How to Pronounce Hekate Tomatos, "tomahtos", potatos, "potahtos"; but, not Hekate, "Hecate"! Suffice it to say there is the American, and British (Anglo-American) way of spelling, and pronouncing Her name, which are both incorrect, and there is the correct way of doing both. Correct Spelling When spelled with a "c" instead of a "k, (i.e. "Hecate", or the Anglo-American way), it is incorrect. A Greek "k" is not transliterated as a "c; the Greek K = the English k, thus, the literal English transliteration of Her name is "ékáte", with an accent above the "a". Her name is frequently pronunced "HE-ka-tee", or "HEH-kate". Both of those (Anglo-American) pronunciations are incorrect. Correct Pronunciation Generally, with Greek words of three syllables, the accent is on the middle/penultimate/second/second-to-the-last one. Emphasizing that rule, the accent above the "a" indicates the "a" is stressed, and (if you're speaking ancient Greek) modulated up a bit. Hence, the correct pronunciation of Her name is "heh-KAH-teh", (or "heh-KAH-tee"--both pronunciations are acceptable, provided the stressed syllable is the penultimate one.) Note:Click the button to hear how Her name is actually pronounced*: Generally, both British, and American, (particularly American) citizens have exhibited, and do exhibit remarkable disregard for how names are pronounced. The cultural trend is to decide how a name is to be pronounced, despite whether its an accurate pronunciation, or not, then to broadcast the incorrect way as though it is the correct way, hence misleading countless of the fellows into doing making the same mistake. If you been spelling, and/or pronouncing Hekate's name incorrectly, please, just stop doing so; just speak the Truth. Supporting Online Resources *Audio: This is the web site from which we recorded the audio file above. http://www.forvo.com/search/hekate/ "words of more than one syllable usually have an accent mark over the vowel in the syllable that receives the spoken stress" http://www.transparent.com/learn-greek/overview.html "Greek Ἑκάτη English ἑkAtee" http://www.languageaddicts.com/greek_pronunciation.htm?input=Ἑκάτη&output=ἑkAtee "The stress on Greek names used in English is not easily predicted from their English spellings. On short words, go for the penult (the syllable before the last): Achilles ( ͐Αχιλλευς) = ah-KILL-eez." http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/resources/PronouncingGreek.html More: http://www.foundalis.com/lan/grstress.htm https://www.teknia.com/greekalphabet/greek-punctuation-syllabification http://homepage.usask.ca/~jrp638/CourseNotes/greek/accentuation.pdf * * * * * * * * * Back/Retourner * * * * * * * * * |
