Correct pronunciation of "Genii" in Genii Capital?

[forty-two]

Just something which has been winding me up for about a year now.

Personally, I think that Genii should be pronounced like Radii (i.e. Gene-ee-Aye) as in the plural of Genius, which actually is quite a clever name.

When I hear the Beeb presenters pronounce it "Jen-eye",it just sounds.... well.... wrong!

I could be way off the mark with this, but it's spelling certainly suggests that I am right. But I guess it's a made up name, so it's probably up to the owners of the company!

What does everyone here think?

[N12ck]

i pronounce it as : jean-eye

[beelsebob]

I'm always tempted to read it with the cyrilic И in there – that would make it gyeeeii.

[Tamburello]

It's as you say forty-two. pronounced 'jeenee aay', it is the plural of genius.

[raymondu999]

I always thought it was pronounced geenee like a stretched out version of the word "guinea"

[ESPImperium]

Gen-Eye

'Gen' as in generation with the 'ii' pronounced eye is how i say it.

However i do believe Lopez wants it to be said Gen-two as the ii is supposed to be a 2 bizarrely.

[Pup]

If the BBC pronounces it jeen-eye, you can cross that one off your list right off the bat. Never ask a Brit how to pronounce anything.

It's pronounced either jeen'ee or zhay'nee, depending on if you want to sound like a twat or not.

The firm's partners are American, so they pronounce it jeen'ee, like Disney and Popeye and Barbara Eden and anyone who learned good, proper American diction would tell you.

Alternatively, since the company is Luxembourgish, and the partners have Frenchy names like Gérard and Bontemps, you could use the French pronunciation of the word, especially since it's a French word that is itself a french fried version of the arabic word 'djini'.

But you'd be wrong, since it's pronounced jeen'ee. But, you would sound like a twat, and some people go for that.

I mean, jeez, Lopez went to school in Ohio. Ohio.

I've also heard it pronounced jen-two, as an abbreviation of Generation 2. That's also wrong.

Horse's mouth, 1:40...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s_a_VuKa08[/youtube]

[Pandamasque]

'jeenee aay'

[Tamburello]

@Pup

the firm's partners are American and Lopez seems to be educated in America too, going by his accident so no wonder that he can't even pronounce the name of his own company correctly.

If "Genii" is supposed to be the word that is the plural form of "genius", then the pronunciation is "jeenee aay" (booyaa!). Someone should ask Lopez what the name is supposed to mean.

[Pup]

In this case, genii is not the plural of genius, but rather the singular of jinn.

That's not to say that genii jinn do not exist. You can identify them by their light brown hair. Average IQ jinn are all blondes.

Then again, the two words mean the same, but they took separate paths to get on the car. Genius comes from the indo-european gen, meaning 'to beget' and referred to the inborn nature, or soul of a person or thing. Genie (alt. Genii) was a substitution for the arabic 'jinn', meaning 'hidden', which referred to all sorts of things over arabic history, from gardens* to spirits.

So the arabic word for spirits (jinn) was translated in 1,001 Nights to the french word for spirits (génie) and their resemblance was Chance**. Interestingly enough, 'genius' first came to mean a 'natural intelligence' at pretty much the same time. And 'jinni' took the opposite path, deriving 'majnun', or 'hidden intelligence', or, an idiot. Fun stuff, words.

Lopez is a smart man. I dare say he's smarter than any of us because he certainly has made for himself an easier life. Since he's fluent in several languages, a regular Duban, I'd guess he knows all this, and had a good chuckle to himself when he named his company. He chooses the Barbara Eden*** genii and not the Albert Einstein genii, and really, who wouldn't?

A. B.

Billionaire picks A. Shocking.


*of paradise, specifically.
**a gardener, naturally.
***boggles the mind, doesn't it?

[forty-two]

If the BBC pronounces it jeen-eye, you can cross that one off your list right off the bat. Never ask a Brit how to pronounce anything.

It's pronounced either jeen'ee or zhay'nee, depending on if you want to sound like a twat or not.

