Re: Penelopognathus

[Nick Pharris <npharris@umich.edu>]

Quoting Tommy Bradley <htomsirveaux@hotmail.com>:

> Okay everybody,
> Lets see if I get this right!
> *Penelopognathus* (pen-el-uh-pog-NAY-thus)? "Penelops (wild duck) jaw."
>
> This brings up a question:  If the g in Gnatho- (prefix) is silent, 
> then why pronounce it in the suffix (-gnathus)?

Ah, but you're looking at it the wrong way around:  the question is, 
why is the
<g> in Gnathostomata *not* pronounced?  The answer:  English speakers 
treat <g>
as silent when it comes before <n> *at the very beginning of a word*.

Nick Pharris
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Linguistics
University of Michigan