How to pronounce Caenorhabditis ?

Status
Not open for further replies.

NewHopeR

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2009
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
China
Current Location
China
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

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Australia
Current Location
Australia
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 (
11px-Loudspeaker.svg.png
/ˌsnɵræbˈdtɨs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English#Keyˈɛlɨɡænz/
)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caenorhabditis_elegans
 

BobK

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Location
Spencers Wood, near Reading, UK
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
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

Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2012
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Polish
Home Country
Poland
Current Location
Poland
rhetoric

obdurate
 

aachu

Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2011
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Urdu
Home Country
Pakistan
Current Location
Afghanistan
rheumatic

Abduction
 
Last edited:

BobK

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Location
Spencers Wood, near Reading, UK
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
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

Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2011
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Urdu
Home Country
Pakistan
Current Location
Afghanistan

NewHopeR

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2009
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
China
Current Location
China
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 /


That's horrible. I'd like to, I'll have to know why.

My dictionary give me this: 'Caenozoic' /,si:nə'zəuik/

The dictionary is not only going to ruin me, but it's going to ruin anyone who is misguided by it.

Hopefully I will fight back with your support.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top