Need help w/ pronunciation ASAP!!!!!

alphaxidelta12 · #1 02-24-2002, 04:56 PM

k guys, need some help...
i need to know why you can pronounce the greek letter "XI" different ways...you can pronounce it zee, zeye, or kazee. the thing is...i always heard that it is pronounced zee when it follows a vowel (like alpha xi delta) and zeye if it follows a consenent (SP?) like delta or something. i just need to know if that is the case. could someone please help me...fast!!!!

thanks,
nicole

aephi alum · #2 02-24-2002, 09:43 PM

Not sure about xi, but I think it's similar to phi as far as the vowel/consonant thing goes.

Alpha Phi = FEE
Alpha Epsilon Phi = FIE

HTH

nucutiepie · #3 02-24-2002, 09:46 PM

but then Pi Beta FIE??? doesnt the "a" at the end of beta count as a consonant?

SAEalumnus · #4 02-24-2002, 10:06 PM

I've always heard Xi pronounced "zeye," the others are news to me.

Optimist Prime · #5 02-24-2002, 10:27 PM

Xi is pronoused [z i] using IPA format. or um...zz-EYE

maggieaxid · #6 02-24-2002, 10:49 PM

I always was told that "Xi" was pronounced ZEE for females and ZI for males....examples: Alpha Xi (ZEE) Delta Sorority and Theta Xi (ZI) Fraternity.

Tom Earp · #7 02-25-2002, 06:03 PM

Xi, is pronounced Z-eye and spelled Xi and never Zi! Well, only for phonetic reasons!

It makes no difference whether it be a he or she group! If it is pronouced difert for Fraternitys, that is their calling but wrong.

PinkRose1098 · #8 02-25-2002, 06:06 PM

It was explained to me this way:

If the Xi comes after a vowel (say like Alpha), it's pronounced as Zee with the E sound.

If the Xi come after a consenent (say Zeta or Theta), it's pronounced as Xi with the I sound.

SAEalumnus · #9 02-25-2002, 06:09 PM

tom-A-to, tom-ahh-to

I don't suppose it really matters anyway as long as people know what you're talking about.

kristiAZD · #10 02-25-2002, 06:09 PM

alphaxidelta12, when Nationals came to visit my chapter this past August, they pronounced it ZEE. That is the way we have always done it in my chapter. I think people pronounce it differently in different parts of the country. I lived in Maryland over the summer and when I was telling the girls I worked with what sorority I was in they said they had never heard of it. Then one was like, oh, you mean Alpha ZIE Delta? And I was like, WHAT?? I had NEVER heard it pronounced that way. Because Nationals pronounces it ZEE, I pronounce it ZEE. I think it just sounds prettier and has a nicer ring to it than ZIE. As for kayzee for whatever that was, I'd love to actually hear someone say it that way because I cannot IMAGINE how that sounds!

FuzzieAlum · #11 02-25-2002, 06:56 PM

I've only heard "Zee," never "Ziy." (I've never met a Theta Xi so I don't know how they say it.)

The only other pronounciation I've heard is in one of our sillier songs ... "It's spelled X I, pronounced kuh-zeeeeee."

This page http://www.pathguy.com/alphabet.htm says:

Xi
Transliterated "X"
Ancient Pronunciation: "ks" as "exist"
A crossmark stood for the "t" sound in Semitic, but somehow ended up as the letter "chi" in Greek. For some reason, the Greeks decided to use three bars for the "ks" double consonant. The Romans didn't need the "kh" sound, so they used the "chi" for their "ks" sound, which is now our "X". "Ksi" is hard to say, so campus Greeks pronounced this this letter "ZAI".