Quote:
Originally posted by ROWDYsister
"I'm sure all of my Alpha Phi sisters will relate to this one: People pronouncing Phi like "Ph-eye" instead of the way we actually pronounce it, "Ph-ee" We even have a song about it."
I had no idea anyone ever pronounced it "Ph-ee." Just the other day I was getting a little irritated when my math teacher said it like that. I just thought to myself, "Nope, it's Ph-eye. Pi Beta Ph-eye." You learn something new everyday.
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Your Math teacher is actually right.
The English pronunciation of "Phi" is fie.
The Greek pronunciation of "Phi" is fee.
Since the Math Teacher is talking about Phi in terms of Math (just like Delta for change and Sigma for sum are in there), and people in Greece pretty much invented Math, "Fee" is right, cuz it's the Greek pronunciation..
As for names like
Alpha "Fee" and
Pi Beta "Fie"....when it comes to nomenclature, fraternities and sororities essentially use a "hybrid" of both English and Greek pronunciation.
FWIW: I had a Math teacher who pronunced Beta as "Beeta" (which is the Greek pronunciation).