I see that X-Men is pronounced as 'Eks-Men', and saw in the movie Xavier pronounced as "Eks-aay-vier" instead of the British English pronounciation "Zay-vier".
How are other words starting with X pronounced in USA?
Is it another of those US vs British English things - like skejul(US) and shidyool (UK) for "schedule"?
Best answer will get points!
:-)
2006-06-19 17:15:17 · 14 answers · asked by Maloy 3 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Well for sure, if the word starts with an X by itself (such as X-Men or X-ray), it will be pronounced "eks." I've actually heard words like Xavier pronounced both ways, and I live in the US. Some words beginning with X are always pronounced like a Z, for example xylaphone. I think it's just us Americans trying to make things more complicated than they have to be. :)
2006-06-19 17:21:17 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
No, there is not some great difference between British & US English here.
Initial x is pronounced as "eks" ONLY:
1) in constructions like "X-men" or "x-ray", in which the X stands separate from the rest of the word (is not combined with a following vowel) In other words, the "X" in these compounds simply represents the LETTER x, and so is pronounced as the letter x.
(I'm rather certain British English handles these the same way.)
2) in the name "Xavier", in its 'popular' use.
That is, references to Francis Xavier (and, one hopes, to all things named after him (like Xavier University) are pronounced --or supposed to be pronounced!-- with the z-sound. But the 'popular' use of the name is more often pronounced "ek-zavier".
The first is not really an exception. The second is unusual in that it is a proper NAME, and the pronunciation of names varies so widely, it is impossible to base rules about general pronounciation on how names are treated!
Again, there is no fundamental Brit/American divide here -- certainly not on the basis of a popular pronunciation of ONE name!
2006-06-20 04:12:14 · answer #2 · answered by bruhaha 7 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Words That Start With X
2016-10-28 06:32:10 · answer #3 · answered by amaya 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are typically pronounced as if it were a "Z".
Such as in "xylophone".
Some people mispronounce things like "xavier," because they say the first thing they see, the letter "X".
This is of course because X is a very uncommon letter to start words with.
2006-06-19 17:21:22 · answer #4 · answered by Steven B 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Yeah lor, dono why ar? They can adopt the Mandarin 'fa-ying' system on how to pronounce and using different tone for different characters.
2016-05-20 04:00:08 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are many different pronunciations, so there is no particular pattern, I think. "Xavier", for example, is sometimes pronounced eksavier, and sometimes zayvier.
2006-06-20 06:27:31 · answer #6 · answered by drshorty 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i've always pronounced words beginning with x as though they began with z, like zlyophone, for instance, unless the x stands by itself, e.g. x-ray, then i say eks-ray
2006-06-20 03:03:43 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
I pronounce words beginning with "X" as having a "Z" sound at the beginning.
Xavier=Zavier
Xerox=Zerox
2006-06-20 03:40:30 · answer #8 · answered by Ted 5 · 2⤊ 2⤋
I thought it was more of a s or soft Z sound
Xanthe sound like a s. Just my thouhts I'm no expert
2006-06-19 17:21:42 · answer #9 · answered by southerngirl407 1 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Xavier is Spanish and is pronounced "hav i yer".
2006-06-19 19:57:16 · answer #10 · answered by Plain and Simple 5 · 2⤊ 4⤋