Pronunciations. . .

[TankGirl]

There is a whole lot of debate about this, since it was called this name long before it was "discovered" and scientifically named.

I tend to go with bi-Sheer (first syllable like the "bi" in bit). But many people say "female dog"-er. The word filter would probably "beep" that out, lol.

[gohabs9]

i heard "biker"

[beblondie]

WHY BICHIR?

When Europeans (French) discovered the genus Polypterus in 1809 it had already been known along the Nile since the time of the pharoahs. The local peoples referred to them as bichirs (unknown pronunciation and spelling). While unable to come up with an exact meaning for the word it was most likely a descriptive term (''whip'' has been suggested) for this type of fish.

The French most likely pronounced it as phonetically as possible to the orginal native word and came up with bee-sheer as a pronunciation and spelled 'bichir'. Since this would be the name of these fish for
several years until they were scientifically described and put into the proper family it became an accepted common name.

However the correct English pronunciation is up for grabs. Several dictionaries all have their own pronunciation including the below:
bee cher
beech er
biker
bercheer
bi cher
bir chir is common in England
Also known by the common name lobed fin pike,dinosaur eel.
The name Polypterus : poly=many + pterus=fins and is pronounced po-lyp'-terus.

[Toirtis]

Originally Posted by beblondie

Also known by the common name lobed fin pike,dinosaur eel.

And...

Polypterus senegalus senegalus (Cuvier 1829)riginal combination

Common Name:
Khabé (Wolof)
Jeyei (Krio)
Keskla (Krio)
Kutenkellie (Krio)
Wielopletwiec senegalski (Polish)
Gray bichir (AFS/English)
Viherniilinhauki (Finnish)
-----------------------------------------------
Erpetoichthys calabaricus (Smith 1866)riginal combination
Herpetoichthys calabaricus ((Smith 1866)):new combination

Common Name:
Flösselaal (German)
Reedfish (AFS/English)
Snakefish (English)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Polypterus weeksii (Boulenger 189riginal combination

Common Name:
Mottled bichir (English)
Raitaniilinhauki (Finnish)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Polypterus ansorgii (Boulenger 1910)riginal combination

Common Name:
Guinean bichir (AFS/English)
Pikkuniilihauki (Finnish)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Polypterus bichir bichir (Geoffroy St. Hilaire 1802)riginal combination

Common Name:
Wielopletwiec a. miastuga (Polish)
Nile bichir (AFS/English)
Niilinhauki (Finnish)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Polypterus endlicheri endlicheri (Heckel 1849):new combination

Common Name:
Saddled bichir (AFS/English)
Tummaniilinhauki (Finnish)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Polypterus palmas palmas ((Ayres 1850)):new combination

Common Name:
Shortfin bichir (AFS/English)
Marbled bichir (English)
Harmaaniilinhauki (Finnish)


As you can imagine, as a Polypterid keeper-reseacher and writer, this subject is near and dear to my heart....and I will continue to pursue it until I have a decent answer.

But wait...you can help! Someone please find me a copy of the following:

"Description d'un nouveau genre de poisson, de l'ordre des abdominaux", Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Paris: E. Bull. Soc. Philomath (1802)

"Histoire naturelle des poissons", (1803) B. G. E. Lacepède. Hureau & Monod (1973)

[TankGirl]

No problem. I'm on it.

[dingogirl66]

If you goto www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_glossary.php It will give you 14 pages of fish keeping glossary w/ every abbreviation that you could possibly think of from A-Z.

[TankGirl]

That is a very helpful link, but sadly they provide only a few pronunciation keys. I'll bookmark it anyway.

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I've always pronounced it "Bike Ear".. the Ch can take so many sounds, esp. when it's dirived from a language other then Latin.

But then again, I remember mentioning "chi chill ids" at one point too, when I tried to google "sicklets" and "sicklids" it corrected my ways.

[FishFingers]

BeerChir

Is the way we say it in eire.

and nobody I know calls cichlids sicklids here. More like cheechlids as in cheech & chong.

This is going to sound silly, and i don't remeber if these were mentioned but....

Acei (Ace- EEEE - eye? or A-Sigh?)

Kenyi (Ken-Yeeee, or Ken-YA)

Johanni ( Johhny, or Joe-Hani, or Yo-Han-i?)