How to pronounce Caenorhabditis ?

[NewHopeR]

Context:

Tiny amounts of alcohol dramatically extend a worm's life, but why?

UCLA Minuscule amounts of ethanol, the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, can more than double the life span of a tiny worm known as Caenorhabditis elegans, which is used frequently as a model in aging studies, UCLA biochemists report. The scientists said they find their discovery difficult to explain.

[Raymott]

Context:

Tiny amounts of alcohol dramatically extend a worm's life, but why?

UCLA Minuscule amounts of ethanol, the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, can more than double the life span of a tiny worm known as Caenorhabditis elegans, which is used frequently as a model in aging studies, UCLA biochemists report. The scientists said they find their discovery difficult to explain.

Caenorhabditis elegans ( /ˌsiːnɵræbˈdaɪtɨs ˈɛlɨɡænz/)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caenorhabditis_elegans

[5jj]

Caenorhabditis elegans ( /ˌsiːnɵræbˈdaɪtɨs ˈɛlɨɡænz/)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caenorhabditis_elegans

Thanks. I always wondered about that.

[NewHopeR]

Caenorhabditis elegans ( /ˌsiːnɵræbˈdaɪtɨs ˈɛlɨɡænz/)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caenorhabditis_elegans

Excellent!
Thanks a lot.

PS, in ˌsiːnɵræbˈdaɪtɨs ˈɛlɨɡænz/) I pronounce as siːnəræbˈdaɪtɨs ˈɛlɨɡænz/) . Correct?

[Raymott]

Excellent!
Thanks a lot.

PS, in ˌsiːnɵræbˈdaɪtɨs ˈɛlɨɡænz/) I pronounce as siːnəræbˈdaɪtɨs ˈɛlɨɡænz/) . Correct?

No, if you say it that way, you'll be socially ostracised and you'll end up with no friends at all!

In more common words with Caeno, as in 'Caenozoic', I say /sinəʊ /

[BobK]

And for future reference, these two rules of thumb will help:

• In words with the spelling 'rh' the 'h' is usually silent
• In words with the spelling 'bd' both consonants are usually heard

(I can't think of any counter-examples at the moment, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were a few - especially when the 'r' closes a syllable and the 'h' starts a new one.)

b

[spongie]

rhetoric

obdurate

[aachu]

rheumatic

Abduction

[BobK]

rheumatic

Abduction

Neither of these is a counter-example. To recap:

In words with the spelling 'rh' the 'h' is usually silent [e.g. rheumatic]
In words with the spelling 'bd' both consonants are usually heard [e.g. abdomen]

Perhaps you were just giving supporting examples

Other examples of the first are rhetoric, rhombus, rhyme,... etc etc.
Other examples of the second are abdomen, abduction, and the tree bdellium (which I've never heard spoken, but which I think an English native speaker wuld try to get their mouth round - although such a consonant coluster at the beginning of a word is non-native).

A [questionable] counter-example is 'earhole'. In a careful, standard - that is, non rhotic - pronunciation there is no /r/; in a less formal pronunciation, there is no /h/ . Besides, many people would use a hyphen

b

[aachu]

Perhaps you were just giving supporting examples

Yes. I just gave supporting examples.