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How to say "Betta"

7K views 33 replies 10 participants last post by  JadeAngel 
#1 ·
Ok a lot of people are pronouncing this wrong, back in my IBC days if you pronounced this wrong you immediately were corrected.
So please stop saying BAY-Tah.
It is BET-Tah..
People are pronouncing this like Phi Beta Cappa.
Beta is one T..BETTA has 2, BET and then TAH.
A lot of people say that's just how we say it, ok, so if your name is Farnk its ok for me to call you Ted right?
 
#3 ·
LOL....this made me laugh....waaaaayyyyyy back when I first got into betta fish (of course everyone called them "Siamese Fighting Fish" then....), I always pronounced the word "betta" the wrong way. Took forever to re-train myself! lol
 
#5 ·
People who know better also say bedder instead of better. Language is really complex, Bayta is much smoother to say than Bet ta, it may or may not have something to do with it. I'm only speaking in really general terms though.

I say Bet ta myself, but I still much prefer the sound of Bayta.
 
#7 · (Edited)
I agree.

I know full well it's said Bet- tah, but I say Bay-tah. I actually find it difficult to say it the proper way. I have studied many languages. Amongst them spanish, german, french, arabic, korean, japanese, as well as their corresponding writing systems. Also ancient mayan, hieratic, and egyptian hieroglyphics.

I WISH I could say that they all stuck... but I only speak fluent spanish and basic french now. I can still read korean and remember some hieroglyphs and very little arabic, but I do not speak any of the spoken languages.

I am also a former English Second Language teacher. I say all this because I can say, with a decent amount of experience for my age, that you can correct people all you want... but some people will just never say it the right way.

Look at it this way....

How do you say
"Water"
"Glove"
"Glass"???

Well... when I was in highschool, we had many students move to the farming area I lived in from Philly and NYC. They thought the way I said those words was just hilarious. The PROPER way to say "water" is Wah-ter. How do I say it? I'm from NEPA, I say wadder. Sorry... I do. I can't not say it like that.

I have tried time and time again to say it like Bet-tah.... but it just comes out very very forced. It may not be the proper way to say it, but you'll have to lump it in with the rest of the english language that changes pronunciation from area to area.

And yes... my name is Cassandra.... and I have always said it Cuh- SAN-druh
But many of my teachers in school, bosses in adulthood, and people I just meet say it "Cus-ON-druh"

Drove me nuts, but it was extremely common for people to say it both that way and what I saw as the "proper" way. Then I moved to latin america, and nobody there says the "A" in the way I say my name... so EVERYONE there called me "Cus-ON-druh".

Between that, and my extensive studies of languages, etymology, and having taught many people of various national origins the english language, I just learned that some words just do not have any 1 proper way. The Betta community may have a preferred pronunciation, but it is simply human nature to have varied pronunciations of the same word, and it does not make the person who says it one way any less ignorant or knowledgable on the topic than a person who says it a different way :cool:

If they know what the "proper" way to say it is, and they still say Bay-tah, let it be and accept it as them having been raised by different parents in a different area.
 
#6 ·
I always say /Bay-Tah/ in a perverse attempt to hear if I'll be called on it; so far nobody has corrected me. When I visited The Betta Shop in St. Pau., MN, however, I spoke softly to my friend who accompanied me and said, "/Bet-Tah/" instead. I went to a nice LFS here in Phoenix and saw there weren't any bettas, so I asked the proprietor, "Do you ever get in any /Bay-Tahs/?" And he said there were no "/Bay-Tahs/" that day. Perhaps we merely miscommunicated.
 
#9 ·
One of my best friends, when living abroad, was from NZ. Not often... but every once in a while I'd have to have her spell out a word so I knew what on earth she was trying to say :lol: but, then again, the same can be said for my friend's brother. They're british, but his brother seemed to fancy the accent and slang more than he did. Sometimes I'd swear we were speaking 2 different languages, lol.
 
#10 ·
I say it Bay-tah. Nobody around here would have a clue what on this green Earth I was talking about if I said bet-tah. Probably would think I was saying "Better". lol
 
#16 ·
There are so many different accents from so many different places. Apparently, there is a "valley accent" here where I live. I'm not from this area, I'm from a farming area an hour's drive away. I've been told that we have a different accent where I grew up than they do here in "the valley". Honestly, I don't hear it (not even a difference in how they talk, except they have 1 or 2 different words. I think people sometimes don't understand the difference between slang and an accent.)

