NPK Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 How is the c supposed to be pronounced in words such as encephalitis and encephalopathy? I've always said them with a soft c, but have heard many use a hard c. Most other words with a c between an n and e have a soft c sound..eg. incest, ancestor, so why do people insist of using the hard c when saying encephalitis?? Doesn't make sense to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thing Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 It is a soft c. As in a sound that sounds like an s. Who do you know that pronounced it with a hard c? I've never heard of anyone who has done that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 yea, it sounds like an s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NPK Posted February 12, 2006 Author Share Posted February 12, 2006 Who do you know that pronounced it with a hard c? I've never heard of anyone who has done that. Quite a few microbiology lecturers here in Australia. I've always thought they were pronouncing it wrong.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daecon Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 N-seff-a-lite-iss Is how I would pronounce it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevermore Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 en-seff-uh-lite-iss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prion Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 I'm going to say en-keph-alitis just to be different. I used to do research in a neurology hospital where they were studying encephalopathies and they all pronounced it with a K sound (I'm in the UK though). It comes from the Greek word for brain: enkephalos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NPK Posted February 12, 2006 Author Share Posted February 12, 2006 I'm going to say en-keph-alitis just to be different. I used to do research in a neurology hospital where they were studying encephalopathies and they all pronounced it with a K sound (I'm in the UK though). It comes from the Greek word for brain: enkephalos How would you say 'cephalic'? With a s or a k sound? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prion Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 How would you say 'cephalic'? With a s or a k[/i'] sound? with a K sound, always. I've rarely heard it with an 'S' sound and it sounds bizarre to me. But maybe it's different in different places. I think in the UK people tend to stick to a more 'european' pronunciation and spelling. Like Haem Vs Heme, etc. I used to work for a professor who insisted "apoptosis" was pronounced apoh-tosis ie with no second 'p' sound. On the basis that "ptosis" on its own was pronounced 'tosis'. Haven't heard that anywhere else though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starbug1 Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 with a K sound, always. I've rarely heard it with an 'S' sound and it sounds bizarre to me. But maybe it's different in different places. I think in the UK people tend to stick to a more 'european' pronunciation and spelling. Like Haem Vs Heme, etc. cephalic should be seh-falik, I think. It's comes from the Latin word cephalique and is the root word from encephalitis, thus a soft c-sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevermore Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=encephalitis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prion Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 [url']http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=encephalitis[/url] yes I know I noticed that! I'm going to ask everyone at work now what they say! (I work in a hospital). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daecon Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 If it's based on the Greek word for Brain then I supopse it would be more appropriate to keep to the original pronounciation of the root word. Encephalitis - Yet another example of why the English Language sucks of inconsistency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcol Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 My wife's Dictionary of medical terms says hard c (k), and the root is greek, enkephalos. All her medical colleagues pronounced it "k". That is good enough for me. If yanks want to mispronounce it, that is their problem, as long as they dont call it English. I knew a Dutchman who claimed that among other languages, he also spoke english and american. He thought they were different, it appears he may be right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shush Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 Encephalitis - Yet another example of why the English Language sucks of inconsistency. All languages have their inconsistencies and their lunacies. But I do agree that since the root has a soft c, the obvious english equivalent should use the same. At least that is what I have heard all my fellow physicians pronounce it as. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prion Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 aah now according to this online dictionary the latin 'root' comes from the greek work enkephalos...I think we'll have to agree to disagree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 "Brain stuff" is a shed load easier when in doubt I`m with the C = S sound, although the word Encepalphathy I have heard proffesionaly said with a K sound as enKepalofathee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NixPix Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 (edited) The word is derived from the Greek "κεφαλή" (kephalé), meaning head, to which are added: "εν-" (en), meaning inside and "-ιτις" (-itis), meaning inflammation. The word in English has come via Latin, then French. The C in romance languages is "soft" before E, I, and Y (e.g. receive, decide, cede, city, cyanide, cynical) and "hard" before A, O and U (e.g. cat, cot, cut). Exceptions in French are indicated by the use of the "softening" cedilla: "Français", "Çendrillon". Céphalique in French has no cedilla and should be pronounced "hard": Ke-fa-LICK. In English the classical pronunciation is en-ke-fa-LIGHT-iss. This is consistent with etymology and the French cognate word. All words derived from Greek "Kephalé" are pronounced in a similar way with the "hard" C: Encephalogram, cephalic, cephalopod, encephalin, etc, etc. Similarly, the word Celt is often pronounced with a "soft" C, whereas in Greek "Κέλτοι" (keltoi) and Latin "Celtae" (Keltae) are always pronounced with a "hard" C. As far as the pronunciation of "apoptosis" is concerned, as it is also derived from the Greek, the two "P's" should be pronounced, as they are in the original language: A-pop-TOE-sis. Edited March 2, 2009 by NixPix spelling/syntax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaeroll Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Related: is it "ah-mee-no" acid or "ah-my-no" acid? In the UK it is near-universally pronounced the latter, but one or two lecturers irritatingly use the former. Input from a few Yanks appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayonara Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Related: is it "ah-mee-no" acid or "ah-my-no" acid? In the UK it is near-universally pronounced the latter, but one or two lecturers irritatingly use the former. Input from a few Yanks appreciated. "One or two"? "Near-universally"? I think you have it the wrong way around there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaeroll Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 "One or two"? "Near-universally"? I think you have it the wrong way around there. Nope - I've met maybe two people who say "a-my-no". Edit: whoops. You're right - one or two say "a-my-no", almost all say "a-mee-no". I misread my own post *duh* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 in Chem it`s Ay-Meen or Ay-Mide etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ennui Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 How is the c supposed to be pronounced in words such as encephalitis and encephalopathy? I've always said them with a soft c, but have heard many use a hard c. Most other words with a c between an n and e have a soft c sound..eg. incest, ancestor, so why do people insist of using the hard c when saying encephalitis?? Doesn't make sense to me. I agree, I'm in the soft c camp. Merged post follows: Consecutive posts mergedNope - I've met maybe two people who say "a-my-no". Edit: whoops. You're right - one or two say "a-my-no", almost all say "a-mee-no". I misread my own post *duh* When lecturers say "a-my-no" people usually giggle. It's because they're almost always the very posh, upper-class lecturers. It's like the old scone/scooooone thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaeroll Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 Heh, I used to take a class with a Scouse lass. Someone made the mistake of saying "scoooone" and was immediately dubbed a "scon 'ead". It stuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abendland Posted September 28, 2018 Share Posted September 28, 2018 (edited) In England it is pronounced KEFF, in the USA it is pronounced SEFF. In the future you can look in the dictionary for the correct pronunciation. Many online dictionaries have icons you can click on to play a recording of the word so you can hear the correct pronunciation. Often they will say if it is the English pronunciation or the American pronunciation. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/encephalitis Edited September 28, 2018 by Abendland Typo "CEFF" when I meant "SEFF" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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