My wife pronounces it three different ways, each of which she can support. I pronounce it one, but other than that it’s the way I’ve heard it I can’t support my pronunciation even after some searches. What’s yours and why?

  • nesc@lemmy.cafeEnglish
    25·
    13 天前

    ken-tavr, I think that’s similar to how it pronounced in a lot of languges around here, it’s also pretty similar how original greeks did it (kένταυροι)

  • Otherbarry@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyzEnglish
    20·
    13 天前

    Like the other commenter I pronounce it sen-tor. Just like the word “dinosaur” I would pronounce die-no-sor if that makes sense. Both words end in “aur”.

    …though now you’ve got me curious about how you and your wife pronounce dinosaur :)

  • AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.worldEnglish
    13·
    13 天前

    If it’s in a Greek or ancient Latin context I pronounce it with a hard C, but if it’s a general English context I pronounce it with a soft C.

    I’m not sure what the third way would be.

          • EveryMuffinIsNowEncryptedEnglish
            24·
            13 天前

            I have not once in my entire life heard anyone say it like that. Where are you from? Maybe it’s a regional thing…

            • toynbee@lemmy.worldOP
              10·
              13 天前

              Maryland. Maybe it’s regional, like you said. However, I was sheltered growing up, so maybe not.

              • ghost_towels@sh.itjust.works
                3·
                13 天前

                That very well could be regional. Are you near Baltimore? I grew up around DC, but mostly in Annapolis, and I’ve always said it like cen-tar

                Edit - I agree with the person below, your brain probably decided that’s how it was pronounced at a young age. There’s a bunch of words I’ve read but never say out loud because I know I will say them wrong! I should just own them, there’s too many great words out there!

                • toynbee@lemmy.worldOP
                  2·
                  13 天前

                  I am no longer in Maryland, but yes, I spent most of my life within an hour of Baltimore. I was indeed an avid reader, so it’s possible that I made my own decision about its pronunciation (that has certainly happened with other words), but I think I got this one from hearing my mom say it. I can’t prove that, though.

                  https://youtu.be/LkjxO9OVwNs

            • kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world
              1·
              13 天前

              I’m guessing he first encountered the word in text without having heard it and his brain guessed it rhymes with “jaguar”, which is understandable.

          • tyler@programming.dev
            5·
            13 天前

            I told my wife about this thread and about how you said you pronounced it differently and she jokingly said “sen-CHWAR” in a funny voice. When I read your comment off to her she laughed incredibly hard. Her joke turned out to be spot on lol.

            • toynbee@lemmy.worldOP
              3·
              13 天前

              Rude.

              But I’m glad I could add some levity to your day! I can often make my wife chortle, but when I can make her laugh incredibly hard it’s a good day.

          • kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world
            2·
            13 天前

            So on the one hand, I think you are going to find almost nobody agrees with your pronunciation. On the other hand, you should wear your mispronunciations with pride because what that tells me is that you were a reader growing up and likely came about this word the first time in text without any other context, maybe even many times before you heard it spoken. Your brain made an educated guess (I’m guess pulling from the pronunciation of “jaguar”?). It got it wrong, but understandably so, and it has cemented in your brain. Fix it if you care to, but no real need. Either way, kudos for being a young reader.

            • toynbee@lemmy.worldOP
              1·
              13 天前

              Heh, thanks, that’s a very supportive answer.

              I said in another comment, but I was indeed an avid reader and have definitely had that experience with other words (my dad once teased me for my pronunciation of “unequivocally,” for example, and no I won’t provide my incorrect effort here). However, I’m pretty sure I got this particular pronunciation from my mom, though I can’t say why I think that. If I’m correct, I wonder why she thought it was pronounced this way; she also read a lot, so perhaps your theory is correct but generationally shifted.

          • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
            2·
            13 天前

            I’ve never heard it that way but I get it. A combination of (the relevant bits of) suture and jaguar. Only problem is, it’s not spelled centuar, it’s spelled centaur.

            However, until one shows up to personally correct your spelling and pronunciation, I think you’re free to call imaginary creatures whatever you call them.

            • toynbee@lemmy.worldOP
              1·
              13 天前

              I am now questioning every word I’ve ever pronounced, but I think “shawarma” has a softer “sh” whereas my apparently incorrect pronunciation of centaur has a harder “ch,” like “change.”

              Perhaps you should consult Tony Stark to satisfy your centaur shawarma cravings. If anyone could make it happen, it’s probably him.

    • futatorius@lemm.ee
      2·
      13 天前

      The third way would be a difference in how the diphthong is pronounced: “-aur” or “-ower.”

  • Skunk@jlai.lu
    7·
    13 天前

    Scent-ore

    Simply “englishified” from French where I’ve ever heard only one way, Centaur (100 tor).

  • kuneho@lemmy.world
    4·
    13 天前

    Ken (as the name) - ta (with a hard T and A as in catapult) - ur (with an u like in Vonnegut’s name)

    tho I’m from europe speaking a weird ass language

  • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
    4·
    13 天前

    Sin tar is the usual way, though it’ll sometimes come out more sin tawr, where the au is a bit more drawn out.

    Sin tore is a fairly common one.

    However, sin tar is more common, at least with what I’ve heard in meat space. That’s a fairly limited thing though, since most of the people I have talked to over my fifty years have been fellow southerners. We do tend to use softer vowels in most cases, and tar is softer than tore in the way we tend to do vowels.

    However, with the latin and Greek origins of the word, I’d argue that the tar or tawr would lean closer to that than tore, just because of similar words. When an au is present in medical terminology (which is where almost all of my latin and Greek comes from) it usually gets pronounced aw or ah, not oh.

    But, I never hear anyone pronounce the initial C as a K, and that’s the way it would have been in both of those languages originally. The Greek version is spelled with a K, when written with the usual alphabet rather than Greek. Kentauros.

    Which is an aside.

    Wikipedia lists the two I did as the usual pronunciations, fwiw. And all the dictionaries with audio options are either those two, or slight variations of them, where the au sound is rounder or flatter than the norm.

    Thing is, it’s a word in a living language. Whatever the original English pronunciation may have been, that can change, so supporting a pronunciation is kind of meaningless. What matters is consensus over time, and by location.

    So, a regional accent that sounds more like cent-ur is just as valid in that region, it just isn’t standard. So would any other variant be, if there’s enough people using it to be called a consensus.

    • Hegar@fedia.io
      2·
      13 天前

      Personally, I say sen tore.

      According to my classics professor ~20 years ago, we can’t know how “au” would’ve been pronounced in the greek.

      He told us that ancient greek diphthong pronunciation is just made up. Apparently it’s much harder to reconstruct those sounds confidently, but that didn’t stop past classicists from claiming their reckonings as incontrovertible facts. Oxford and cambridge used to expell students for following the diphthong pronunciations of the other, but both are basically guesses.

      • futatorius@lemm.ee
        2·
        13 天前

        Even English has wide variations in how diphthongs are pronounced. I’m living in southwestern England, and the old boys pronounce the sounds in diphthongs almost separately: “boy” is two syllables: “bwooey.” But like regional dialects everywhere, that’s fading in the younger generation.