This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Syllable stress of Botanical Latin is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
Syllable stress of botanical names varies with the language spoken by the person using the botanical name. In English-speaking countries the Botanical Latin places syllable stress for botanical names derived from ancient Greek and Latin broadly according to two systems, either the Reformed academic pronunciation, or the pronunciation developed initially in some large part by British gardeners, horticulturists, naturalists, and botanists of the 19th century.clarification needed (What is the difference between these two systems? Which is being described in the rest of this article?) Generally in Latin each vowel or diphthong belongs to a single syllable. Classical Latin diphthongs are ae, au, oe. Diphthongs from Greek can include oi, eu, ei, and ou, and ui also occasionally occurs in botanical Latin. Syllables end in vowels, unless there are multiple consonants, in which case the consonants are divided between the two syllables, with certain consonants being treated as pairs. In words of two syllables the stress is on the first syllable. Words that contain three or more syllables have stresses accorded to their syllables by the quality and location of the different vowels in the words. In words of more than two syllables the stress is on the penultimate syllable when the syllable contains a long vowel or diphthong, otherwise the stress is on the antepenultimate syllable.1
Whether a vowel is long or short in a classical Latin word is a function of the vowel and its relationship to the consonants that precede or follow it.2 Modern Latin dictionaries and textbooks may contain diacritics called a macron for long vowels or a breve for short vowels. Botanical Latin does not traditionally include macrons or breves, and they are prohibited (as diacriticals) by Article 60 of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. Some books follow the mediaeval tradition to add an acute accent to mark the stressed syllable.citation needed
Rules
To determine the position of the stress of Latin terms:citation needed
- Vowels followed by two consonants are generally stressed. Thus Po-ten-tíl-la, as the I is followed by a double L.
- Diphthongs are to be stressed, too. Thus Al-thaé-a, as AE is a diphthong.
References
- ^ Stearn, WT (2004). Botanical Latin. United Kingdom: Timber Press. pp. 546. ISBN 0881926272.
- ^ Allen, WS (August 1989). VOX Latina: A Guide to the Pronunciation of Classical Latin. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. pp. 152. ISBN 0521379369.
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 4 October 2008, at 13:54.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Syllable stress of Botanical Latin".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.