how do you pronounce tapir?

ThylacineAlive said:
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
Click to expand...
you haven't seen a Pingu? :p
 
  • Like
Reactions: CMP
savethelephant said:
lets see-penguin- peng-win
jaguar- jag-wuar
tapir- ta(long a)-peer
tamandua- ta-man-du(long u)a
Click to expand...

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.
 
Chlidonias said:
It is from a Tupi word, the same as animal names like iguana. The "ua" is always pronounced "wah" (although very many people mispronounce tamandua as if the last three letters are two syllables). On the other hand, "oo-a" is almost like a long extension of "wah" anyway so I don't suppose it really matters.
Click to expand...

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:
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...
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
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).
Click to expand...
That's interesting - I have always thought it was from a Tupi word, but looking it up now shows that is indeed from Arawak.
 
CheeseChameleon2007 said:
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.
Click to expand...

Me Too

EternalPigeon said:
I pronounce tapir "tay-pee-er", but that's probably me just being weird :p
Click to expand...

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.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top