The firm's partners are American, so they pronounce it jeen'ee, like Disney and Popeye and Barbara Eden and anyone who learned good, proper American diction would tell you.

Alternatively, since the company is Luxembourgish, and the partners have Frenchy names like Gérard and Bontemps, you could use the French pronunciation of the word, especially since it's a French word that is itself a french fried version of the arabic word 'djini'.

But you'd be wrong, since it's pronounced jeen'ee. But, you would sound like a twat, and some people go for that.

I mean, jeez, Lopez went to school in Ohio. Ohio.

I've also heard it pronounced jen-two, as an abbreviation of Generation 2. That's also wrong.

Horse's mouth, 1:40...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s_a_VuKa08[/youtube]

Thank you for your insight Pup, but you will need to forgive me...

I could well be very wrong here, but as far as I know, you're from the USA? If I am right, you guys pronounce SO many of OUR words incorrectly. I don't mind your borrowing our language but please treat it with a little respect?

Let's start with Airplane and Airfoil, well tell me, what is the science concerned... is it Airdynamics or AERODYNAMICS?

And how about Sked-ule, lew-tennant or Urbs (yes, we pronounce it differently because it's got an Aitch in it!

And why do your advertisments use the expression "what a savings" (plural) when you clearly mean "Saving"?

In fairness though, you guys DO spell a few words better than us, like Color and Thru, so perhaps we're even!

Anyway, I for one don't count myself as a Brit, I am English... I used to consider myself British until I realised that the rest of Great Britain hated us for some reason! Perhaps it's because we pay for free prescriptions and hospital car parking with our taxes?

Anyway, way too far off topic.

And seriously no offence meant, well no more than you meant in your response to my perfectly reasonable question, at least!

[Tamburello]

In this case, genii is not the plural of genius, but rather the singular of jinn.

That's not to say that genii jinn do not exist. You can identify them by their light brown hair. Average IQ jinn are all blondes.

Then again, the two words mean the same, but they took separate paths to get on the car. Genius comes from the indo-european gen, meaning 'to beget' and referred to the inborn nature, or soul of a person or thing. Genie (alt. Genii) was a substitution for the arabic 'jinn', meaning 'hidden', which referred to all sorts of things over arabic history, from gardens* to spirits.

So the arabic word for spirits (jinn) was translated in 1,001 Nights to the french word for spirits (génie) and their resemblance was Chance**. Interestingly enough, 'genius' first came to mean a 'natural intelligence' at pretty much the same time. And 'jinni' took the opposite path, deriving 'majnun', or 'hidden intelligence', or, an idiot. Fun stuff, words.

Lopez is a smart man. I dare say he's smarter than any of us because he certainly has made for himself an easier life. Since he's fluent in several languages, a regular Duban, I'd guess he knows all this, and had a good chuckle to himself when he named his company. He chooses the Barbara Eden*** genii and not the Albert Einstein genii, and really, who wouldn't?

A. B.

Billionaire picks A. Shocking.


*of paradise, specifically.
**a gardener, naturally.
***boggles the mind, doesn't it?

The word for paradise is actually "janat" in Arabic. Jinn is collective for jinni (plural: ajna). Majnun (pl. majaaneen)= deranged, mad etc.



I'm amazed that the Frenchies couldn't come up with a better spelling for this word and had to rip off the latin plural for genius. Then again, looking at French spellings in general, I shouldn't be all that surprised.

OTOH, both words may have the same etymology. Genius was originally a spirit in Latin as well and the Romans did have influence over Arabia and I'm not so sure if jinn is properly semitic in construction either. Fun stuff indeed.

[Pup]

...you guys pronounce SO many of OUR words incorrectly. I don't mind your borrowing our language but please treat it with a little respect?

We're not borrowing it. We won it in a fair fight.

But, as for schedule, there is certainly a schism between us. Or perhaps, you're just scheming to create one? I learned in school that the origin of the word is the Latin scedula which has no h and therefore no sh.

Likewise, Lieutenant, last I looked, contained no ph and scant f's. In lieu of evidence to the contrary I will refrain from adding any.

