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naja ?
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by martyn on May 19, 2006
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Hi guys just a quik one . Am i right in saying that the correct way to pronounce naja is naya or is it najah ?
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RE: naja ?
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by BREEZER on May 19, 2006
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Hi, i've always wondered? But i've heard experts here in South Africa pronounce it najah - Just as you say it. So thats how i pronounce it! Its my personal oppinion. Lets see what others have to say!
Regards
Quintin (Breezer)
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RE: naja ?
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by GREGLONGHURST on May 19, 2006
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It has always been my understanding that when the genus changed from Naia to Naja, the pronunciation remained the same.
~~Greg~~
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RE: naja ?
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by CAISSACA on May 19, 2006
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Etymologically, the word comes from the Sinhalese (majority language of Sri Lanka) word for cobra, which is pronounced Nah-yah. When Linnaeus called it "Coluber naja", he was undoubtedly doing so on the basis of what he was told the animal was called in its home country, and against the background that "j" is pronounced as "y" in Swedish - his intention was clearly Nah-yah.
However, all over the world, people (including scientists) with different mother tongues pronounce the same scientific names differently - for instance, in the Spanish-speaking world (and also the Philippines, once a Spanish colony), Naja is universally pronounced as Nah-hah....
Conclusion: etymologically, the correct pronounciation is "Nah-yah", but a lot of the time, it's a lot easier to just go with the flow. ;-)
Cheers,
WW
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RE: naja ?
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by Chris_Harper on May 19, 2006
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I totally agree WW. Not to mention that there isn't a "J" sound in latin. I am also familiar with the Sinhalese word for snake, naya. The weird thing was that when I was in Sri Lanka, I heard a lot of medical doctors and herpetologists pronouncing it Nah-shuh. But when asked, they would say that sinhalese word was "naya.
I heard David Warrell pronounce it nah-yah as well.
CH
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RE: naja ?
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by toddg on May 19, 2006
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Yumpin' yiminy! Do you realize how ridiculous the taxonomy of the Egyptian cobra now sounds?
toddg
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RE: naja ?
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by tj on May 20, 2006
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Nah-sha? It sounds like the people in Sri Lanka speak freaky deaky dutch. Isn't that vierd? Welp, off to visit my fasha. Sorry for the lame goldmember joke, I couldn't resist.
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