How to Pronounce 'Iboga' and 'Yohimbe'

[-bijanto-]

OK Here's a new stuff I've learned from a Sudanese student in my class here in Melbourne.

Actually the right pronounciation for Iboga is 'I-BONG-GA' (not I-BO-GA) and for yohimbe is YO-IM-BE (not YO-HIM-BE). At least that's what my ear could hear when he talked.

Despite that, I feel symphaty for him as I've told that he's one of the refugees who have fled the civil War in Sudan. In Melbourne, many Sudanese families are surviving on one meal a day and sharing houses with other families to save money.

[ 02. September 2005, 08:00: Message edited by: -bijanto- ]

[faustus]

can you spell that phonetically?

i as in eye?

i-bong-gain -- lovin it

[-bijanto-]

It's like in "ear", or "if".

[Torsten]

I doubt that iboga has an 'n' sound in it. Some of th other pronuncinations are eboga and eboka. So it is clear that the first letter is 'ee' and the g/k sound is preferentially hard, ie definitely not soft as in 'ng'.

Yohimbe - this depends on which country and what their colonial language is. For the french is would definitely lack the 'h', for the germans it would definitely ne a hard 'h', and for the english it would be somewhere inbetween. I suspect the trailing 'e' is pronounced 'ay' (as in bay).

Sudan is a long way from where these plants are native, so I am not sure why a sudanese has more knowledge of their pronunciation.

[ 02. September 2005, 12:30: Message edited by: Torsten ]

[-bijanto-]

quote:

---

Sudan is a long way from where these plants are native, so I am not sure why a sudanese has more knowledge of their pronunciation.

---

He knows that because traders from other African countries came to Sudan. He said that Sudanese also has native traditional medicinal plants and the related tradition as well.

[medicinedan]

while were on the topic of pronounciation. I always used to say Trichocereus, "trick o ser us" I have since been told its "tri se re us" is that more correct?

How do you say Pachanoi? "pack an oy?"

Any ones input on correct pronouncing of stuff would be interesting

[faustus]

i've often wondered the same thing... i think for anything latin you pronounce the "ch" eg trichocereus pachanoi is "trich-oh-seh-re-us patch-ah-noy"?

[Torsten]

whoever told you "tri se re us" doesn't have a clue.

Trichocereus is composed of two words - tricho meaning hairy and cereus meaning cactus.

Anyway, so Trichocereus means hairy cactus (referring to the hairy flowers), while 'Tricereus' would mean 'triple cactus'. There are no silent syllables in latin.

The proper pronunciation of Trichocereus depends on whether you believe the romans pronounced the letter c as 'see' or as 'kay'. I find applying the 'kay-only' rule causes too many problems.

So personally I would pronounce it Tri-ko-sear-ee-us , but some might insist on Tri-ko-kear-ee-us. Mind you that is already a little angliscised and the proper latin would actually be Tree-ko-ser-e-us

There is a constant battle between anlicised names and proper latin names especially for plant names that are in common use. If you feel that maintaining botanical latin as an international language is important then stick with the proper latin pronunciation. If you want to be understood in your local horticultural group then use the anglicised form.

pachanoi is a similar issue. Most non-anglosaxons will call is patshanoi while anglos will call it pakanoi. For once the anglos are more correct and as long as the 'a' sound is more like 'uh' rather than 'pack' (as in backpack) you get the proper puh-kuh-noi

Because of the common useage of this name and the fact that even the best horticulturist struggles with proper latin, the best option is:

Tri-ko-sear-ee-us pa-kuh-noi

[ 03. September 2005, 14:55: Message edited by: Torsten ]

[Evil Genius]

Hans from germany would probably pronounce it EEBOHGAH and jooh-hemmbhe. Or somethin like that.

[medicinedan]

how do you say the first bit though "trich?" tri ch like the 'ch' in cheese or trik?

[medicinedan]

oops, the post hadnt updated when I sent that. Sorry , ignore that last post.

Cheers torsten thats good stuff, yes triple cactus, hahaha. It all makes sense

[woof woof woof]

I pronounce it treeg-gOh-cer-us. Whats in a name anyway

Only thing that really matters is that you can say it lovingly!

[Pisgah]

A cactus by any other name would still taste as bitter...

...apologies to billy shakespeare.

[spiders]

yeah many of those sudanese only get temporary protection visas - a waste of time that allows them in the country then doesnt allow them to work, receive welfare benefits or receive any medicare subsidises for health care.

I mean how exactly are they meant to survive??

[Benzito]

They can always turn to crime?

That's what I would do!