Compendium of Pesticide Common Names
British pronunciation of common names of pesticides
Common names of pesticides include some syllables that are familiar to chemists, but members of the general public often have no idea how to pronounce them. Only a few pesticide names find their way into general-purpose printed or online dictionaries that indicate pronunciation. The pronunciation of common names obviously varies widely in the many countries in which they are used.
At one time, members of a BSI sub-committee devised a British pronunciation for each common name when it was approved. Using these pronunciations as a guide, British pronunciations have now been added to most data sheets. The specification of the pronunciation system was published in BS 1831 : Part 1 : 1985 Appendix C, on which the following is based.
Guide to British pronunciation of pesticide common names
Stress
Stressed syllables are marked with HTML <em> tags, which in most Web browsers produce italic type.
Consonants
Most consonants are given their usual pronunciations, subject to the following:
| Consonants | Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| g | always hard, as in good, not as in gem |
| h | always aspirated |
| j | always as in juniper |
| th | always as in thick, not as in then |
To ensure clarity, the pronunciation of certain other consonants is defined as follows:
| Consonants | Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| ch | soft ch as in church |
| f | f as in fox |
| ph as in photo | |
| k | hard c as in cup |
| hard ch as in chemist | |
| kw | qu as in queen |
| ks | x as in ox |
| ng | ng as in ring |
| s | soft c as in cent |
| s as in sound | |
| sh | sh as in ship |
Vowels
Vowel sounds are represented and pronounced as follows:
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Examples
The following examples show the pronunciation of certain syllables and words:
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Numerals and initials
Some old common names consist of numerals followed by initials, or of initials only, e.g. 2,4-DEP and TEPP. In such cases, each numeral and initial should be pronounced separately, i.e. too for dē ē pē (not twenty-four dep) and tē ē pē pē (not tep).
Why not use IPA?
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is designed for representing pronunciation, but with versions of Microsoft Windows before Vista the necessary characters are not included in the core fonts and Internet Explorer 7 displays them poorly. The accented characters used in the Compendium are present in Windows XP and Mac OS X 10.4 and later versions, and so most people will be able to see them.
IPA equivalents may be added when most people are able to see them properly in the following table.
| Syllables | Pronunciation | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| acetate | ǎ-sǐ-tāt | ˈasɪteɪt |
| acetic | a-sē-tǐc | əˈsiːtɪk |
| butyl | bū-tīl | ˈbjuːtʌɪl |
| carb | karb | kɑːb |
| chlor | klor | klɔː |
| -cyclen | -sī-klěn | -ˈsʌɪklɛn |
| dino- | dī-nō- | ˈdʌɪnəʊ- |
| ethyl | ē-thīl | ˈɛθʌɪl |
| furyl | fūr-īl | ˈfjʊərʌɪl |
| -ine | -ēn | -iːn |
| methyl | mē-thīl | ˈmɛθʌɪl |
| -thion | -thī-ǒn | -ˈθʌɪɒn |
| -uron | -ūr-ǒn | -ˈjʊrɒn |
Windows Vista and Windows 7 with Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 2 or Opera 9 (or later versions) can display the IPA characters properly.
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A component of the Compendium of Pesticide Common Names