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View Full Version : Proper Pronounciation Of Banana Plant Names


TommyMacLuckie
06-04-2010, 10:59 AM
I recently heard that the Saba banana is pronounced sah-bah. This was from a woman who is from the Phillippines. I've always heard it as Say-buh.

The Betrock books for palms give pronunciations for each Latin name. Is there anything like that for bananas?

Gabe15
06-04-2010, 11:46 AM
Since many of the common bananas are from all over the world, the names are in all kinds of different languages and will vary in how they should be pronounced. There are too many varieties to make a comprehensive naming guide, but if you post specific ones you are curious about we can help.

Saba is definitely "sah-bah".

Abnshrek
06-04-2010, 11:50 AM
This is a good thread for inquiring minds wanna know. :^)

DaveE
06-04-2010, 02:06 PM
I am interested in finding out how many I am pronouncing wrong also. LOL

LilRaverBoi
06-04-2010, 03:29 PM
The one I always questioned was Ensete Superbum....I wasn't sure if it was super-bum or superb-um. I'm pretty sure the discussion came up in the past, though and the consensus seemed to be superb-um.

TommyMacLuckie
06-04-2010, 03:40 PM
A friend of mine pronounces Butia as boo-tee-ah instead of byew-tee-uh as it is correctly pronounced. It always makes me laugh.

I've been saying leer-ee-ope for years but it's actually Luh-rye-uh-pee.

It's good to know the correct name, especially the latin. I've talked with people at Home Depot, who sometimes get in different bananas than just zerbrinas and dwarf cavs and asked whoever if they knew what it was. They replied "Read the tag". I did - it's wrong. "Well it's whatever the tag says it is."

Which, of course, is not always true. They often confuse Mediterranean fan palms and Windmills - even with the tags, which come from the place that grew the damn things.

I try to stick to nurseries. But even they can get things wrong and go by old ones like Cocos Plumosa...if someone comes in looking for Syagrus romanzoffiana and the nursery person doesn't know the latin and only knows it by Cocos Plumosa...well, now there is a problem.