I have a hard enough time identifying some of the woods bowyers use....but the pronunciation of them is a whole other story...

How in the world do you say:

Zircote   (Zer-coat-ee)??

Wenge      (When gay) ??

Bocote

Cocobolo

Macassar    (Muh Kass R) ??

I think I know one

Bow ka tay (Bocote)

I thought it was "bo KO teh," but I admit I'm ignorant when it comes to woods.

As for cocobolo, I'm guessing it's "ko KO bo lo," but it could be "ko ko BO lo."

Zircote and macassar sound about right in my uneducated guess, but I don't know about wenge.

I'm glad I'm not the only one!
I sure hate sounding more ignorant that I already am when talking to guys about bows or woods......

I believe someone was telling me that Z in Zircote may actually sound "Chi" which blew me away.  They said it was the Spanish name or something...it's been some time since that conversation....

You are from Kentucky Mike don't worry about how you sound. With the lowest educational testing scores in the nation from our schools no one expects us to be able to spell, figure out a math problem or pronounce anything correctly.

Here's how you do it.

Zircote = (Purdy brown and black wood)

Wenge = (Purdy dark wood)

Bocote = (Most purdiest wood in the world)

Cocobolo = (Purdy orange and black wood)

Macassar = (Purdy dark wood)

A lot of woods were named by the Spanish and/or Portuguese. Unfortunately, the pronunciation of many of the wood names out there have been completely massacred.

Below are some accepted pronunciations.


Zircote........ zee ree kó tay

Wenge..........wɛnɡei

Bocote........Bo-co-te'

Cocobolo......koh-kuh-boh-loh

Macassar.....muh-kas-er

Now in Canadian please??

I suppose just add "eh" at the end!

Friend has them all right as far as what I have been exposed to... I have spent a fair amount of time around bowyers and that is how they pronounce the woods mentioned.

The "Z" in Spanish is pronounced almost like an S throughout most of Latin America, although many in Spain pronounce it with the "th" sound like in the words "thin" or "thick."

Interesting that bocote is pronounced with the accent on the last syllable, "te."  Again, an uneducated guess, but it could be a Taino Indian word since many of their words place an emphasis on the accent at the last syllable, much like many of the other Taino words like "huraCAN" (hurricane).

Incidentally, and totally off-topic (but still on topic with trad archery) is that the Taino word for bow is "baira" and for arrow it's "birigua," according to a Quisqueya Taino elder and traditional archer originally from the Dominican Republic (Quisqueya is the Taino word for the Caribbean island of Hispaniola).

Anyway, if Zircote is a Spanish word, then according to my Puerto Rican Spanish, my guess is that it's pronounced "Zeer koh teh."

I like Kenny's method best.... or take photos and say, "Please pick a board, any board... OK you want some of that dark stuff with swirly grain?"  Got It!

QuoteOriginally posted by KentuckyTJ:
You are from Kentucky Mike don't worry about how you sound. With the lowest educational testing scores in the nation from our schools no one expects us to be able to spell, figure out a math problem or pronounce anything correctly.

Here's how you do it.

Zircote = (Purdy brown and black wood)

Wenge = (Purdy dark wood)

Bocote = (Most purdiest wood in the world)

Cocobolo = (Purdy orange and black wood)

Macassar = (Purdy dark wood)

 

That's they way I've been doing it as to not sound ignernt!

Right or wrong I'm still going to sound them out, and pronounce them that way.  

This is a funny but very appreciated thread Lowebow. Still can't say Macasser or Zircote rolls off my tongue.  At least now when I talk about them I won't have to say "or however you pronounce that stuff" at the end of each word.

What about Gabon Ebony....Ga Bahn

QuoteOriginally posted by Manitoba Stickflinger:
Now in Canadian please??

I suppose just add "eh" at the end!

wenge  (ˈwɛnɡeɪ)  

— n  
1.  a large, straight tree Millettia laurentii  of Central and West Africa valued for its hard dark wood, used in furniture and flooring  

co·co·bo·lo   /ˌkoʊkəˈboʊloʊ/  Show Spelled
[koh-kuh-boh-loh]  Show IPA

–noun
the hard, durable wood of any of several tropical trees of the genus Dalbergia,  of the legume family, used for making furniture.

Ma·cas·sar   /məˈkæsər/  Show Spelled
[muh-kas-er]  Show IPA

–noun
a former name of Ujung Pandang


Bocote and Zircote are not in the dictionary, therefore pronounce them any way you want!

I think I can safely say now that I have read it all.  

And when you get all this straight, you start to see some have TWO names for the same wood,
eg bubinga=african rosewood, or morado=brazilian rosewood.

Too funny, TJ!      

QuoteOriginally posted by Chris Kinslow:
This is a funny but very appreciated thread Lowebow. Still can't say Macasser or Zircote rolls off my tongue.  At least now when I talk about them I won't have to say "or however you pronounce that stuff" at the end of each word.

What about Gabon Ebony....Ga Bahn

Is the proper spelling gabon, or gaboon?