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I've noticed that sometimes when I am writing out equations and saying the symbols in my head I will slip up and say "p" for "$ \rho $" or mix the pronunciation between letters say "$ \eta $" for "$ \xi $" possibly because the latter symbol looks like a cursive "e" where the former sounds like the pronunciation of "e". I was worried that I was practicing bad habits and so decided to try to learn the alphabet with the correct pronunciation for use in mathematics once and for all.

Modern Greek pronunciation differs significantly from how I've heard the alphabet pronounced and so I think it is clear that living in the United States I should follow the American English pronunciation. However, there still seem to be considerable differences in pronunciation, or perhaps I am just obsessing over it. For example, two different American English pronunciations of zeta:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zeta

http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/zeta?q=zeta

user38770
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    On the Amazon page for the book How to Think Like a Mathematician by Dr. Kevin Houston, you should be able to preview the book. With any luck, you'll be able to see the appendix that is devoted to this topic, which has a nice table giving pronunciations of each letter. The only one I might disagree with is $\tau$, in which case I'm not really sure what the author intended, but which I would pronounce like "ow" (as in an exclamation of pain) with a "t" out front. – Will R Sep 18 '15 at 20:51
  • What format would you like answers in? It's quite difficult to give a universal common pronunciation guide when pronunciations of common words are different in different places. Is IPA okay? – Chappers Sep 18 '15 at 21:18
  • Yes, IPA is fine. – user38770 Sep 18 '15 at 22:09
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    Completely dependent on who's speaking and where you are, I think. As an example, I had a Spanish professor who would talk about pee-tah-gor-ahs and nobody insisted he referred to the pith-egg-or-us (Pythagoras) I personally grew up with. (As you may surmise, I primarily know about IPA as a kind of beer...) – pjs36 Sep 19 '15 at 05:42
  • Thank you, I hope it isn't a dumb question. Sounds like I should stop worrying and just choose a dictionary with American English pronunciation closest to what I've heard used in class. – user38770 Sep 19 '15 at 05:50
  • I don't think it's a dumb question at all. I grew up with the American English versions, and use them. But I will hear variations, occasionally. – pjs36 Sep 19 '15 at 22:31

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