There's a simple rule in English which goes something like: a vowel says its name if it's followed by a consonant, followed by another vowel. If you pronounce Linus "lie-nus", why wouldn't you pronounce Linux "lie-nux"? All that's changed is one letter.
I also feel strongly that "Adobe" should be pronounced the same way as "abode", as the only difference is the consonants have been swapped around. However people persist in saying "Adobie".
Daniel Miessler
· 4 years ago
"If you pronounce Linus “lie-nus”, why wouldn’t you pronounce Linux “lie-nux”?"
Because Linus himself said that's not the correct way to say it. ;)
-Daniel
Pedant
· 4 years ago
Heh ... I was talking English pronunciation, not Finnish, dammit!
Daniel Miessler
· 4 years ago
Right, but he specifically says in the documentary Revolution OS that "there's only one way to say Linux", and that's with a short "i" sound, as in "Linen".
He *specifically* states this, in his own words. In other words, he's saying Lye-nux is not right, nor is Lee-nux.
It's his word; he created it. If he says it's Lynnuks (with a short "i" sound) then I'm going to go with that.
-Daniel
Pedant
· 4 years ago
I stand corrected. I guess that means we pronounce Linus that way too.
Daniel Miessler
· 4 years ago
"I guess that means we pronounce Linus that way too."
Yeah, I think you're right about that. That's how I'm going to say it anyway. I think "technically" we're supposed to say "Lee-noose", like he does, but I doubt he minds if we match it to the way he wants Linux pronounced.
-Daniel
chap
· 4 years ago
I didn't know Checkpoint knew about linux... Don't seem to be the case when you look at their VPN client, and you see that the only version available is an rpm for RedHat 7.2... Been asking them for a couple years for a vpn client for linux, they never did it. So I switched all I could to Cisco, which maintain linux vpn clients :) Wake up Checkpoint.
alex
· 4 years ago
Linus is from a Swedish-speaking part of Finland, so his first language is Swedish, albeit with a Finnish accent (which among other things makes "uh" sound more like "oo"). He would pronounce Finland very much the same as it is pronounced in English. If he were to speak Finnish, he would pronounce it Suomi, as this is the Finnish name for the country. This is all quite irrelevant, but *my* OC does not allow such things to go uncorrected.
Now, for a bit more relevance, consider that most of the words containing "-inu-" and pronounced "-eynu-" in English are from Latin: sinus, minus, and the name Linus. Incidentally, these are all pronounced "-eenu-" in Swedish.
So does that mean that "eynu" or "eenu" is correct in English? I suppose it depends on whether or not you want to continue the long-standing English practise of bastardising proper names from other languages, but that's not my call to make.
Personally, I say leenuhks in Swedish and linnuhks in English. I pronounce my middle name as leenuhs in Swedish and lienuhs in English. Perhaps I should pronounce it "hypocrite".
Pedant
· 4 years ago
Thanks for the "sinus" and "minus" examples Alex. That's the point I was attempting to make earlier (obviously less successfully).
Meanwhile, the Adobe/abode issue remains unresolved ...
Daniel Miessler
· 4 years ago
"Personally, I say leenuhks in Swedish and linnuhks in English. I pronounce my middle name as leenuhs in Swedish and lienuhs in English. Perhaps I should pronounce it “hypocrite”."
Nah, I don't think so. Since communication is the main goal when using language, it's quite alright (in my book anyway) for someone to make slight adjustments to pronunciation for their audience.
-Daniel
nova20
· 4 years ago
You say toe-may-toe, I say toe-mah-toe...
Let's just call the whole thing off.
sincere
· 4 years ago
thanks for clearing this up, I've always said linnux, then heard someone bust out the one that rhymes with Linus (and Lucy). As far as Adobe... Dude, that's a WORD already. They didn't make that one up. Look it up in any respectable dictionary. My freaking house is made out of it.
