# How do you pronounce "ootheca" and "ooth"?



## joossa (Dec 20, 2007)

I'm curious as to how you guys pronounce "ootheca" and "ooth".

I thought it was pronounced one way, then my Environmental Health professor pronounced it another way when speaking about cockroaches.

Thanks.


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## Andrew (Dec 20, 2007)

Like boo without the b.


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## asdsdf (Dec 20, 2007)

YAY! I say it right.


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## Peter Clausen (Dec 21, 2007)

singular- ootheca [oh-uh-thee-kuh]

plural- oothecae [-see]

and my favorites:

singular- larva [lahr-vuh]

plural- larvae [-vee]

These words are accepted in the English language, but are Latin in origin. The modern English pronunciation for "ae" is the "long e" as in me, we, she or he...and oothecae and larvae!

Here's a pdf file for anybody interested in Latin pronunciation.

http://www.ai.uga.edu/mc/latinpro.pdf

or you can look it up on dictionary.com...or if you're lazy, on webster.com (you can type webster entirely with your left hand and then hit ctrl-enter) [and you thought i was just a bug geek]

Peter


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## joossa (Dec 21, 2007)

Peter said:


> singular- ootheca [oh-uh-thee-kuh]


That's how my professor pronounced it, but I always used to say ooo-thi-ca. (Like Andrew, as in b*oo*-*thi*ck-*ca*ndle).


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## macro junkie (Dec 21, 2007)

ooth is easier for me to spell and pronounce so i say ooth..lol


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