# Pronunciation of the letter "x" in Latin and related languages **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 30, 2018, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-the-letter-x-in-latin-and-related-languages/817052 "2018-06-30T16:29:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [July 3, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-the-letter-x-in-latin-and-related-languages/817052/41 "2018-07-03T22:50:06Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > a) Does the word “ruler”, as in a leader/king, also derive from Proto-Indo-European \*h₃rḗǵs? Yes. The letter “l” derives from the Latin diminutive suffix in the form regula (‘straight stick, ruler’) derived from the same root as _rex_. It all goes back to the meaning ‘straight’ and the verb ‘to straighten’. > [@](#): > > b) Does the straight measuring rod type of “ruler” - or “rule” as I’ve occasionally heard it called - also derive from PIE \*h₃rḗǵs? Is this directly so, because it’s, in essence, a “straight” thing? Or is it indirectly so, in the sense that, like a king/leader, it brings order to chaos, in this case the chaos of measuring things and gauging straight lines by eye and hand. Or something else altogether? Yes. One and the same derivation. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2018, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-the-letter-x-in-latin-and-related-languages/817052/42 "2018-07-03T23:31:39Z")
Incidentally, _regula_ can also be translated ‘[little queen](https://youtu.be/NONIPG07as4)’. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-the-letter-x-in-latin-and-related-languages/817052/43 "2018-07-04T12:47:41Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > ♪♫ _Ysabel, Ysabel, > Perdiste la tu faxa_ ♫♪ Bable or Galego? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-the-letter-x-in-latin-and-related-languages/817052/44 "2018-07-04T13:50:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **DPRK** : > > I hope the Church’s grasp of Classical Latin has strengthened since (though this interview suggests that it hasn’t), but in any case I wouldn’t take it as a pronunciation guide. The Church’s grasp of classical Latin is just fine. They just don’t use it very often. Latin classes in church-run schools teach Classical Latin, but church business is conducted in Ecclesiastical Latin. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-the-letter-x-in-latin-and-related-languages/817052/45 "2018-07-06T15:43:40Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Note also in the Gaelic languages, that a v-or v-type sound is notated by the digraph “bh” and an f- or f-type sound is noted as “ph.” Ah, yes. Like how the Irish name Siobhan is pronounced “Shevawn”. > [@pulykamell](#): > > So b/v and p/f are closely related sounds, Farsi/Parsi/Persian comes to mind. > [@pulykamell](#): > > (And, then, the “v” sounds can also blend into “w” sounds, like they often do in Hindi, too.) Different transliterations of the festival Diwali - Sanskrit _dīpāvali_ - among the various Indian languages demonstrate the relationship between “v”, “w” and “b”, with pronunciations including _dīpavaḷi_, _dipawoli_, _dipaboli_, _divāḷi_, and even _diyārī_. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2018, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-the-letter-x-in-latin-and-related-languages/817052/46 "2018-07-07T03:04:37Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Bable or Galego? Castellano. Old-fashioned, like you said. “[Ysabel, Ysabel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-oFsqpdiNs)” by Alonso Mudarra from Guadalajara, c. 1510–1580. My go-to song for XVI. century vihuela music. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2018, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-the-letter-x-in-latin-and-related-languages/817052/47 "2018-07-08T15:54:52Z")
Jo macho, that’s not old-fashioned. It’s just plain old as fuck 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-the-letter-x-in-latin-and-related-languages/817052.md?page=2)