this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2025
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why's it so hard 😭

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[–] procrastitron@lemmy.world 11 points 9 hours ago (3 children)

I think Joey would be much closer to the right pronunciation in this case.

I’m pretty sure ancient Greek didn’t have any concept of a “Silent Pi”. That leading “p” sound is supposed to be said.

It might be really hard for a native English speaker to say those two consonants together, but that doesn’t mean Joey is wrong for trying.

[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 1 points 2 hours ago

The "right" pronunciation depends on what you take for reference. If you're treating the word as an English one, the woman is right - English doesn't allow this sort of initial cluster, and spelling-wise it's well-established that some initial consonants are mute (see e.g. "knife").

And, if treating the word as a Koine Greek one... odds are both are butchering the word so much that [pə] wouldn't save the day. Even the man is likely pronouncing it as [pə.'tɒl.ə.mi]; the Greek word would be more like [pto.le.'mɛ:.os], or [pto.le.'maɪ̯.os] with a really conservative pronunciation.

[–] procrastitron@lemmy.world 10 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (1 children)

… although, I guess any pronunciation will be wrong because the actual name was “Πτολεμαίος”, so if you wanted a correct transliteration you would have to use “Ptolemaious”

Regardless, Joey is still closer to the correct pronunciation.

[–] teft@lemmy.world 6 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

Πτολεμαίος

You can put it in google translate to hear a modern greek version of it. The P sound is there but nearly silent.

https://translate.google.com/?sl=el&tl=en&text=%CE%A0%CF%84%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%B5%CE%BC%CE%B1%CE%AF%CE%BF%CF%82&op=translate

[–] mrsemi@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago

How about the breathtakingly wrong Latin pronunciations?

Veni Vidi Vici