Why is the phi in alpha phi pronounced fee and not fye

[AlwaysSAI]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

You called? Just when I was headed to bed, too, so I'll stick to the short explanation.

Which is, basically, rufio and honeychile are right. It has nothing to do with coming after a vowel, (or technically, after the name of a vowel) -- that's a Greek Urban legend. The name of F is spelled Fi in Greek, and the Iota, like "i" in most European languages other than English, represents an "ee" sound, not an "eye" sound. So, "FEE" is the Greek pronunciation. Always. "FYE" is an anglicized, mainly American, pronunciation. The Alpha Phis chose to use the Greek pronunciations, while most of the rest of us use anglicized pronunciations.

And in case anyone is wondering, the correct pronuncitions of the names of the letters X, P, C and Y are "KSEE" (pronoucing both the K and the S), "PEE," "CHEE" (with the "ch" like in Scottish "loch") and "PSEE" (pronouncing both the P and the S).

Now, that really was short for me.

See, I knew about I(ee)ota, but I didn't know about X, P, C and Y. So, it's really, Chee Omega. And Kappa Kappa Ksee. And Phee Sigma Pee. You know a friend of mine told me that P but I thought he was just making a joke cuz he's a little anti greek.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by AlwaysSAI

See, I knew about I(ee)ota . . .

Well, of course you did, my dear SAI. Although in Greek, the Iota and the Omega form a "rising diphthong" (two vowel sounds pronounced together with the emphasis on the second vowel sound), so that the Iota becomes a gliding semivowel and the word is pronounced "YOTA."

Now, if that wasn't enough Greek letter trivia of the day:

Did you know that Omega and Omicron simply mean "Big O" or "Great O" (O mega) and "Little O" (O mikron)?

[amanda6035]

Soooo....

according to what you guys are saying, my chapter is calling our chapter designation "wrong"? Hahah. Iota Theta, but we pronounce it eye-oh-ta.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by amanda6035

Soooo....

according to what you guys are saying, my chapter is calling our chapter designation "wrong"? Hahah. Iota Theta, but we pronounce it eye-oh-ta.

Nah. You may not be using accepted Greek pronunciation, but (like most GLOs), you're using accepted anglicized/American pronunciation.

Most GLOs pronounce it "eye-o-ta." As AlwaysSAI alludes to, however, SAI does not.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by AlwaysSAI

See, I knew about I(ee)ota, but I didn't know about X, P, C and Y. So, it's really, Chee Omega. And Kappa Kappa Ksee. And Phee Sigma Pee. You know a friend of mine told me that P but I thought he was just making a joke cuz he's a little anti greek.

Not necessarily. If your GLO is accustomed to using the English pronounciation, then that's fine. If they prefer the Greek, that's fine, too. Think of it as an accent - just because you know an (American) sweater is an (English) jumper, it would sound affected if you said "jump-ah", wouldn't it?

[AlwaysSAI]

Originally Posted by honeychile

Not necessarily. If your GLO is accustomed to using the English pronounciation, then that's fine. If they prefer the Greek, that's fine, too. Think of it as an accent - just because you know an (American) sweater is an (English) jumper, it would sound affected if you said "jump-ah", wouldn't it?

I was refering to speaking it correctly, in greek. I understand the anglecan-asion of it, but like, to really speak the greek.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by AlwaysSAI

See, I knew about I(ee)ota, but I didn't know about X, P, C and Y. So, it's really, Chee Omega. And Kappa Kappa Ksee. And Phee Sigma Pee. You know a friend of mine told me that P but I thought he was just making a joke cuz he's a little anti greek.

Iota sounds more like Yota than EEota. Alpha Omicron Pee sounds funny, so I'm glad we use the anglicized version!

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Well, of course you did, my dear SAI. Although in Greek, the Iota and the Omega form a "rising diphthong" (two vowel sounds pronounced together with the emphasis on the second vowel sound), so that the Iota becomes a gliding semivowel and the word is pronounced "YOTA."

Now, if that wasn't enough Greek letter trivia of the day:

Did you know that Omega and Omicron simply mean "Big O" or "Great O" (O mega) and "Little O" (O mikron)?

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

Iota sounds more like Yota than EEota. Alpha Omicron Pee sounds funny, so I'm glad we use the anglicized version!

Somehow I missed your post, Mystic Cat! I probably just didn't see that there was a whole second page of posts. Wow...it's amazing how often this subject comes up!!