On 1/24/06, Jürgen Fleck <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > 2. TeX and the X pronounced as the Greek chi is absolutely NOT like "Bach" or > "Loch"!
Only true in German (and other languages that make the "ich-Laut" ([ç]) vs "ach-Laut" ([x]) distinction based on the preceding vowel). In such languages, the fact that the X is preceded by an 'e' would yield a [ç] instead of [x]. But that's just a phonological effect of the speaker's language, similar to the one that leads many English speakers to pronounce it with a [k]. It doesn't change the fact that the official pronunciation of TeX according to its creator is /tEx/. Bear in mind that we're talking about a name, not a word in some particular language. The actual realization of that name will inevitably vary from language to language. The /t/ may be aspirated or unaspirated; the vowel may be [e] or [E] or some other nearby vowel; final consonant may be [x] or [ç] or even [k] - but never [ks]. :) The description "like the ch in Bach" was for the benefit of English speakers, who for the most part can't even hear the difference between the two varieties of German 'ch' without training! So there's not much point in getting bogged down in such details. The question is: should the first X in MusiXTeX be pronounced the same way as the last X (however you pronounce it!)? Or otherwise? In English, the word "music" is a collective noun, which means it does not normally have a plural, do having something that sounds like "musics" is a little odd. But I guess it could be interpreted as "music's TeX", which makes sense, and is a plausible justification for the /ks/ pronunciation of the first X. But the fact that it's capitalized would lead me to pronounce it like the last one, which is, I believe, capitalized precisely to call attention to the fact that it's not pronounced /ks/ like a normal "x". -- Mark J. Reed <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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