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[-] ChairmanMeow@programming.dev 4 points 5 days ago

It's also wrong, it's supposed to be a ch-sound as in Bach.

[-] lugal@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 5 days ago

Depending on the time. In ancient Greek it was /k^h^/ (aspirated k, basically the normal k in English) which turned to /x/ as you said but neither is wRoNG, especially when your native language doesn't have one if the sounds

[-] ChairmanMeow@programming.dev 4 points 5 days ago

The k-sound is used when the chi is prefixed in front of certain vowels. The ch-sound is the truly correct pronunciation here, there's no history involved for that.

Knuth, the guy who coined it, also says the ch-sound is the correct one, though he also says the k-sound is also acceptable. As long as you do not use the ks-sound at least :)

[-] froh42@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago

Knuth is the perfect nerd, publishing a package where people are still discussing how to pronounce its name close to 50 years after.

[-] lugal@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 5 days ago

Are you saying that the historical pronunciation is irrelevant or are you denying language change?

[-] ChairmanMeow@programming.dev 2 points 4 days ago

The historical pronunciation of this letter is irrelevant because it's a modern word with a modern pronunciation.

[-] merc@sh.itjust.works 1 points 5 days ago

I had no idea that a software typesetting system was that old. Is that what Homer used to typeset the Odyssey?

this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2025
822 points (97.7% liked)

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