this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2024
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Linux
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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I have a rule about acronyms: if the spelling makes sense to be said as a word, I follow the English grammatical rules. A word that's spelled s-u-s-e would be pronounced "soos", so that's what I say.
This is why I don't pronounce GNU as "ga-noo", it doesn't make sense as a word. In those cases, I just spell them out.
That's a joke right?
GNU like Gnu, I dont see the problem?
Edit: oh damn english people cant pronounce that?
Here, dict.cc has lots of spoken examples
Well you know how USA citizens (yeah they're not English but still) pronounce GNOME ? I once heard one pronounce it as NOME like as in Nomen nescio.
Well, "nome", with a silent G is the correct pronunciation of "gnome", as in e.g. "garden gnome".
From the UK I learned it as nome, but the gn is sounded like ng in ing endings rather than n like no. the difference is slight. n As in no is front of tongue on teeth and (g)ng is a back of the throat and nasal NG sound. When I hear people pronounce as two syllables guh-nome it sounds weird.
Is it supposed to sound like an airplane noise?
No. I've never seen an english word resembling this type of spelling, so I just say each letter.
To each their own, imo my way reduces the risk of confusion. There's no way to misinterpret what I mean when I say G-N-U rather than g'nue
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gnu
Well I'll be, I humbly stand corrected. I will don the dunce cap for this one
It's a gnarly spelling.
Don't let it gnaw away at you too badly.
I add the hard 'g' to gnu because saying "new" often sounds confusing in an English context.
e.g. "New Linux"
There are people who don't say GNU like the animal?
So what's the deal with GNU? When I first saw it, I was sure the G was silent, or formed a dipthong, like gnat or gnocchi or gnaw or gnarly or gnome or just any word starting with gn in English. But IRL, I've only heard it pronounced with a hard G, same with Gnome.
Well thats the thing, generally if I see an acronym and have to ask myself how it would be pronounced as a word, by my rule I just spell it out.
For a great example of this (unrelated to FOSS), look at LGBTQIA+. Even though it's a mouthful to say each letter individually, no one wrestles it into "Leguhbuht'kwia plus", it just doesn't make sense and saying it that way would probably ellicit a dead stare from whoever heard it. Unless it's painfully simple to morph into a word or single syllable, I don't bother.
I'm not trying to say this is the right way, mind you. It's just the way that makes the most sense to me.
Except GNU is a great example of an acronym that is pronounceable. It's even in the dictionary. The GNU mascot is a gnu, in fact.
LGBTQIA+ is essentially unpronounceable, thus we treat it as an initialism. Not that that's a requirement, there are examples like VIP where even though we could pronounce it we pronounce each letter individually.
This always seemed a bit weird to me. In Sweden we do pronounce that as a word. Vipp.
Technically there are initialisms which cannot be pronounced ( letters only ) and acronyms which can be pronounced ( form words ).
So, in general, your rule is a good one. Of course, that does nothing to solve the problem of HOW to pronounce the words when so many different origin cultures are at play. As other have said, SUSE is German. So, is following “English grammatical rules” the right take?
I do not really have an answer. It is not self-evident to me. For Linux, Linus himself seems to have defaulted to US pronunciation. There is some precedent there I suppose.
There are no rules, just loose patterns, and pronunciation is not grammar.
Good rule 😊