5 
names from Latin. In the preface the following table of vowel sounds 
is given, with the intimation that “ every vowel in the List is to be 
pronounced short unless marked long, thus e ” : 
a 
is to be pronounced as in hat; 
met; 
h id; 
hop; 
duck; 
>) 
>> 
>> 
>> 
}} 
d as in hate, 
e ,, mete. 
i „ high. 
6 
ii 
}) 
hope. 
duke. 
ae and oe are to be pronounced as long e, ei as long i, and 
au as in naughty .” 
From this it will be seen that the sounds are to be exactly the 
same as they are in English. The mind of the student need not be 
unduly exercised as to whether a name is derived from a Greek root or 
from a Latin one, because from whatever language it has been derived, 
it becomes a Latin word when inserted in a list of Lepidoptera as 
applied to an insect. Having adopted the English method of pro¬ 
nouncing Latin words, the vowels and consonants which they contain 
must be sounded as they are in our own language. The English are 
acccused not only of departing from the genuine sound of the Greek 
and Latin vowels, but also of violating the quantities of these lan¬ 
guages more than any other nation in Europe; but if the quantity be 
violated, it is not as chance may direct, but regularly and in accordance 
with the analogy of the English tongue, which, if not so well adapted 
to the pronunciation of Greek and Latin as some other modern tongues, 
has, nevertheless, as fixed and settled rules for pronouncing them as 
any other. I have so far discussed the two methods of pronouncing 
Latin as contrasted with each other, but wish now to call attention to 
the confusion of them which is not unfrequently heard in the pro¬ 
nouncing of a word partly in accordance with one method and partly 
with the other. The errors most common are sounding the i like our 
e, and the consonants e and g hard irrespective of the vowel that 
follows them; for example dentina and hlandina are pronounced as if 
written denteena and hlandeena, but the error is not consistently per¬ 
petuated in aprilina, sobrina and pistacina, the latter names apparently 
not lending themselves so easily to the practice. Again, take Lycaena; 
according to the English method the y is long, the c is soft, and the 
dipthong is sounded like a long e; in the Continental method the y is 
also long, but the c is hard, and the sound of the dipthong is like our 
long a. In the one case the pronunciation would be liseena, in the 
other likayna, but by pronouncing the wood likeena, as is often done, 
the two methods are mixed, and this pronunciation is incorrect. 
Another instance is the familiar fagi; in the English method the g is 
soft and the proper pronunciation rhymes with magi; in the Conti¬ 
nental method the g is hard and the word is pronounced fahgee; but 
if the English vowel sounds are retained, whilst at the same time the 
g is sounded hard, the two methods are mixed, and the rules of the 
English method violated. The cause of this, in a great measure, is the 
inference that is improperly drawn that, because the g is hard in the 
nominative cas e,fagus, it must continue hard throughout the declension, 
irrespective of the vowel that follows it; but this is erroneous. 
To the best of my belief, the causes of a great deal of this confusion 
are to be found in these facts :—1. There is no letter c nor j in Greek ; 
