paleonet Latin (written/pronounced)

["D.Mclean" <D.Mclean@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Archaeopteryx has always bugged me, not because I know any 
Latin, but because the (mis) pronounciation obscures the message 
that is in the name. More so in cases where the taxon has been 
named in honour of somebody, and that name is mispronounced. A 
particular example is the extant plant genus Fuchsia, named after 
an eminent German botanist, and which in England (at least) is 
pronounced "Fyu-sha" sinply because it just not done to pronounce 
the German Fuchs in public. What!
However, I suggest that there are pretty slim odds on getting a. the 
taxonomic community, b. the wider palaeontological community 
and c. the public at large to change their favoured pronounciations 
in favour of a correct standard. Maybe we should resign ourselves 
to ensuring that the names always appear on the Powerpoint 
screen. That way, no matter how wayward our attempts at Latin 
may be, they can always be understood. Coming, as I do, from the 
northeast of England where the accent (when speaking in English 
never mind Latin) is unintelligible to most other Britons, I can 
recommend this from experience.

Duncan McLean