# Latin pronunciation in English **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 6, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-pronunciation-in-english/267918 "2004-10-06T21:01:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-pronunciation-in-english/267918/1 "2004-10-06T21:01:06Z")
Latin pronunciation in English Basically, do the words pedophile and pediatritian have the same root word in them? I believe that they do, so then should they be pronounced with the same vowel sound? Should you say “PEEDophile” or “PEDiatritain”? Am I missing something here? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-pronunciation-in-english/267918/2 "2004-10-06T21:02:26Z")
I could be wrong but I think _both_ words are modifications. The originals began with ‘pead’. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-pronunciation-in-english/267918/3 "2004-10-06T21:03:45Z")
And in England, it _is_ pronounced ‘PEED’ ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-pronunciation-in-english/267918/4 "2004-10-06T21:10:59Z")
And to ensure that this GQ thread has its requisite number of inane nitpicks that don’t answer the question at all, don’t those words have Greek roots and not Latin? ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-pronunciation-in-english/267918/5 "2004-10-06T21:15:25Z")
> [@lno](#): > > And to ensure that this GQ thread has its requisite number of inane nitpicks that don’t answer the question at all, don’t those words have Greek roots and not Latin? Whoops…there goes what was left of my cred… :smack: So let me get this straight, in the UK you do say “PEEDaphile”? So are we Merkins the ones mangling things again? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-pronunciation-in-english/267918/6 "2004-10-06T21:18:19Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > So let me get this straight, in the UK you do say “PEEDaphile”? So are we Merkins the ones mangling things again? yes, but not ‘aphile’, ‘_o_phile’ P.s. As usual I have misunderstood the actual question. I am sorry. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-pronunciation-in-english/267918/7 "2004-10-06T21:22:39Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I could be wrong but I think _both_ words are modifications. The originals began with ‘pead’. I think you mean pæd, no? Compare paedophile (UK) to pedophile (US), encyclopaedia, paediatrician, et cetera. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-pronunciation-in-english/267918/8 "2004-10-06T21:25:53Z")
> [@lno](#): > > I think you mean pæd, no? Compare paedophile (UK) to pedophile (US), encyclopaedia, paediatrician, et cetera. Correct. And I even knew it was ae, but stupidly said ea. I’m not doing very well at this GQ :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-pronunciation-in-english/267918/9 "2004-10-06T23:46:00Z")
In the original Ancient Greek, the word for child was _paido-_, sounding like English **“pie dough.”** Modern Greek pronounces the diphthong _ai_ as a pure vowel /[symbol]e[/symbol]/, like the e in _pedal_, while the _d_ in Modern Greek is now an interdental fricative /[symbol]d[/symbol]/ like the “th” in _breathe_. Sounds like peh-though. So nobody pronounces it “right” anymore, not the English, not the Americans, not the French, nobody. Might as well never mind about it, since no one is going to revive the Ancient Greek pronunciation (outside of a classroom or revivals of Euripides that strive for authenticity in the original Greek). ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-pronunciation-in-english/267918/10 "2004-10-07T15:04:43Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > So let me get this straight, in the UK you do say “PEEDaphile”? So are we Merkins the ones mangling things again? Here in Canada, it’s pronounced either way - “pedophile” or “peedophile”. Like other words with different UK/US pronunciations (e.g. - “Lieutenant”), the pronunciation in Canada depends on the individual speaker. I usually say peedophile.