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
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 :)
lugal@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 days ago
Are you saying that the historical pronunciation is irrelevant or are you denying language change?
ChairmanMeow@programming.dev 1 day ago
The historical pronunciation of this letter is irrelevant because it’s a modern word with a modern pronunciation.
merc@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
I had no idea that a software typesetting system was that old. Is that what Homer used to typeset the Odyssey?
lugal@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 days ago
Yes