You Say Tomato, I Say Tomahto.....

[toomie]

Ok, I gotta ask....is it pronounced Bet-ah, or Bayt-ah? Or are both acceptable?

 

[lilfishie]

i personally say Bet-ah

 

[Honeythorn]

The phonetic pronounciation is Bett-ah ( short sharp "ah" , not like aaahh )

 

[aimsley_87]

is it pronounced beet-ah?

 

[Honeythorn]

No. It's Bett-ah. The vowels are short and sharp.

 

[griddlebone]

i always said it bay- ta, like the greek letter.

 

[ct_hulhu]

i always said it bay- ta, like the greek letter.

Same here. "Bet-ah" is more proper I think, but I've always said it the other way and I like it better haha.

 

[Honeythorn]

It could most likely be a language clash between US and UK pronouncation, but if you want to know how to pronounce something properly, the clue is often in the spelling and how it is said phonetically.

To pronounce Betta -as Bay-ta in the style of the greek word, would only be phonetically correct if the name " Betta Splendens" were spelled " Beta Splendens " note the missing "t" .

Still it doesn't really matter how you say it , most people know what you're on about when you speak of bettas. But I am rather pernickety about pronounciation when I'm speaking.

 

[loraxchick]

it seems to be a language thing. in UK they say bet-ah. in us we say bay-ta.

 

[griddlebone]

It could most likely be a language clash between US and UK pronouncation, but if you want to know how to pronounce something properly, the clue is often in the spelling and how it is said phonetically.

To pronounce Betta -as Bay-ta in the style of the greek word, would only be phonetically correct if the name " Betta Splendens" were spelled " Beta Splendens " note the missing "t" .

Still it doesn't really matter how you say it , most people know what you're on about when you speak of bettas. But I am rather pernickety about pronounciation when I'm speaking.

hmm, it doesnt matter really, but i still dont think the double "t" makes it sound any different. i mean, Illegal would still sound the same if it was Ilegal, and the same for words like assassin and such. I think it only makes a difference if its a vowel.

 

[Honeythorn]

The double t does make a difference. Anything with a double t , you pronounce the t's in a short sharp way. The vowel of e before it is also pronounced short and sharp, instead of in an elongated fashion.

The Greek word Beta with it's single t has always ensured the word is pronounced Bay ta with varying degrees of emphasis on the forepart of the word, "Bay" (phonetic) which obviously depends on where in the world you come from, your regional accent and so on and so forth.

 

[Amunet]

i always said it bay- ta, like the greek letter.

Yep, that's how I say it as well.

 

[LauraFrog]

I dunno... personally I'm inclined to agree with Honeythorn, that's how I say it anyway. If it was spelt Beta, I'd probably pronounce that bee-tah.

I just call them siamese fighting fish though... around here, at least, if you use any other name (no matter how you pronounce it) nobody knows what you're on about.

 

[Curiosity101]

The name Betta (or betta) is pronounced /ˈbɛtə/.[5]That is, the first part is the same as the English word bet. By confusion with the name of the Greek letter beta, the name is often pronounced /ˈbeɪtə/ in American English, and may be misspelled with one t. The name of the genus is unrelated to that of the Greek letter, being derived from ikan bettah, in a local language in Thailand.[1]

Quoted from wikipedia. It is pronounced Bet-ah, with many americans mis pronouncing it.

bet·ta (bět'ə)
n. Any of various species of small, brightly colored, long-finned freshwater fishes of the genus Betta, found in southeast Asia.

[New Latin Betta, genus name.]

Quoted from dictionary.com and backing up the statement from wikipedia

Main Entry: bet·ta
Pronunciation: \ˈbe-tə\
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin, probably from Javanese waděr, a freshwater fish
Date: 1927
: any of a genus (Betta of the family Anabantidae) of small brilliantly colored long-finned freshwater bony fishes of southeastern Asia ; especially : siamese fighting fish

Not sure where that is quoted from. I just searched for 'dictionary on google' n picked one.

bet·ta (bět'ə)
n.
Any of various species of small, brightly colored, long-finned freshwater fishes of the genus Betta, found in southeast Asia

So there we go. It is pronounced Bet-ah, if you're wanting to be correct.

 

[Curiosity101]

Just wanted to add. I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes here. It may well be an American thing to pronounce it Bay-tah. I'm just saying that the original question was asking which way is correct.

Bet-ah is correct, and to be honest if I was watching some sort of American programme about Betta's I would genuinely cringe at the mis-pronunciation