The biggest environmental dilemma 8

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1. 

   xremyx Posted 10:08 am
   25 Apr 2006

   MehThat prefix is actually getting a little tiresome. How about we stop using it all together? Then the problem of pronunciation goes away.

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2. 

   David Roberts Posted 10:13 am
   25 Apr 2006

   xremyx,As someone who writes about these issues every day, nothing would please me more than to never ever again use the words "environmentalist," "enviro," "green," or "eco-" -- please, if you have alternatives, share them.
   
   www.grist.org

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3. 

   caniscandida Posted 10:56 am
   25 Apr 2006

   What Would Xremyx Do?Not so many years ago, I made myself very boring with the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, shooting darts into the way they name new critters from the Mesozoic, etc.  Zoological nomenclature has gone into ridiculous directions.  Well, fine, they know what they need to do, and they are doing it.  But by the same token they should not encroach on other disciplines, e.g. Classics, and presume that they can tell the uneducated public how the Greek and Latin languages work.
   "Australopithecus" is a horrid barbarism, for example, whether or not we spent holidays with those lovable furry ancestors of ours, or even sent them greeting cards.  The second "a" and the "e" are long, so, ridiculous a word as it is, much to the everlasting disgrace of Raymond Dart, it should be pronounced "aus - TRAY -lo - pi - THEE - cus."  Conventionally one hears "AUS - tra -lo - PI - thi - cus,"  horrible, horrible, which renders those so pronouncing the name even furrier and more primitive than the very ancestral critters they are describing.
   As to whether they are more or less lovable, I shall postpone judgment till I check out their scantily-clad, love-that-breeze-on-my-hard-tight-bod break, down at the beach.
   OK, down to business.  "Economy," "ecology," etc., are based on the Greek word for "house," "oikos."  The "oi-" diphthong is regularly transliterated into "oe-" in classical Latin, which then becomes a long "e-" in the Middle Ages.  And that is regularly pronounced "ee," as in "see," "free," "tree," and so forth.  But really, the English language has no Academy, no mullahs, no Pope; so if you really really want to go shaggy and barbaric and pronounce "ec-" as in "deck," "neck," "peck," go for it, who's to stop you.
   Just don't invite me over.  Unless your frozen margaritas are worth the trip.  And/or your devil-may-care scantily clad guests.

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4. 

   bhurley Posted 10:59 am
   25 Apr 2006

   The only thing that bothers meReally, the only thing that makes my hair stand on end in all this is when people use "ecology" or "ecologist" when they mean "environment" or "environmentalist." Such as "hey, this new product is good for the ecology" or "ecologists oppose lower gas taxes" etc....it's like people who say "expresso" instead of "espresso," only worse.

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5. 

   VictoriaE Posted 12:15 pm
   25 Apr 2006

   Both are goodI'm no linguist, at least not professionally, but I have heard the prefix pronounced both ways.  I don't believe that either one is incorrect.  It is more a matter of personal taste and accent.
   
   Victoria E
   
   Model, Writer, Environmentalist
   
   http://victoria-e.com/

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6. 

   Stentor Posted 12:50 pm
   25 Apr 2006

   inconsistencyI say "ee-ko" when saying the root word ("ecology"),  "eh-ko" when using any normal grammatical variant of the root ("ecological," etc.), and "ee-ko" when using any neologism (like "eco-pronunciation").

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7. 

   DBlaze Posted 2:32 pm
   25 Apr 2006

   eco schmeekodoes it matter? either works

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8. 

   caniscandida Posted 11:53 pm
   25 Apr 2006

   eco gevaltDBlaze writes, "does it matter? either works."  No wiser sentiment has ever been uttered.
   Hence, I do not think it should be a primary goal of teachers of English as a second language, to get the students to pronounce perfectly, or to reproduce inflexions perfectly.  So long as they can make themselves understood, why go through the hastle?
   Nevertheless, language matters.  Words matter.  The names of things matter.  "Fishopod," the new popular name for the recently described Devonian "missing link" between sarcopterygian osteichthyans and tetrapods, is silly and barbaric, but it works.  A species name for the critter has been solidly erected, including a genus name that is in fact an Inuit word.  Now, I love the Inuit, and their art; my 2006 calendar is twelve pictures of polar bears by Inuit artists.  But damn it, with every good intention in the world, I just cannot keep those names straight.  So of course I already forgot the fishopod's official zoological-nomenclatural name.  But I remember "fishopod"!  
   "Taktaalik" maybe?  Something like that.  It is not hard to find out.
   Really, we should take language seriously.  And we should commit ourselves to the greatest precision available at the moment, even if the possibility of communication allows for some sloppiness.

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