5 ms·

Mathematics pronunciation guide

32 points by flatline 16y ago

jimmyjim 16y ago
Fantastic. However, I wish that IPA pronunciations were also provided.
- tokenadult 16y ago
  More and more often now, the IPA transcriptions (and alternate pronunications for some terms) could be mined from Wikipedia. Google's dictionary http://www.google.com/dictionary?aq=f&langpair=en|en&q=pronunciation http://www.google.com/dictionary?aq=f&langpair=en|en&#38... has some entries with IPA transcription of pronunciation, but fewer for mathematics than I expected.
tome 16y ago
Ha ha, if you're a non-American take these pronunciations literally you will end up sounding like an American mathematician! orthogonal: US: ohr 'thahg uhn uhl UK: or 'thog uhn ul
- hugh3 16y ago
  Or "beta", "theta" and "zeta", which I would rhyme with "beater" but Americans would rhyme with "data". Except I'd rhyme "data" with "garter" rather than "dater" anyway so that's a bad example. Wow, Barbie was right -- math is hard! (Err, maths)
devinj 16y ago
All those, and they couldn't even say which way "tuple" was supposed to be pronounced? I've been dying to know!
- flatline 16y ago
  I've always pronounced it "toople" but I have never heard many people actually say the word. It's especially confusing as e.g. quintuple is different.
- mojuba 16y ago
  As far as I know "tuh-ple" is American programming jargon (Python jargon for sure), while everywhere else it's "too-ple", including American mathematics and European everything - programming and math. Correct me if I'm wrong.
  - Volt 16y ago
    I have no idea personally, but I say "tuh-ple" because it comes from "n-tuple" (think of how you pronounce "quintuple").
    - jrp 16y ago
      What about quadru(oo)ple?
  - hugh3 16y ago
    I would pronounce it with the first syllable rhyming with "stew", not "too". I admit the distinction would be lost on anyone with an American accent anyway since "too" and "stew" rhyme in American English.
  - devinj 16y ago
    Some of the Canadian/American computer-scientists I've spoken to say it as "tuh-ple", including Stephen Cook. I count them as mathematicians. Honestly the only person I've known to say toople is, uh, me.
magoghm 16y ago
As a native french speaker, I'm not convinced at all about "zhah(n) bah teest zhoh zef foo 'Ryay" to say "Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier" :D
- ericz 16y ago
  But it's fun so fun to say
barrkel 16y ago
One that got stored in my brain faultily is χ (chi) as "key" versus "kai" - but the indicated pronunciation as ky is still ambiguous (think inky vs Kyle)! Wikipedia says kai. I still tend to pronounce it with a ch sound like Irish, German, Scottish "loch" etc. though.
- jeremymcanally 16y ago
  When you learn that letter in Greek, it's pronounced "key." I don't know if you mathological folks decided to change that or not. ;)
jodrellblank 16y ago
I was excitedly hoping it would be a guide to how to pronounce formulae, alas not.

32 points by flatline 16y ago

jimmyjim 16y ago

Fantastic. However, I wish that IPA pronunciations were also provided.

tokenadult 16y ago
More and more often now, the IPA transcriptions (and alternate pronunications for some terms) could be mined from Wikipedia. Google's dictionary http://www.google.com/dictionary?aq=f&langpair=en|en&q=pronunciation http://www.google.com/dictionary?aq=f&langpair=en|en&#38... has some entries with IPA transcription of pronunciation, but fewer for mathematics than I expected.

tome 16y ago

Ha ha, if you're a non-American take these pronunciations literally you will end up sounding like an American mathematician! orthogonal: US: ohr 'thahg uhn uhl UK: or 'thog uhn ul

hugh3 16y ago
Or "beta", "theta" and "zeta", which I would rhyme with "beater" but Americans would rhyme with "data". Except I'd rhyme "data" with "garter" rather than "dater" anyway so that's a bad example. Wow, Barbie was right -- math is hard! (Err, maths)

devinj 16y ago

All those, and they couldn't even say which way "tuple" was supposed to be pronounced? I've been dying to know!

flatline 16y ago
I've always pronounced it "toople" but I have never heard many people actually say the word. It's especially confusing as e.g. quintuple is different.
mojuba 16y ago
As far as I know "tuh-ple" is American programming jargon (Python jargon for sure), while everywhere else it's "too-ple", including American mathematics and European everything - programming and math. Correct me if I'm wrong.
- Volt 16y ago
  I have no idea personally, but I say "tuh-ple" because it comes from "n-tuple" (think of how you pronounce "quintuple").
  - jrp 16y ago
    What about quadru(oo)ple?
- hugh3 16y ago
  I would pronounce it with the first syllable rhyming with "stew", not "too". I admit the distinction would be lost on anyone with an American accent anyway since "too" and "stew" rhyme in American English.
- devinj 16y ago
  Some of the Canadian/American computer-scientists I've spoken to say it as "tuh-ple", including Stephen Cook. I count them as mathematicians. Honestly the only person I've known to say toople is, uh, me.

magoghm 16y ago

As a native french speaker, I'm not convinced at all about "zhah(n) bah teest zhoh zef foo 'Ryay" to say "Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier" :D

ericz 16y ago
But it's fun so fun to say

barrkel 16y ago

One that got stored in my brain faultily is χ (chi) as "key" versus "kai" - but the indicated pronunciation as ky is still ambiguous (think inky vs Kyle)! Wikipedia says kai. I still tend to pronounce it with a ch sound like Irish, German, Scottish "loch" etc. though.

jeremymcanally 16y ago
When you learn that letter in Greek, it's pronounced "key." I don't know if you mathological folks decided to change that or not. ;)

jodrellblank 16y ago

I was excitedly hoping it would be a guide to how to pronounce formulae, alas not.