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how do you pronounce tapir?

Discussion in 'Zoo Cafe' started by Ned, 24 Mar 2015.

  1. savethelephant

    savethelephant Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    lets see-penguin- peng-win
    jaguar- jag-wuar
    tapir- ta(long a)-peer
    tamandua- ta-man-du(long u)a
     
  2. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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  3. ThylacineAlive

    ThylacineAlive Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Never seen a Fiordland Crested Penwing, but I've seen many other species, for example:
    Gentoo Pengwing, King Pinwin, Chinstrap Pangwig, Little Blue Pingwaa, African Pingwang, Macaroni Pingwong, and Humboldt Pigwig

    :D

    ~Thylo:cool:
     
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  4. Hix

    Hix Wildlife Enthusiast and Lover of Islands 15+ year member Premium Member

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    gen-too or jen-too?

    :p

    Hix
     
  5. ThylacineAlive

    ThylacineAlive Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    "jen-too"

    ~Thylo:cool:
     
  6. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    you haven't seen a Pingu? :p
     
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  7. dunstbunny

    dunstbunny Well-Known Member

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    LOL! in my family it's called pingahnoo (little Bunny's babyspeak)
     
  8. CleZooMan

    CleZooMan Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I pronounce it "tay-pur".
     
  9. Onychorhynchus coronatus

    Onychorhynchus coronatus Well-Known Member

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    These are all names for animals that are / were derived from the Tupi-Guarani indigenous tribes of the Atlantic and Amazon rainforests of Brazil.

    The way you have said you pronounce these words actually closely matches the way they are pronounced in these indigenous languages (though in some tribes the word tapir is pronounced as "Tapiira") so well done, I'm impressed.

    It is also the pronounciation for the words jaguar and tapir in the Spanish language too.
     
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  10. Onychorhynchus coronatus

    Onychorhynchus coronatus Well-Known Member

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    Sorry to correct you on this but the word "iguana" does not come from a Tupi-Guarani language but from the Taino peoples who inhabited the Caribbean.

    The Taino were historically an indigenous civilization who migrated from the Guianas and the Amazon to the Caribbean islands which they colonized and who quickly became extinct after the Spanish colonization of the region.

    However, the Taino were not ethnically Tupi-Guarani but rather an ethnically Arawak peoples therefore the word "iguana" linguistically is derived from an Arawak language (now as extinct as the peoples who spoke it).
     
    Last edited: 2 Mar 2021
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  11. The Cassowary

    The Cassowary Well-Known Member

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    I pronounce tapir the same as taper, but I’ve heard it pronounced as tay-peer and tah-peer as well.

    The real question is do you pronounce emu as ee-moo or eem-yoo?
     
  12. TinoPup

    TinoPup Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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  13. BerdNerd

    BerdNerd Well-Known Member

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    I pronounce tapir "tay-pee-er", but that's probably me just being weird :p
     
  14. Onychorhynchus coronatus

    Onychorhynchus coronatus Well-Known Member

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    Well however you pronounce it or mispronounce it doesn't really matter as the important thing here is that you clearly do not mistake it for being an "anteater" as many zoo visitors invariably end up doing.
     
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  15. ZooBinh

    ZooBinh Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I say tay-pur....but this makes me remember a nice story.

    When I was younger, and had first learned of the animal, because of the language my family had with the English language, when me and my dad were reading one of the many animal books I had, we came across the Malayan Tapir...and here's how I went around pronouncing tapir until just a few years ago : "tap-i-lir" :p. I'm not sure where the L came from...
     
  16. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    That's interesting - I have always thought it was from a Tupi word, but looking it up now shows that is indeed from Arawak.
     
  17. aardvark250

    aardvark250 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    The real question is do you pronounce Chlidonias with a *click* sound.
     
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  18. CheeseChameleon1945

    CheeseChameleon1945 Well-Known Member

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    I guess I've been pronouncing it wrong my whole life, because I always called them Tay-Purrs, Since that's what I heard other people calling it throughout my lifetime so far.
     
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  19. Ned

    Ned Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Me Too

    It seems to me that most British people pronounce it this way but I don't get the need for three vowel sounds considering how it's spelt.
     
  20. LowlandGorilla4

    LowlandGorilla4 Well-Known Member

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    I say tay-peer but on occasion have said tah-peer to bug some friends :p