Alright - I'm thinkin we need a thread on the proper pronunciation of the poly species. I spent months pronouncing "bichir" as "bishhear" until someone set me straight, now I've run into a guy at the LFS who calls them "bick-arrs"... and my main guy @ the LFS insists on sticking an "eye" on the end of all the species... saying them "week-see-eye" and "end-lick-er-ee-eye" and "luh-prid-ee-eye". So now I'm all confused. I say the species exactly as they're spelled. Is that right? Any exceptions?
How do ya say...
- Thread starter Keeper of the Ropes
- Start date
i think they say the most 'correct' pronounciation for 'bichir' is something like 'bee-sheer'. But i say 'bi-ker', not the same way you say 'people on motorcycle', but 'bi-' as in how you would say 'bi-weekly' 
as for endlicheri, i say and have heard one of two ways. 1) 'end-lick-er-eye' with the stress syllable on 'lick', or 2) 'end-ly-cher-ry' with the stress syllable on 'cher', and say it like the name of that actress/singer instead of the 'cher' sound in the fruit cherry.
as for sticking an extra 'eye' at the end, i do that for species that end with two i's, like weeksii, ansorgii, but not on lapradei, which i say luh-pra-dee or luh-pra-day
as for endlicheri, i say and have heard one of two ways. 1) 'end-lick-er-eye' with the stress syllable on 'lick', or 2) 'end-ly-cher-ry' with the stress syllable on 'cher', and say it like the name of that actress/singer instead of the 'cher' sound in the fruit cherry.
as for sticking an extra 'eye' at the end, i do that for species that end with two i's, like weeksii, ansorgii, but not on lapradei, which i say luh-pra-dee or luh-pra-day
From MSU Linguistics Dept:
"Bichir" is the common name of the genus Polypteri, not the scientific name, and therefore not Latin-derived. The etymology is obscure, given variously as French, Arabic and "Native Language." The genus was originally described by French biologists working in Egypt at the beginning of the 19th century. Hence, it is probably of local Arabic ("native") origin, originally introduced to the West in French.
The most common English pronunciations listed are "*****er" and to a lesser extent "biker." The French pronunciation would be "beesheer," with the accent on the final syllable. We can only assume that this is a reasonably close phonetic representation of an original Arabic word. We were unable to come up with a literal meaning for this word, but it is probably safe to assume that it was a local descriptive term for this particular type of fish.
Considering the obscurity of this word and the obvious disagreement, even among ichthyologists, attempting to designate a "correct" English pronunciation is probably futile. We suggest picking the one that sounds best to your ears. Or perhaps you might wish to change pronunciation depending on which instructor you are speaking to (this is known in linguistics as "code-switching" or, more commonly, "sucking up").
If you wish to pursue the origins of the word further, the following original sources may have some more information. Please note, however, that they are in French, and that we were unable to locate a copy of either of them.
* Description d'un nouveau genre de poisson, de l'ordre des abdominaux, Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Paris: E. Bull. Soc. Philomath (1802)
Remarks: Sometimes date is given as 1798 [not researched]. Authorship appears as C. E. Geoffroy.
* Histoire naturelle des poissons, (1803) B. G. E. Lacepède. Hureau & Monod (1973)
-Chris Frost
"Bichir" is the common name of the genus Polypteri, not the scientific name, and therefore not Latin-derived. The etymology is obscure, given variously as French, Arabic and "Native Language." The genus was originally described by French biologists working in Egypt at the beginning of the 19th century. Hence, it is probably of local Arabic ("native") origin, originally introduced to the West in French.
The most common English pronunciations listed are "*****er" and to a lesser extent "biker." The French pronunciation would be "beesheer," with the accent on the final syllable. We can only assume that this is a reasonably close phonetic representation of an original Arabic word. We were unable to come up with a literal meaning for this word, but it is probably safe to assume that it was a local descriptive term for this particular type of fish.
Considering the obscurity of this word and the obvious disagreement, even among ichthyologists, attempting to designate a "correct" English pronunciation is probably futile. We suggest picking the one that sounds best to your ears. Or perhaps you might wish to change pronunciation depending on which instructor you are speaking to (this is known in linguistics as "code-switching" or, more commonly, "sucking up").
If you wish to pursue the origins of the word further, the following original sources may have some more information. Please note, however, that they are in French, and that we were unable to locate a copy of either of them.
* Description d'un nouveau genre de poisson, de l'ordre des abdominaux, Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Paris: E. Bull. Soc. Philomath (1802)
Remarks: Sometimes date is given as 1798 [not researched]. Authorship appears as C. E. Geoffroy.
* Histoire naturelle des poissons, (1803) B. G. E. Lacepède. Hureau & Monod (1973)
-Chris Frost
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
bikir
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.
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
bikir
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.
Wow, good thread because I do not know how to pronounce it either!!! 
I just like to say b! tch'ers because my buddy and I used to joke about it ever since we were younger and I don't think I can call them anything else because I'm soo used to it? I guess I am not too wrong because it seems there may be several possible ways to say it ? Nowadays I will just say senegal,polys,endli,delzi,ornate ect, ect, and just hope that people know what I'm talking about. I must sound very uninformed !! 
I just like to say b! tch'ers because my buddy and I used to joke about it ever since we were younger and I don't think I can call them anything else because I'm soo used to it? I guess I am not too wrong because it seems there may be several possible ways to say it ? Nowadays I will just say senegal,polys,endli,delzi,ornate ect, ect, and just hope that people know what I'm talking about. I must sound very uninformed !! In general, pronouncing genus and species names can be a bit confusing for a lot of people, LFS guys included. 
A couple of things to keep in mind:
In general, a single 'i' at the end of a species name should be pronounced as a long 'i' ('eye'). For example, endlicheri would be pronounced 'end-lick-er-eye' or 'end-lich-er-eye'.
A species name that ends with two 'i's (like weeksii) would be pronounced with the first 'i' sounding like a long 'e' and the second 'i' as a long 'i'....hence - 'weeks-ee-eye'.
The correct pronunciation for Polypterus is 'po lip ter us' with many people putting the accent on the 'lip'.
Putting it all together, Polypterus ansorgii would then be pronounced: 'Po-lip-ter-us an-sorg-ee-eye'. Polypterus delhezi would be pronounced: 'Po-lip-ter-us del-hez-eye'.
Fun, isn't it?
-Joe
A couple of things to keep in mind:
In general, a single 'i' at the end of a species name should be pronounced as a long 'i' ('eye'). For example, endlicheri would be pronounced 'end-lick-er-eye' or 'end-lich-er-eye'.
A species name that ends with two 'i's (like weeksii) would be pronounced with the first 'i' sounding like a long 'e' and the second 'i' as a long 'i'....hence - 'weeks-ee-eye'.
The correct pronunciation for Polypterus is 'po lip ter us' with many people putting the accent on the 'lip'.
Putting it all together, Polypterus ansorgii would then be pronounced: 'Po-lip-ter-us an-sorg-ee-eye'. Polypterus delhezi would be pronounced: 'Po-lip-ter-us del-hez-eye'.
Fun, isn't it?
-Joe
HEehehe just as I suspected. I'm way off again. My ways... Sen-uh-gall...Week-see... End-lih-cheer-ee... LAP-ruh-dai...An-sorg-eye...Mokelembembe is too long for me so I call them Mo-key...Pal-mus-pal-lee... Pal-mus-bue-ttek-oaf-er-eye...Del-hee-zee...
Nice info guys!
Nice info guys!