# Taxonomists: help me with the 'ae' ending

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxonomists-help-me-with-the-ae-ending/839679>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 4, 2019, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxonomists-help-me-with-the-ae-ending/839679 "2019-09-04T13:51:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxonomists-help-me-with-the-ae-ending/839679/1 "2019-09-04T13:51:27Z")

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As I understand it, the ‘ae’ ending from a taxonomic family is pronounced ‘ah’ or ‘ee’ depending on if it is singular or plural. So I might say the daisy is my favorite Asteraceae (aster-a-cee-ah) -singular- or of all Asteraceae (aster-a-cee-ee) -plural- the daisy is my favorite.

Latin/Greek plays some weird games. Is my understanding correct?

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**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxonomists-help-me-with-the-ae-ending/839679/2 "2019-09-04T14:06:35Z")

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The singular would, strictly speaking, in Latin be Asteracea, which answers your pronunciation question.

Or you could say “my favourite of all the Asteraceae (plural)”

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**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxonomists-help-me-with-the-ae-ending/839679/3 "2019-09-04T14:11:10Z")

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I think that ae is a stand-in for the schwa, ə.

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxonomists-help-me-with-the-ae-ending/839679/4 "2019-09-04T14:46:55Z")

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-ae is the first declension plural of feminine nouns ending in -a. Schwa has nothing to do with it.

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxonomists-help-me-with-the-ae-ending/839679/5 "2019-09-04T14:58:10Z")

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It depends on what school of Latin pronunciation you subscribe to, but it’s not dependent on whether a word is singular or plural.

The traditional Anglicized pronunciation of Latin renders “ae” as /i/ as in “heed.”

The classical pronunciation of Latin renders “ae” as /ai/ as in “hide.”

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taxonomists-help-me-with-the-ae-ending/839679/6 "2019-09-05T14:41:46Z")

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And the Italianate pronunciation used in the Catholic Church since the Counter-Reformation, _ae_ is pronounced /e/ as in café.