this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2025
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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.
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.
… 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.
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
How about the breathtakingly wrong Latin pronunciations?
Veni Vidi Vici