How do you prounounce "Syzygium"? - Observation of the Week, 10/9/24
Our Observation of the Week is this Syzygium longifolium myrtle plant, seen in New Caledonia by @adurbano!
“I always knew that my life would be dedicated to protecting the environment,” says Amaury Durbano, who joined his first nature protection association at the age of seven.
As a teenager, I arrived in New Caledonia where I discovered the marine environment and the exceptional Caledonian biodiversity, both terrestrial and marine. My academic career led me to obtain a master's degree in the functioning and management of marine ecosystems.
Since 2018, I have been the facilitator of the Hô-üt association based in Touho in New Caledonia.
The association helps to preserve part of the North East Coastal Zone (subzone 4), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and works with local stakeholders to do so. “Between my work at the Hô-üt association and my free time,” Amaury says, “I am lucky to spend a lot of time in nature.”
The inhabitants of the tribes, particularly that of Koé (Ko weï in Cèmuhî, the language of Touho) welcomed me warmly, integrated me into their activities and shared their knowledge. This article gives me the opportunity to thank them. Thanks to the Hô-üt association, I also have the opportunity to act as a link between the population and the community in charge of environmental management (the Northern Province).
In 2022, the Hô-üt association won a call for projects to create an educational trail in the Ponandou rainforest with the support of the clan council of the Koé (Ko weï) tribe. The objective of this trail, led by members of the Hô-üt association and the inhabitants of Koé (Ko weï), is to raise awareness among visitors about the preservation of the rainforest and to present this ecosystem: animal and plant species, the roles of the forest and its dynamics, traditional uses of plants, pressures and threats (fires, invasive exotic species, etc.), the names of plant species in Cèmuhî, the micro-endemic skink of Ponandou, etc. Note that 70% to 80% of the plant species in the rainforest are endemic to New Caledonia.
As part of a project funded by the Northern Province, members of the Hô-üt association organized a visit to the trail with students from the Touho vocational high school on the morning of September 19, 2024, to raise their awareness of the importance of preserving the rainforest. Arriving at the end of the visit, around a waterhole where a waterfall flows, visitors had the chance to observe a Syzygium longiflorum in bloom. This species, which is part of the same genus as the Kanak apple tree (Syzygium malaccense), is called “éï” in Cèmuhî.
Ranging from Africa to Australasia, the genus Syzygium contains well over one thousand species. As Amaury mentioned, some have edible fruits (often called “roseapples”), and the clove is also a member of Syzygium.
A member of iNat since 2021, Amaury (above) tells me “iNaturalist and its community allow me to identify and learn about species living in the Pacific region and easily connect with experts around the world. Additionally, iNaturalist’s classification system allows me to easily save, categorize, and find my observations.”
(Photo of Amaury courtesy of the Hô-üt association.)
- a “lost fish” species in New Caledonia was rediscovered via iNat!
- a previous Observation of the Week detailed the finding of a rare Pancheria ouaiemensis plant in New Caledonia by @narido!
Comments
How do you pronounce it, though?
I pronounce it exactly as it is spelled - obviously! :)
My neighbors have a couple of S paniculatum trees that produce fruit prolifically every fall / winter, and I usually pick a bucketful. It makes a lovely jam when combined with some lemon.
Fun. I hadn't realised that cloves are a Syzygium.
There are also a couple of interesting psyllids that are specialist feeders on Syzygium, including the Syzygium Leaf Psyllid, Trioza adventicia in gardens. Keep an eye out for that while you're practicing the pronunciation of the host plant. :-)
You pronounce it like "syzygy", only with an "um" on the end.
The observations from New Caledonia are just phenomenal! What a special place this must be. Thanks for sharing your sightings, @adurbano!
I pronounce it sih-zeye-gee-um but that's just me
@darior Since Neo-Latin was the language agreed upon to use for scientific names (with a lot of latinized words, prefixes and suffixes borrowed from Greek), the pronunciation should be accordingly. The y in Latin was borrowed from Greek and is pronounced like the ü in German or 'u(e)' in French words like 'tu' or 'rue' (written as /y/ in the International Phonetic Alphabet system). The z was also borrowed from Greek and is pronounced like /z/, with a slightly vibrating sound. The g is pronounced like in the word 'good' in English, written as the uvular g or G in the IPA. The i before another vowel is pronounced like in 'easy' or 'feet' in English, and the u in '-um' is the short u, which is pronounced like 'uh' in English, as in 'under' or 'foot'. The s and m are the same as in English. The pronunciation then becomes: sü - zü (with a vibrating z) - gh'ee - uhm.
Thanks @jorenvanschie!
I wish that was in the blog post as well. :)
/sɪziːˈd͡ʒiːʌm/ (sizzy-jee-um)
see zee gee um
How you pronounce it obviously depends in what language you are attempting to murder the word
"Psy-zig-ium"
Sizzidge rhymes with cribbage.
"Sizzidgey, mmm?"
Nice juicy informative read - thank you ;-))
But where's the map so I can locate New Caedonia - without going elsewhere?
I say /sy'zy.gi.um/. It's a Latin word of Greek origin, so it's pronounced as Latin.
Latin and Greek both have phonemic vowel length, which makes a difference in some taxonomic names. If there's a "noto/notus/notum" in a name, the first 'o' is long if it means "back" (as in Camponōtus) and short if it means "south" (as in Notornis). All the vowels in "Syzygium" are short.
@phma Yeah. Like I said, "sizzidge rhymes with cribbage".
People often mistake the Latin 'y' for 'ea/ee' but the y in Latin was pronounced like the ü in German or 'ue' in French, not like the 'ea' in 'easy'. Not all the vowels are short either: the i before another vowel is long, so this is the 'ea' sound. The g in Latin is never pronounced as 'dzj' or 'dsh' but always like the 'g' in 'good', even before an i. What you end up with is 'sü-zü-gh'-ea-um', not 'sizzy-jee-um' or 'sizzidge-um'; that would just be the English interpretation of the word but not the (Neo-)Latin pronunciation.
@jorenvanschie @phma: Aha! Wrong I was. Thanks for clearing that up. Not afraid to admit I aced Latin 20 years ago but have forgotten most of it and have little cause to dwell on nominally correct pronunciations these days.
May I then suggest a fun phonic phrase conveying pronunciation without resort to disjoint syllables or academic IPA would be suh-ziggy 'em!
Add a Comment