But I do know something. There is an area in Canada (I can't remember which province) Every once in a while I will meet a canadian who thinks I am canadian or who I thought was from my area, because we don't speak any differently at all (unless some slang is thrown in)

Anyway, ignorance is in not knowing that people feel "bet-tah" is the proper way to say it, but saying it differently regardless of that knowledge is not ignorant.

A good bit of the words we are all typing right now are said differently by each one of us. Not different only in the inflictions used in the word, but different in that many of us will actually leave out whole letters in the word (letters that are NOT meant to be silent) when speaking, or even say one letter as though it was another (for example, a lot of americans say many words with "t" in the center as "d" and british folk will say "er" like it's an "a" or "u"
 
#15 ·
By way of a slight detour, JadeAngel, I notice the question marks under the picture of one of your fishes (in the signature line) If you haven't already named your other betta, consider this: At Asian restaurants "sushi" is often served alongside an item called "sashimi" on the menu. "Sashimi" is thin-sliced raw fish. In the category of "sushi" are also "nigiri-zushi" and "maki-zushi." So all of these are potential betta names.
 
#17 ·
:lol: I had thought of Sashimi as a name for my next betta... but for some reason the idea yucks me out? Maybe it's because the image of sashimi is unpleasant for me XD

But it's my hubby's betta, that's why the question marks. I would have named him already. My hubby said he will name him, but when he wants to :roll:
 
#22 ·
Why don't you ask a moderator to make a NEW sticky thread about the proper pronunciation AND etymology of the word "Betta"? I would write it as a short, informative, and interesting article that focuses solely on facts

Though don't make this thread itself a sticky, as the original post came off as an attack like towards those of us who just don't say it the way you want).

Again though, if someone says it differently even when they know how it's intended to be said, don't get upset.... unless you want people to start picking apart your sentences and telling you just how many words you, yourself, do not pronounce properly ;-) lol

But I reiterate, it would be a good idea to ask a moderator to make a sticky about the pronunciation and history behind the word "Betta".

Oh, on another note... I HAVE seen a few petstore information booklets in front of the bettas that have the "correct" pronunciation in the information... along side pictures of bettas in tiny bowls..... :roll: so some of them have the information out there, but mixed with bad information too.
 
#21 ·
I get that feeling exactly. One person, when I told her friend that they need a heater, told me "No they don't. I have one that lives on my counter.". I explained to her that I am a breeder and have over a dozen, told her that they are tropical fish, and finally I exclaimed "Bowls are for cereal!" Then walked away. I felt like saying "yup. You own one betta who you obviously don't take proper care of so naturally, you know everything.".

Rant over.
 
#23 ·
I'd be like "oh, that's awesome! I have a cousin who lives in a 4'x4' jail cell! I can totally arrange something like that for you, if all you want is to survive too, however pathetic that survival is!" :twisted:

oh, and no, I don't realll have a cousin in jail, haha... but your friend doesn't know! or maybe... hehehe
 
#24 ·
I used to say BAY ta, but then I heard it was actually BETT-ah, so now that's what I say. I say BAY ta though, when I am asking people at pet stores or telling others about them. I figure it's my job to educate them on proper care and the joys of having them than giving them an etymology and phonics lesson.
 
#30 ·
Touché, lol.
which means both looking at it with different perspectives, and looking at your own typing to make sure it couldn't be taken in a way not intended. That's happened to me. If you ever read a post of mine, and then I suddenly edit it... it's because I realized in re-reading it that it didn't come off how I meant, or get the point across that I wanted it to (or that my keyboard is sticking keys again and my words are missing letters)

I guess you could say, just like some are sensitive about details of their hobby, I am sensitive about the lack of linguistic understanding. If it explains my perspective, the last sentence is what caught me as agressive, both for the exageration, and as I say exactly that..."that's just how we say it". Sorry, but since the whole topic is about the proper pronunciation of a word, it brings me to the topic of linguistics, rather than an established opinion.

But, as I keep insisting... if information is the goal, I vote to sticky an informative thread. I'm informed on it, but if you don't want to hear it said "bayta" best never skype with me ;-) There's a slew of words I don't say well enough to please an English scholar. But it's impossible to please everyone.

Know what though? This is driving me flipping crazy... I have GOT to know the etymology of this word now :lol:
 
#32 · (Edited)
yeah, it's lovely. But I found other sources that said it is indonesian, rather than thailandese/siamese. So which is it, any natives from those countries that can say? The one who said it's indonesian was from that country, or so he said.
 
#34 ·
:-? I never thought about that... my cousin's name me Megan, and so is my neighbors little girl. When I started saying both ways to say it outloud, it sounded so much the same to me that I'm not sure which way I even say it when speaking to them :oops: Gotta pay attention to that next time XD
 
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