This thread rises like Dracula about once a year.  The usual division of the
house is approximately the following:


One half goes for "SAY-BINE" like the unfortunate women in Roman legend

One half goes for "sa-BEAN" like the river separating Louisiana and Texas

A few pedants insist on "sabin," rhymes with "cabin"


The pedants are correct, as usual.  This bird was named after the Irish
scientist Sir Edward Sabine by his brother Joseph Sabine.  And that's the
way they pronounced their name.

The upside is that no matter how you pronounce it, most birders will know
what you mean.

Regarding the Pyrrhuloxia, I have lived in West Texas, New Mexico, and
Arizona, and everyone I met there pronounced it "peer-roo-LOX-ia."  I have
run into some easterners who say "pye-roo-LOX-ia," and that may even be
technically correct.  We need to find a pedant to settle it.

Texans should not be regarded as having any special expertise in pronouncing
Spanish, but even south of the border, one almost exclusively hears
"pah-RAH-kay" for Pauraque.  Some folks of the French persuasion say
"pah-ROCK," but folks of the French persuasion have a lot of funny ideas.

We haven't even gotten onto "Jacana" yet?  There are at least three
different pronunciation of that name.  The name comes from
the Portuguese and my Brazilian colleagues pronounce it "zhah-sah-nah," but
almost nobody else does.

Cheers,

Bob

--
Robert D Powell
Wilmington, OH, USA
[log in to unmask]
http://rdp1710.wordpress.com

Nulla dies sine linea

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