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Coel--- is from the Latin Coelus, heaven. In late Latin, pronounced, as you correctly noted, chaylus, as in Regina Coeli (re-geena chaylee). In the English pronunciation which used to be used, this comes out as regina (rhymes with vagina) see-lye. So the prefix 'coel' would be pronounced seel and coelocanth is see-lo-canth. (I think this is the correct spelling.)
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Coel--- is from the Latin Coelus, heaven.
While this may be the root for some words containing this morpheme, Webster's agrees with tsuwm - in the case of the big, ugly fish, it's from koilos
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Carpal Tunnel
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and while it is a big ugly fish--it has a heavenly name--
but one that (pronounciaton)is so at odds with its spelling-- (at least to me) that it almost belongs in the Misled/ awry thread--
I read the story (an other one was found about 10 years ago) and then when i heard almost the same story on the news (and heard see-lah-canth) I thouhgt 2 different fish had been found--a Co el ac anth and a See lah canth!
Felt like a real dummy!
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How strange is was to see your post... i'm an avid Acrophobia player (an online word game where you must create topical sentences from randomly chosen letters - great fun!) and i've used Coelacanth several times since i read about the recent South African sighting, if for no other reason than to stump my fellow players. BTW, here's a far more interesting fish for you to check out... just cross your legs before doing so: The Candiru http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000519.htmlbridget=) Ipsa scientia potestas est ~Bacon
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The Candiru!
I spent a few weeks in the Ecuadorian Amazon several years ago, and although we were told it was okay to swim in the river (and we did quite a lot, often drifting downstream for hours, surrounded by enormous blue morpho butterflies, with occasional lines of parrots winging overhead...), our guide said to get out of the water if we had to pee, or if we got a cut. I knew before this trip that piranhas would go after blood in the water, but had no idea that the candirú was a threat as well. Although my guide did not mention the name of the fish, it was pretty clear from his presentation that he viewed the candirú as a much greater threat than the piranha (which only eats you alive).
Hyla
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a cynic might think the whole story an elaborate ruse; a local attempt to keep the waters potable.
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The Latin for heaven was caelum normally. The Latin Dictionary and Grammar Aid http://www.nd.edu/~archives/latgramm.htm gives for coel- see cael-. ae, pronounced [eye] and oe, pronounced [oy] both went to e in medieval Latin and followed the rule that turned a c from a hard [k] sound to a soft sound, [ch] in Italianate Church Latin or [ts] in German Church Latin. This sound became the [s] sound in various non-liturgical Latins, of which scientific is one. This notwithstanding, the AHD gives the etymology Greek koilos, hollow, + Greek akantha, spine, through the Modern Latin Coelacanthus. I have found no evidence that the Greek koilos ever produced anything in Classical or Medieval Latin unless some blasphemous 12th century monk editorialized caelum to coelum to indicate his belief that the concept of heaven was a hollow mockery. What this long winded diatribe comes down to is another vote for [see luh canth].
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caelum / coelo
Heavens!! I went off half-cocked; must be the candiru lurking nearby. Please, teacher, I really did know the correct gender and spelling of caelum; don't know how I came to post anything so silly.
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What I've always wondered is why, in the Roman Mass, the phrase descendit de caelis has heavens plural and ascendit in caelum has heaven singular.
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