Sham-aerops or Kam-aerops?

[Gonzer]

Don't say Sham, it's Kam.

[Rafael]

Kam off course!

[Gonzer]

Not so the case out here Rafael. The majority of growers/collectors I've met from California all say 'Sham'. And this includes some well known old-timers who you wouldn't think of correcting.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Who knows what is right? I have always pronounced it Shamaerops but also say Kamadorea.

[bgl]

The explanation given by a well known botanist (no, I won't name names!) is that the word origin for both Chamaerops and Chamaedora is Greek, and thus a "hard K" is the proper pronuncation. In other words "Kamaerops" and "Kamaedorea". I have no plans to disagree...

[mnorell]

Bo is correct about the Greek origin. It comes from Chamai (χαμαί) which means "on the ground" and is the root also used in Chameleon, Chamaedorea, et al. The pronunciation in Greek is not a hard "k" but definitely not a "sh"...it is like the gutteral ch in German "Achtung." The "sh" sound is used in, for example, in French-origin names like Chambeyronia (named after Captain Charles Chambeyron, who was a French naval commander...hence you follow the original French pronunciation of his name, like "champagne").

[edric]

Bo is right, and if it were Latin it would stiill be a hard k sound because ch as well as th are not pronounced in Latiin, Ed

[Gonzer]

This is the reference I utilize, very helpful.

https://archive.org/details/biologistshandbo00jaeg

[Al in Kona]

I hear both pronunciations used, Kam and Sham but probably more often "kamaerops". Personally I could care less as long as I know what's being talked about and with that word there should be little to no problem knowing. There will always be regional differences in how certain words are pronounced and if you understand what is being said why not leave it at that, or if you must just nicely tell them that you've always heard it pronounced differently.