Dracula Roezlii and Ophioceps Pronunciation

[cantrell]

Hi, all. I got a couple of Dracula orchids as a birthday gift, so I scrambled over the weekend to assemble a terrarium that I'm hoping will work. I'll let you know how it goes.

In the meantime, I have no idea how to pronounce Roezlii or Ophioceps. I'm assuming "Roezlii" is something like "rose-lee," and "Ophioceps" is probably something like "Oh-fi-oh-septs," but I've never heard them spoken before, and I haven't been able to find any videos. Any etymological advice?

Thanks,
Christian

[estación seca]

Ah, botanical Latin pronunciation. Whatever pronunciation is understood by most listeners is acceptable.

A name based on a person's name is often attempted to be pronounced similarly to the person's name. Roezl was a prolific plant finder, so devotees of many plant groups puzzle over his discoveries. An approximation for an English speaker might be Ritzel.

Most people pronounce things the way they would be pronounced in their own language. Some try to use their idea of how Latin and Greek might have been pronounced. -ceps is derived from Greek kephalos, head. Many scholars believe a Latin C was always pronounced like the English K, and never any other way. In England many Greek and Latin-derived words are always pronounced with the K sound, while in the US they are often pronounced like an S. English and United Statians pronounce differently Encephalartos and cephalosporin. The discoverers of enkephalins took care to use that spelling.

English speakers pronounce Cereus the cactus and Sirius the dog star the same, SIER-ee-us. Spanish speakers call their cactus say-RAY-oos with a trilled R. It's derived from the Latin word for candle.

The double-I ending is from Latin, where both would have been pronounced. Most scholars think it would have been pronounced as English ee-ee but most in the US say ee-ai.

So you could say ritzel-ee-ee or ritzel-ee-ai; some might say roos-lee-ai or roos-lee-ee or roass-lee-ai or roass-le-ee. Then you could say ornithoseps or ornithokeps (bird head.) All the above would be fine if listeners understand. I see the actual word is ophioceps, which PaphMadMan discussed.

[PaphMadMan]

First, remember that except for words directly from Latin there is no absolute right or wrong to pronunciation of botanical names. And even Latin has mutliple traditions of modern pronunciation.

Roezl is a family name from German or Czech speaking areas of Europe, possibly pronounced REEZ-el or REETZ-el, though I'm sure there are other possibilities. Botanical names should reasonably reflect the usual pronunciation of the person's name. The ii ending is most simply pronounced as a long e, so ee, but some may insist on 2 syllables, ee-ee or ee-eye. REEZ-el-ee would be my attempt.

Ophioceps comes from Greek, meaning snake head. Greek words in Roman alphabet are already intended to be straight forward phonetic. I would put the emphasis on the first syllable here, O-fee-o-seps, though o-FEE-o-seps would also work.

[cantrell]

Names seem to be about as challenging as the plants themselves. Thanks for the thoughtful and thorough responses.

Christian

[Ray]

Classic Latin versus church Latin versus botanical Latin.... Oy vay!

Personally, I'd go with "REEZ-lee-eye."