pica_nuttalli
don't be a twit
'cause i suddenly have the horrible sensation of having made a repeated fool of myself...
Is It "bichir" Or Birchir"
- Thread starter pica_nuttalli
- Start date
nmonks
A stroke of the brush does not guarantee art from
Good question.
It's "bichir", and it's a French corruption of an Arabic (Egyptian) word, so the pronounciation is close to something like "beh sheer" or "b'sheer". Common -- but incorrect -- pronounciations include "bircher" and "biker".
The fish was originally described by a French naturalist Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire though the Latin name, Polypterus is by Lacepède. But the native peoples of Africa presumably knew all about this fish, and one of those local names gave rise to the common name in English, bichir.
Cheers,
Neale
It's "bichir", and it's a French corruption of an Arabic (Egyptian) word, so the pronounciation is close to something like "beh sheer" or "b'sheer". Common -- but incorrect -- pronounciations include "bircher" and "biker".
The fish was originally described by a French naturalist Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire though the Latin name, Polypterus is by Lacepède. But the native peoples of Africa presumably knew all about this fish, and one of those local names gave rise to the common name in English, bichir.
Cheers,
Neale
xautomaticflowersx
Fishaholic
It's odd, I never knew them by the name 'bichir' before I came to this forum. I always just knew them as polypterus.
While the correct term is 'bichir', the alternate 'birchir' seems to be commonly used in Great Britain to the point where it has become a de facto standard there. Polypterus is, of course, the genus name for the bichirs (along with Erpetoichthys for the Rope Fish).
-Joe
-Joe
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
biker
bitcher
bi cher
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
biker
bitcher
bi cher
Also known by the common name lobed fin pike,dinosaur eel.
The name Polypterus : poly=many + pterus=fins and is pronounced po-lyp'-terus.
its still the easiest way to refer to them. you cant get it confused with anything
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