# "Prius" pronunciation vs English **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 7, 2024, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579 "2024-03-07T18:47:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579/21 "2024-03-08T15:00:31Z")
That’s another interesting one. As someone who grew up speaking English and Spanish, to my ear English native speakers exaggerate it to the point where it sounds more like chuh reee so. ETA: As I think about it, it’s not a general thing for all native English speakers. I notice it mostly among those with a Southern accent, so that may not be a thing in Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579/22 "2024-03-08T15:08:23Z")
I don’t notice the elcongation of the second syllable around here, which is what I think you’re pointing out, but, actually, you do bring up a point that the first syllable is usually schwa’ed by native English speakers. And the more I say it to myself in my native Great Lakes accent, I do think most of the local non-Spanish speakers will turn that “s” into a “z” sound at the end, so you get something like chuh-REE-zo. (Oh, and, of course, the "r"s are different, with the English “r” being retroflex and the Spanish “r” being an alveolar flap/tap.) ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579/23 "2024-03-08T15:13:28Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > How in the heck did Toyota decide that Prius should be pronounced, ‘Pr ee us’? 'Cause we speak American around here, buddy, and not some foreign language. 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579/24 "2024-03-08T15:28:19Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > How in the heck did Toyota decide that Prius should be pronounced, ‘Pr ee us’? Looking at a katakana chart, it makes sense. The phoneme they use for spelling it is the one for ri, not ra followed by i, which would be closer to the English eye sound. I don’t think it would be possible to spell out a would wound like “pr eye us / pry us” in katakana, as a ra i u combination would end up sounding more like rah you, and we would have a “pry yous” or “pry you us” as the alternate pronunciation, not “pry us”. ETA. Which is all focused on the Japanese spelling side of things. I suppose they could have just gone with Preeus. Nothing wrong with that from the Japanese perspective. But it looks a lot funnier to me than Prius. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579/25 "2024-03-08T17:33:43Z")
Delia Smith (a popular UK TV Chef) is, I think, singlehandedly responsible for introducing the UK to the pronunciation of ‘chorizo’ that has become rather embedded; around the 50 second mark in [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoNPzJIfu4E) video. Back on ‘prius’ - unless they heard it spoken by someone else first, Brits are likely to unconsciously split this into syllables: pri/us, then think about common words like price, prize, pride, prime for the pronunciation of that first syllable. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579/26 "2024-03-08T17:51:25Z")
Was that really something she invented? When I think of the British accent, the t sound in front of an s or z (I hear her saying chuh ree tsoe) seems to be part of the accent. I didn’t think it was unique to the word chorizo and this particular chef. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579/27 "2024-03-08T18:01:15Z")
The T that seems like it’s in there might be no more than a vocal stop, but it’s definitely present in the common pronunciation you might hear a customer using in a UK supermarket, which has stress on the middle syllable: chuh-RITZ-oh ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579/28 "2024-03-08T19:16:11Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > The company founders (and pretty much everybody in the US) hew to **[the original Greek pronunciation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike_(mythology))**, i.e. Nike rhymes with “spikey”. The original Greek pronunciation is more like “NEE-keh”, as noted by your link. The “NIGH-kee” pronunciation is not like the Greek, nor is it what an English speaker would normally assume, so I’m not sure where it came from. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579/29 "2024-03-08T22:56:06Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > The original Greek pronunciation is more like “NEE-keh”, as noted by your link. The “NIGH-kee” pronunciation is not like the Greek, nor is it what an English speaker would normally assume, so I’m not sure where it came from. Ignorance fought, thanks. However, I do think the biggest discrepancy is whether the second syllable is silent or not; in that respect, the American pronunciation of the shoe company’s name is closer to the original Greek than how it’s currently pronounced in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579/30 "2024-03-08T23:47:08Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > When I think of the British accent, the t sound in front of an s or z (I hear her saying chuh ree tsoe) seems to be part of the accent. > [@pulykamell](#): > > I do think most of the local non-Spanish speakers will turn that “s” into a “z” sound at the end, so you get something like chuh-REE-zo. ( Please fight my ignorance, but where are you hearing (or seeing) an “s” in “chorizo”, mispronounced or otherwise? I hear something vaguely like cho-REE-tho. This might be like the time I asked the Argentinian guy why there was no “s” when the Bolivian guy said “más”… still not crystal clear on that one ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579/31 "2024-03-09T00:06:40Z")
🤨 Did you watch the clip? She says “chuh-RITZ-oh.” She kinda mashes the first two syllables together, ch’ritz-oh. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579/32 "2024-03-09T00:16:04Z")
Well, _she_ is obviously not a native Spanish speaker. But I suppose @FlikTheBlue may be on to something and that pronunciation is a product of an attempt to say a word she had never heard spoken aloud, with a British accent. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579/33 "2024-03-09T01:38:26Z")
It’s difficult for me to hear whether she’s using a s or z sound, because the initial t she uses is distracting. In my South Texas Spanish dialect, it’s definitely an s sound, not a z. For US non-Spanish speakers, they get the s right, but mess up the o. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579/34 "2024-03-09T02:01:39Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Please fight my ignorance, but where are you hearing (or seeing) an “s” in “chorizo”, mispronounced or otherwise? I hear something vaguely like cho-REE-tho. I live where there are Mexican speakers. They don’t really “th” anything in Spanish. ETA: I am not referring to any clip. I haven’t even watched any clip in this thread. I’m talking about how people around me talk. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579/35 "2024-03-09T07:38:41Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Please fight my ignorance, but where are you hearing (or seeing) an “s” in “chorizo”, mispronounced or otherwise? I hear something vaguely like cho-REE-tho. That’s what I would expect in Castilian Spanish, but not in any other dialect. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579/36 "2024-03-09T10:07:44Z")
I admit the rudiments of Spanish consonants were explained to me way back when by a guy from Madrid… FWIW it’s subtle, though, cf. [https://youtube.com/watch?v=m4wkGA8247M](https://youtube.com/watch?v=m4wkGA8247M) (no idea where _that_ guy is from, though) Sorry for the hijack… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579/37 "2024-03-09T10:31:10Z")
Thing is… Spanish has pretty well-defined pronunciation rules, mostly based on units that are single letters - a few cases where there are modifications for specific letter pairs, but not many more rules than there are letters in the alphabet. If you know those rules, you can read a word and reliably predict how it will be pronounced. English simply doesn’t have that. There are rules that are more like guidelines, but they are largely based on units that are syllables, and often the presence of a letter that is several spaces away will modify the sound of the one you’re looking at. And there are so many exceptions that there almost might as well not be rules at all. Sometimes you just have to be familiar with the word in order to know the pronunciation (words ending ‘ough’ being the classic example). I think it’s like this just because English is a patchwork of a lot of different languages. The rule for pronouncing unfamiliar words is ‘copy someone else or just give it your best shot’. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579/38 "2024-03-09T17:18:10Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I think it’s like this just because English is a patchwork of a lot of different languages. That’s a big part of it, but not all. If anyone wants an in-depth look into why English spelling is so irregular, I recommend [Spell It Out: The Curious, Enthralling and Extraordinary Story of English Spelling by David Crystal | Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16045004-spell-it-out). ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579/39 "2024-03-09T17:19:42Z")
FWIW, I’m in Frankfurt, Germany this weekend and the local tourist boat company is the Primus Line…pronounced pree-mus. I suppose Claypool and Co. didn’t get the memo. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prius-pronunciation-vs-english/998579.md?page=1)