Lazy Bastard
· 4 years ago
Yeah, dude..."adobe" is from the Spanish adobar which means "TO PLASTER" and is traceable through Arabic tauf to an Egyptian hieroglyph meaning "brick". The word may be pronounced ah-doh-bee or uh-doh-bee.
jeff
· 3 years ago
"Yeah, dude…”adobe” is from the Spanish adobar which means “TO PLASTER” and is traceable through Arabic tauf to an Egyptian hieroglyph meaning “brick”. The word may be pronounced ah-doh-bee or uh-doh-bee."
Lazy Bastard, did you mean that Adobe was pronounced ah-doh-bee in arabic pronounciation of english?
In english, the "e" sound is silent like in "probe". Unless there is a y or i in the word, the name is pronounced with no y or i sounds. If this is the case, the English pronounciatiaton of Adobe is in fact, "Ah-dobe", not "ah-doh-bee" unless you're talking arabic context.
Karen
· 3 years ago
I lived in Denmark for ten years where we all pronounced it as "ah-dobe". I found it very strange when moving back to the States, it was pointed out to me that I was pronouncing it incorrectly.
Well, why do people always say "to-ki-yo" when it's phonetically spelled and pronounced "Tokyo"?
As for names, in Denmark they pronounce mine "kaahn" like Genghis Khan - or James Caan. Daniel's right - you make adjustments for your audience.
So, really, who originally invented Adobe and is the author, like Linux, adamant that it be pronounced in this arabic/spanish/egyptian way??
Karen
· 3 years ago
Here it is: "Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) (LSE: ABS) is an American computer software company headquartered in San Jose, California, United States that was founded in December 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke. They founded Adobe after leaving Xerox PARC in order to further develop and commercialize the PostScript page description language. Adobe played a significant role in sparking the desktop publishing revolution when Apple Computer licensed PostScript for use in the LaserWriter printer product line in 1985. The company name Adobe comes from the Adobe Creek, which ran behind the house of one of the company's founders.
Adobe acquired its former competitor, Macromedia, in December 2005."
Virginia
· 3 years ago
The word adobe is pronounced &-'dO-bE and is three syllables. A listening button is provided at Merriam-Webster -- online, for those who are too hard-nosed to look in a printed dictionary and would rather argue about how many teeth are in a horse's mouth.
You can also try calling Adobe customer service and asking them, instead of arguing here. (800) 833-6687
I called McAfee for that reason, after hearing someone say mc-AFF-ee too many times.
As for Linux, I simply disagree with almost every argument here in favor of lie-nucks. Definitely the pronunciation given by Linus himself is best, with a very slight modification from the Scandinavian accent. I can't understand why there was ever a large number of people who thought otherwise.
I'm not a linguist, but I do have an English degree and above-average pronunciation, and lie-nucks drives me crazy. I suspect the Anglo pronunciation of Linus isn't any more correct anyway (maybe a Greek-speaker could clear it up better).
Linus: from the Greek, meaning flax(en)
Linus is taken from the refrain ai-linon, or "woe is me"
From the Greek name Λινος (Linos) lee'-nos
Pronunciation button available here -- #3044 (although my speaker connection doesn't seem to work at the moment)
I don't care how even Linus himself says he wants it pronounced. What actually comes out of his mouth, using "California English based phonetics", is "LEE-nooks"!
maxo
· 3 years ago
The Linus/Linux point is not important because the English alphabet is not phonetic. Just like son, and Don. The o has a completely different sound in each word. In English there is a great amount of play we are allowed to do with our vowels. The change in most English accents deals primarily with the pronunciation of vowels. Even when hearing Linus talk we naturally convert the "Leenooks" to be "Lehnicks" because we naturally translate the accent in our mind. In short, comparing the pronunciation of one word with another doesn't prove anything. Proper nouns can work however we decide we want them to work.
cantormath
· 3 years ago
Here is Linus Torvalds clearing things up for you. " Linux is alway Linux" - L.T. http://tinyurl.com/ybrh4s
All Comments
I also feel strongly that "Adobe" should be pronounced the same way as "abode", as the only difference is the consonants have been swapped around. However people persist in saying "Adobie".
