Australovenator wintonensis

Question

It's the name of a newly discovered dinosaur found in Queensland, Australia. It is very unlikely for anyone in this forum to know the official pronunciation of this name. I would like to know when you see such a long and new word, is there any pattern or rule I can apply to put the stresses at the right syllables. And how would you (try to) pronounce it?

More information regarding the dinosaur:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8131915.stm

Yankee · Accepted Answer

Hi Pter

< Australovenator wintonensis >

I tried to pronounce the name of that new dino. Several times, in fact. I failed miserably. [:^)]

Personally, I suspect that scientists often create unpronounceable words so that when they themselves pronounce them incorrectly, no one will know.

Pter · Answer

YankeePersonally, I suspect that scientists often create unpronounceable words so that when they themselves pronounce them incorrectly, no one will know.

Ha ha ha, that's true!

I have already checked this website. The new name is of course not there.

http://www.dinodictionary.com/

My problem is, for shorter names, I might still be able to guess where to put the stress. But for longer names, I really can't figure out if there are any patterns.

Yankee · Answer

Hi Pter

Now that I've had a chance to get over my initial stumbling, this is how my own (mis)pronunciation ended up:

My guess: Australovenator wintonensis

Pter · Answer

Hi Amy

Thank you very much indeed. The correct pronunciation is not that important for me now after I realized that even a native speaker like you would stumble on it. I guess nobody would raise an eyebrow no matter how I say it. My son, like many other children, love dinosaurs and I often stumble upon those names when reading him the books. That's why I would like to find out the pronunciation of those names if possible. It would be nice if there are some rules so that I don't need to go to that website every time I encounter a new name.

I am thinking perhaps such names would be pronounced using the rules for latin words (I know nothing about latin) instead of English.

CalifJim · Answer

If I tried to pronounce it, I would come up with

australoven'ator wintonen'sis

I believe I've heard the prefix australo- pronounced that way in other words.

In any case, I would try to keep the discover's name intact (Winton), that is, with its original stress pattern. (Or perhaps it's a geographical name associated with the discovery; but the idea is the same either way.)

In English, the vowels with the most consonants after them usually take the stress.

au - str
a - l
o - v
e - n
a - t
o - r.

w
i - nt
o - n
e - ns
i - s.

CJ

Yankee · Answer

Great points, Jim! But where is your recording? It can't possibly be the case
that you're too shy to record yourself. Is it just that your tongue hasn't stopped tripping over that name yet?

CalifJimIn any case, I would try to keep the discover's name intact (Winton), that is, with its original stress pattern.

I'd also thought of that but was overcome by thoughts of the pronunciation of words such as "Canadian" and "Clintonian".

At any rate, here is my try using your stress patterns:

australoven'ator wintonen'sis

OK, that one didn't work out too well, so here is a more rehearsed try:

Clive · Answer

Hi,

< Australovenator wintonensis >

Part of my approach is to look for portions that seem familiar.

The first underlined part looks like part of the word 'Australia', so I'd pronounce it in that way (without the 'ia', of course).

The second underlined part looks like the standard English surname 'Winton', so I'd pronounce that part in that way.

Clive

Pter · Answer

Hi CJ and Clive

Thank you very much for your replies. Inspired by what you said, I tried to find words with the australo- prefix and -venator suffix and finally found a few.

Afrovenator (meaning African Hunter)

http://www.dinodictionary.com/dinos_a.asp#AFROVENATOR

Australopithecus

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/australopithecus

Australopithecus afarensis

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/australopithecus+afarensis

The Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary puts the secondary stress on Aus instead of tra.
Australopithecus

They are consistent with what you and Clive suggested (thank you Clive!) except that different sources put the secondary stress on different syllables.

CalifJimIn English, the vowels with the most consonants after them usually take the stress.

au - str
a - l
o - v
e - n
a - t
o - r.

w
i - nt
o - n
e - ns
i - s.

CJ

This is new to me! Is there any reason for that?

Pter · Answer

Hi Amy

Thank you for the recording. I find it very difficult to say wintonensis no matter where I put the stress, especially the nen part.

Actually, the way CJ described the pronunciation of the words are very useful to me in understanding the why and how, although sometimes it is difficult for me to understand (not because of his explanation but because of my lack of experience in moving my tongue the way he described!) He gave me the theory and you gave me the recording (practice), and that's perfect!

CalifJim · Answer

YankeeGreat points, Jim! But where is your recording? It can't possibly be the case
that you're too shy to record yourself.

Maybe you weren't in on the earlier discussion on this. It turns out that I hear only tiny little chimpmunk sounds on these, and I suspect that my own voice would sound the same, so I don't use that audio feature.

Sorry!

CJ

Australovenator wintonensis

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