules in 

 the case of personal commemorative names in the 

 genitive : we retain, so far as possible, the pro- 

 nunciation of the original name. Thus, a plant 

 named for Carey is called Ca-reyi, not Carey-i; 

 for Sprenger, Spring-eri, not Sprenger-i. The 

 original spelling ( as written by the author of the 

 name) of the masculine genitive ending is usually 

 retained, whether i or ii, but the syllable is usually 

 pronounced as if the i were single. Whether one 



i or two is used in the making of a masculine 

 genitive, is largely a matter of euphony and per- 

 sonal preference. 



It may be well to add what are understood to be 

 the long and short sounds of the vowels : 



& as in cane. d as in cone. 



& as in can. 6 as in con. 



6 as in mete. ii as in jute. 



6 as in met. ii as in jut. 

 1 as in pine. 

 I as in pin. 



y is often used as a vowel instead of i. 



SPELLINa 



The original spelling of generic and specific 

 names is preferred. In some instances this origi- 

 nal orthography does not conform to the etymology 

 of the name, particularly if the name is made from 

 that of a person. Such a case is Dienilla, named 

 for Dierville. Ideally, the name should be spelled 

 Biervillea, but Toumeforttand Linnaeus did not 

 spell it so, and a name is a name, not primarily a 

 monument to a man. 



In accordance with the best authorities, the di- 

 graph CE is used in the words CEerulea, cffiruleseens, 

 osespitosa, esesia ; m is used in eoelestis and coe- 

 lestinum. 



Digraphs m and m have been dropped from Latin- 

 made names which have come into the vernacular. 

 Thus, as a common or English name, Spirsea be- 

 comes spirea, PsBOnia becomes peonia or peony, 

 Bougainvillaea becomes bougainvillea. 