Because Linus himself said that's not the correct way to say it. ;)
-Daniel
He *specifically* states this, in his own words. In other words, he's saying Lye-nux is not right, nor is Lee-nux.
It's his word; he created it. If he says it's Lynnuks (with a short "i" sound) then I'm going to go with that.
-Daniel
Yeah, I think you're right about that. That's how I'm going to say it anyway. I think "technically" we're supposed to say "Lee-noose", like he does, but I doubt he minds if we match it to the way he wants Linux pronounced.
-Daniel
Now, for a bit more relevance, consider that most of the words containing "-inu-" and pronounced "-eynu-" in English are from Latin: sinus, minus, and the name Linus. Incidentally, these are all pronounced "-eenu-" in Swedish.
So does that mean that "eynu" or "eenu" is correct in English? I suppose it depends on whether or not you want to continue the long-standing English practise of bastardising proper names from other languages, but that's not my call to make.
Personally, I say leenuhks in Swedish and linnuhks in English. I pronounce my middle name as leenuhs in Swedish and lienuhs in English. Perhaps I should pronounce it "hypocrite".
Meanwhile, the Adobe/abode issue remains unresolved ...
Nah, I don't think so. Since communication is the main goal when using language, it's quite alright (in my book anyway) for someone to make slight adjustments to pronunciation for their audience.
-Daniel
Let's just call the whole thing off.
Lazy Bastard, did you mean that Adobe was pronounced ah-doh-bee in arabic pronounciation of english?
In english, the "e" sound is silent like in "probe". Unless there is a y or i in the word, the name is pronounced with no y or i sounds. If this is the case, the English pronounciatiaton of Adobe is in fact, "Ah-dobe", not "ah-doh-bee" unless you're talking arabic context.
Well, why do people always say "to-ki-yo" when it's phonetically spelled and pronounced "Tokyo"?
As for names, in Denmark they pronounce mine "kaahn" like Genghis Khan - or James Caan. Daniel's right - you make adjustments for your audience.
So, really, who originally invented Adobe and is the author, like Linux, adamant that it be pronounced in this arabic/spanish/egyptian way??
"Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) (LSE: ABS) is an American computer software company headquartered in San Jose, California, United States that was founded in December 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke. They founded Adobe after leaving Xerox PARC in order to further develop and commercialize the PostScript page description language. Adobe played a significant role in sparking the desktop publishing revolution when Apple Computer licensed PostScript for use in the LaserWriter printer product line in 1985. The company name Adobe comes from the Adobe Creek, which ran behind the house of one of the company's founders.
Adobe acquired its former competitor, Macromedia, in December 2005."
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/adobe
You can also try calling Adobe customer service and asking them, instead of arguing here. (800) 833-6687
I called McAfee for that reason, after hearing someone say mc-AFF-ee too many times.
As for Linux, I simply disagree with almost every argument here in favor of lie-nucks. Definitely the pronunciation given by Linus himself is best, with a very slight modification from the Scandinavian accent. I can't understand why there was ever a large number of people who thought otherwise.
I'm not a linguist, but I do have an English degree and above-average pronunciation, and lie-nucks drives me crazy. I suspect the Anglo pronunciation of Linus isn't any more correct anyway (maybe a Greek-speaker could clear it up better).
Linus: from the Greek, meaning flax(en)
Linus is taken from the refrain ai-linon, or "woe is me"
From the Greek name Λινος (Linos)
lee'-nos
Pronunciation button available here -- #3044 (although my speaker connection doesn't seem to work at the moment)
http://www.searchgodsword.org/lex/grk/browse.cg...
In short, comparing the pronunciation of one word with another doesn't prove anything. Proper nouns can work however we decide we want them to work.
" Linux is alway Linux" - L.T.
http://tinyurl.com/ybrh4s