Re: Pronunciation Question

[John Conway <john_conway@mac.com>]

On Friday, September 6, 2002, at 01:08  AM, Rob Gay wrote:

> I've heard that Archaeopteryx is actually not supposed to be 
> pronounced with
> the P, and that Compsognathus is supposed to have the Gn silent. Can 
> anyone
> confirm or deny this? Thanks in advance.

Pteryx  = feather (TEH-ricks). Gnathus = jaw (NATH-us). So the letters 
are supposed to be silent. There was a discussion on the vert. paleo. 
list a couple of months ago about this, and it was (somewhat) agreed 
that since our pronunciation of greek/latin is so bad anyway, we should 
not worry too much about it. Unless, of course, it might result in 
serious miscommunication.

As most people pronounce the "P" in Archaeopteryx, and the "G" in 
Compsognathus, miscommunication is unlikely.


John Conway, Palaeoartist

"All art is quite useless." - Oscar Wilde

Systematic ramblings: http://homepage.mac.com/john_conway/
Palaeoart: http://homepage.mac.com/john_conway/_palaeoart.html