Yet another find from that eternal scavenger of the internet, aldiboronti (at Wordorigins): the full story of the creation of the term wiki, in the form of an exchange of letters between Ward Cunningham, coiner of the word; Patrick Taylor, the etymologist for the American Heritage Dictionary; and Catherine Soanes, a lexicographer for Oxford University Press:
I learned the word wiki on my first visit to Hawai'i when I was directed to the airport shuttle, called the Wiki Wiki Bus. I asked for that direction to be repeated three or four times until the airline representative took the time to define the word wiki for me. The next day I picked up a small book about Hawai'ian and learned more interesting things about the language.Apparently he intended the word to be pronounced "weaky" ("My preference would be that the word be pronounced as a Hawai'ian would, and that wick-ey be an acceptable alternative"), but I don't know anyone who says it that way (and to my ears "Weaky-pedia" sounds particularly ridiculous). Once you set the word free, it's out of your control! Posted by languagehat at September 27, 2006 09:13 AMI wanted an unusual word to name for what was an unusual technology. I was not trying to duplicate any existing medium, like mail, so I didn't want a name like electronic mail (email) for my work. The community that formed around my site were willing to explore its capabilities without preconceived notions of how it should work. An example of such a notion is the "timeless now" in which "conversation" takes place.
Really? That's how I've always pronounced both wiki and Wikipedia. I think a fair number of technical people pronounce it that way.
Posted by: Chris T. at September 27, 2006 09:54 AMI've always thought of it as 'wicky', and 'weaky' never stops sounding strange to me even though one of my colleagues regularly pronounces it that way. One thing bothers me, though: wouldn't you say 'veaky' if you were really pedantic?
Posted by: Paul at September 27, 2006 10:33 AMWell, according to the Veekeepedia's article on Hawaiian phonology, there is variation between [w] and [v], and the segment in question may actually be a labiodental approximant [ʋ].
Posted by: Cliff Crawford at September 27, 2006 10:57 AMI can't quite tell from the story whether this trip to Hawaii was in '95 when he was already looking for a term or long before and it planted the idea in his head for later.
'Cause it's hard to believe that a boomer like Cunningham didn't learn some Hawaiian from Hawaii Five-O. haole for 'gringo', wahine for 'chick', wiki wiki for 'stat'.
Posted by: MMcM at September 27, 2006 11:50 AMI think a fair number of technical people pronounce it that way.
Huh. I guess this is one of those "jif/ghif" divisions.
Posted by: language hat at September 27, 2006 12:25 PMI definitely pronounce it "weaky", though most people I know pronounce it "wicky". (I saw the word written many times before I ever heard it pronounced, so my gut-instinct mental pronunciation had time to set in stone.)
I even know one person who pronounces it "wikey" — like, "why" (unaspirated) + "key".
Posted by: Ran at September 27, 2006 02:14 PM"weekee" is better than "wikuh(pedia)", if you ask me.
Posted by: Erin at September 27, 2006 02:21 PMIf one is going to Anglicize the Wiki- to Weaky, then one ought really to compensate by Hawaiianizing the -pedia to -pekia. Weaky-peckia. A more fully Hawaiianized pronunciation like Vikipekia is a bit better. I wonder if they ever considered the name Velocipedia for their rapidly growning brainchild.
Posted by: Joel at September 27, 2006 02:34 PMThe 'wikipedia' pronunciation I've always wondered about is with an /eɪ/ in 'pedia,' so it comes out 'paid.' As opposed to, well, 'peed.' The people who say this tend to be fairly unselfconscious speakers, too, so I don't think it's a weird pseudo-classicizing affection. I'm sure they would pronounce 'encyclopedia' the normal way. Anyone else encountered this?
Posted by: Ben at September 27, 2006 04:39 PMA man once told his mother the following joke:
Two tourists were walking down the street in Honolulu, arguing about how the name of the state is pronounced. "Look," said one of them. "There's an obvious local. Let's ask him."
"Okay," said the other. "Excuse me, sir; do you pronounce the name of your state 'Hawaii' or 'Havaii'?"
"Havaii, definitely," said the local.
"Thanks."
"You're velcome."
"I don't get it," said the man's mother. "Vot's funny?"
>"weekee" is better than "wikuh(pedia)", if you ask me.
What's wrong with "wikuh(pedia)"? Doesn't that just follow the usual pattern of syllable stress in English?
Posted by: Dany at September 27, 2006 09:07 PMI confess, I say "wik@pedia". Just like I say "carry-oaky" and "toe-kyoe" when speaking English. But I do pronounce them properly in Japanese. So, presumably, if I were speaking to a Hawaiian, I would pronounce "wikipedia" without a schwa too. ... I think fieldwork on-site is needed; I'll settle for a $5,000 grant.
Posted by: Matt at September 28, 2006 01:17 AMWhat's wrong with "wikuh(pedia)"? Doesn't that just follow the usual pattern of syllable stress in English?
Nothing, and yes. But people have weird reactions to pronunciations that are not their own. (Witness my being weirded out by "weaky-pedia.")
Posted by: language hat at September 28, 2006 10:01 AMI pronounce it /ˌwɪkiˈpidiə/ in English, despite the fact that I’m a Hawaiian language student. The Hawaiian name to me would however be /ˌʋikiˈpɛkiə/ perhaps with a [t] for the latter /k/.
Posted by: James Crippen at September 28, 2006 01:57 PMI've always said weekeepeedia, and this is mostly what I hear around me in Montréal (that, or Wikipédia, with the typical Québec French closed 'a'). Never heard weekeepaidia, nor encyclopaidia for that matter.
Posted by: Tim at September 29, 2006 06:54 AMOnly since I moved to an English-speaking part of the world have I started to pronounce the word with a weak or lax i [ɪ]. In German and French it is of course [i] or even [i:]. It's not a native English word anyway...
Posted by: Chris Waigl at September 30, 2006 04:54 PM