- Prof. Dr. Torsten Wikén, Permanent Secretary of the International Committee and of the Judicial Commission. Laboratory for Microbiology, Technical University, Delft, Holland.
Derivation, accentuation and pronunciation of names of taxa and of specific epithets. A serious attempt has been made in this Manual to give the derivation of the words used as names of taxa (genera, families, etc.) and of the specific epithets of the species names of the microorganisms described. Some guide to pronunciation is given by designation of the principal accent. The rules clearly state that all names of taxa are to be treated as Latin. But in modern times the pronunciation of Latin words shows little uniformity. However, the principal accent can be properly placed. Syllabication of the words may also be helpful.
1. No Latin word consisting of two or more syllables is accented on the last syllable.
2. A Latin word consisting of two or more syllables is accented either on the next to the last syllable (the penult) or on the second to the last syllable (antepenult).
How may one determine which of the two syllables is to be accented? The rule is easily stated. If the next to the last syllable (penult) is long, it should be accented; if short, the preceding syllable (antepenult) is to be accented.
When is a syllable said to be long? There are several criteria; those most readily recognized are as follows:
1. If a syllable has a single long vowel, the syllable is long. A standard Latin dictionary will indicate whether the vowel is long. In words derived from Greek those syllables containing omega (ω) or eta (η) are long, those with omicron (ο) or epsilon (ε) are short. In a Greek lexicon the other vowels are usually marked to indicate length.
2. If a syllable contains a diphthong, it is long.
3. If there is a double consonant or two consonants following a vowel, the syllable is long. For example:
- Ba.cil′lus. The accent is on the next to the last syllable (penult) because of the double l.
- Bac.te′ri.um. The accent is on the antepenult because the vowel in the penult is short.
- Ba.cil.la′ce.ae. The accent is on the antepenult because the vowel of the penult is short.
- Spi.ro.ne′ma. The accent is on the penult because the vowel of the penult is long; it is the Greek eta (η).
- Mic.ros.pi′ra. The Greek epsilon iota (ει) is a diphthong; when translated into Latin, it becomes a long i, and the accent is on the penult.
Use of Greek and Latin in naming taxa. The Greek and Latin alphabets are not identical. Greek words to be used as stems for the Latin names of taxa must be transliterated into Latin (not translated); the Greek letters must be changed to the Latin equivalents. The Latins developed well-recognized rules for doing this. With most letters the shift is simple, in other cases, the changes are more compli-
