Kort Jungel wrote:

> On several
> occasions this Spring I have been corrected in my pronunciation of two
> species of birds...namely Lazuli Bunting and Vaux's Swift.

Every once in a while, we have these discussions on Tweeters or Birdchat.
I think the take-home lesson is that there are usually alternative,
equally good ways to pronounce names, and you mustn't let yourself be
cowed by people who think they know better. Remember Strunk and White's
advice in their little book _The Elements of Style_: "If you don't know
how to pronounce a word, say it loud!" Then let other people worry that
_their_ pronunciation may be wrong!

Anyway, I used to say "voes," to rhyme with "toes," for the swift, but
now I hear most people saying "vawkses," to rhyme with "hawks's." (Damn
machine won't make International Phonetic Alphabet symbols.) As for
lazuli, the z can either be pronounced as a straight z sound or like the
z in "azure"; you can insert a slight "y" sound before the u, or omit it;
the i can be prounounced either "ai" or "ee; and the stress is mostly on
the first syllable and secondarily on the third syllable. That should
give you eight equally good pronuciations, even if you don't vary the
stress. So I think we should each choose the version we like best, and
say it loud; and if anyone tries to tell you your version is wrong, smile
and hit him gently over the head with your tripod.

Burt Guttman guttmanb at elwha.evergreen.edu
The Evergreen State College Voice: 360-866-6000, x. 6755
Olympia, WA 98505 FAX: 360-866-6794