Saving is what relief pitchers do to earn both savings and saves.

We use only french herbs at the thyme.

But, when I next need to fly through the aero, I will be sure to use one of your British aeroplanes. Do you make them?

[forty-two]

...you guys pronounce SO many of OUR words incorrectly. I don't mind your borrowing our language but please treat it with a little respect?

We're not borrowing it. We won it in a fair fight.

But, as for schedule, there is certainly a schism between us. Or perhaps, you're just scheming to create one? I learned in school that the origin of the word is the Latin scedula which has no h and therefore no sh.

Likewise, Lieutenant, last I looked, contained no ph and scant f's. In lieu of evidence to the contrary I will refrain from adding any.

Saving is what relief pitchers do to earn both savings and saves.

We use only french herbs at the thyme.

But, when I next need to fly through the aero, I will be sure to use one of your British aeroplanes. Do you make them?

MODS, please don't be too upset by this, it's merely a bit of fun between Pup and myself.

I don't know about winning the language, I'm not so sure that was part of the spoils actually, or at least not the ability to redefine it for anyone on the planet who wishes to use it?

But let's be honest here, why do software installers ask you what language you would like to use and then describe our language as "English (US)", are there REALLY people in the United States who do not know that their tongue is called English?

I don't want to get into a pissing contest with you, actually I really don't. But a few points if I may?

We, here in England, the parent of your language, pronounce a whole raft of words in a way which their spelling might suggest otherwise. Indeed, our spelling was only rationalised relatively recently, in English terms at least. This has resulted in a number of our words and indeed their spellings being imported and transmogrified from other European dialects. Let's take the good old example of the American tourist asking a London Cabbie to go to "lye-sester-square", it is spelt wierdly, but that is because OUR language grew up organically, and in the early days there was no education, and nor was there a formal spelling of anything back then. But that doesn't change the fact that one way is right, and the other is wrong.

I note your jibe about aeronautic innovation, and granted the Wright brothers were indeed the first to fly a POWERED aeroplane, but are you seriously implying that the country of origin has the right to define the word? If so, we had "loo-tennants" long before your country even existed!

As for only having "French Herbs", I suggest this is some thinly veiled reference to general Lafayette, or are you seriously implying that you import ALL your herbs? Why would you think that all your herbs are French? What's the fascination with France? Well, let's not forget the fact that Great Britain has been, on two occasions in the last 100 years, the only country of substance left in Europe which refused to go down without a fight, and on both occasions your guys, supposedly our pals waited until we were literally on our knees before joining in. AND on both occasions you only got involved after you were attacked.. Why the loyalty for the French (in terms of the bizarre mis-pronunciation of the word Herbs)?

Do you refer to the capital of France as "Parris" or "Paree"? If you say Parris, then your point about only having french Herbs is, frankly BS.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that the same differences don't exist here within England. Heck, I only have to travel three miles and I notice a different accent, but that's as a result of hundreds, nay thousands of years of local dialects springing up, each with their own foibles (I think might actually be an Anglo-Saxon word, but I pronounce it in the English way).

But there really was no need for the "sound like a twat comments", especially when I for one consider the 'T' word to be almost as rude as the 'C' word.

As Giblet says, attack the post, don't attack the poster.

[forty-two]

...you guys pronounce SO many of OUR words incorrectly. I don't mind your borrowing our language but please treat it with a little respect?

We're not borrowing it. We won it in a fair fight.

But, as for schedule, there is certainly a schism between us. Or perhaps, you're just scheming to create one? I learned in school that the origin of the word is the Latin scedula which has no h and therefore no sh.

Likewise, Lieutenant, last I looked, contained no ph and scant f's. In lieu of evidence to the contrary I will refrain from adding any.

Saving is what relief pitchers do to earn both savings and saves.

We use only french herbs at the thyme.

But, when I next need to fly through the aero, I will be sure to use one of your British aeroplanes. Do you make them?

How on earth did I forget about the "World Series", a Baseball tournament (a game invented and first played in England) which the USA have won every year, which is amazing in a world event.