Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him and slew him, at the passes of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

Judges 12:6

In Old Testament times, mispronunciation bore a price. The Gileadites (circa 1143 B.C.) used pronunciation to differentiate their own from the Ephraimites, and the consequences of mispronunciation were severe. Today, mispronunciation, though not a matter of life and death, presents problems when it interferes with communication. In scientific nomenclature, Greek or Latin bionomials of infectious disease microorganisms are often mispronounced, sometimes causing confusion among healthcare professionals (e.g., infectious disease physicians, epidemiologists, and even microbiologists). Unlike horticulturalists, who have masterfully developed a large repertoire of common names for botanical species thereby avoiding the need for and potential mispronunciation of classical Greek and Latin, infectious disease specialists still rely on Greek and Latin bionomials.

How important is a standard pronunciation of bionomials? Language is about communication. Provided the parties in a discussion can understand each other, variations in pronunciation of individual words can be tolerated or disregarded. Everyday modern English is filled with examples of variant pronunciations that cause no communication problems (e.g., either, tomato, laboratory, fertile). These variant pronunciations have many causes. Regional practice is probably the single most important variant, but educational and social backgrounds also play a part, as do personal preferences and even etymologic theories. It would be futile and (some believe) undesirable to impose uniformity by prescribing approved pronunciations when communication is not compromised. Moreover, in all languages, pronunciation changes constantly.