How do you pronounce "BETA"?

[+Peewee210 Subscriber¹]

Im a Brit and Say BE-TA

[i3iz]

WTC.... why does the rest of the world add letters that dont exist and forget letters that should exist?

Leiceister = Lie-Kigh-st-Er

Worcestershire = Wer-kes-tur-shire

Z ? Zed

z = Zee

Beta ? Better or Beater or anything else that ends in an R.

[wak1zashi]

Bae-Tah

[Allan]

bae-tah ... like Dae-tah (Data) ... Look it up in ww.dictionary.com ... I belive they use the WEBSTERS (which is UK) and they say it's pronounced be-ta (with funky letters etc).

*Edit* I also day dah-tah (data) but I don't day bah-tah ...

This reminds me of that stupid margarine commercial...

"It's a better butter"

[SimplySchizo]

Bae-Tah

586633133[/snapback]

Ditto

[twist]

Who speak proper English?

586631705[/snapback]

not you :p

[psyko_x]

I can't believe how long this thread is. go look up the phonetics in the dictionary or on dictionary.com

it's BAY-TAH

I thought this was common knowldedge...its the second letter in the greek alphabet and if you've taken any math or physics classes in your life you should have heard the terms alpha and beta before

whats with the people that pronounce it "better" or "bayter"? wheres the R???

[jbrunt1990]

Beater :yes:

[Cvrt7.62Ghst]

It's true.  We in the UK, who speak proper English :), pronounce it "beater" whereas the Americans pronounce it "beyter".

Unlike the word 'Data' which the UK pronounces "Dayter" and the US pronounces "Darta"... unless you're watching ST: TNG.

Just don't confuse this pronunciation with Feta cheese, which is said "fetta".

I'm going back to bed.  This is all too much.

586631498[/snapback]

Where in the hell do you guys come up with the "er"? And where do you get off pronouncing it one way with one word, and another way with a different word? WTF, and you guys complain about our english skills.

#2: US word Data: "Dayta", not "Darta". Again, don't add letters that don't exist in a word.

US word Beta: "Bayta", not beater, better, or any other word that has an "R" in it. See above reason

[dmeags]

sounds like... bey-duh

[Vermiis Mysteriis]

whats with the people that pronounce it "better" or "bayter"? wheres the R???

Ignorance and arrogance. Many believe that because the language is called 'English', that however they decide to butcher it will always be correct. They are wrong.

Perfect example;

It's true.  We in the UK, who speak proper English :smile:, pronounce it "beater" whereas the Americans pronounce it "beyter".

:rolleyes:

[ste]

I say it like bee - tah

[E t h a n]

Where in the hell do you guys come up with the "er"? And where do you get off pronouncing it one way with one word, and another way with a different word? WTF, and you guys complain about our english skills.

586633200[/snapback]

It's easy: here, when there's an "r" there at the end of word (e.g., "timer"), it's dropped by most people (and becomes "tima?h"). Then, there are words like "law" which some people pronounce as "lawr", adding an "r" where one wasn't before.

Anyway, it's "beetah" or "beeta?h", as far as I can tell.:rofl:l:

PS I don't know where the ® things came from! I meant "( r )"!

[Vermiis Mysteriis]

Anyway, it's "beetah" or "beeta?h", as far as I can tell.

You're wrong. No other way to say it.

[E t h a n]

You're wrong.  No other way to say it.

586633221[/snapback]

In what way? I'm just writing it as I hear it said. :shifty:

[Vermiis Mysteriis]

In what way? I'm just writing it as I hear it said.  :shifty:

586633228[/snapback]

Oh, I know you are. But the simple fact of the matter is you're hearing it pronounced incorrectly. People make fun of "engrish" but it's no worse than trying to decypher some cockney butchering of the English language.

[crimsonhead]

I can't believe how long this thread is.  go look up the phonetics in the dictionary or on dictionary.com

it's BAY-TAH

I thought this was common knowldedge...its the second letter in the greek alphabet and if you've taken any math or physics classes in your life you should have heard the terms alpha and beta before

whats with the people that pronounce it "better" or "bayter"?  wheres the R???

586633183[/snapback]

Thank you! Alpha Beta Gamma Delta, etc.

Beta is Bay Tah

Zeta is Zay Tah

Eta is Ay Tah

Case Closed:)

[E t h a n]

Oh, I know you are.  But the simple fact of the matter is you're hearing it pronounced incorrectly.  People make fun of "engrish" but it's no worse than trying to decypher some cockney butchering of the English language.

586633233[/snapback]

Well, mate, I'll direct you back to the original post in this thread, which asks how each of us pronounces the word "beta".

When you're dealing with matters of language use, "right" and "wrong" are always relative. :rofl:

[E t h a n]

Thank you!  Alpha Beta Gamma Delta, etc. 

Beta is Bay Tah

Zeta is Zay Tah

Eta is Ay Tah

Case Closed:)

586633264[/snapback]

Again, depends on where you are. Here's from the OED:

beta

("bi;t@)

  1. The second letter of the Greek alphabet, B, b.

  a1300 Cursor M. 12425 Bot sai ?ou me first o betha, And si?en i sal ?e sai alpha. 

  2. In various scientific uses; esp.  a. Astron. Used to mark the second star in a constellation.  b. Chem. The second of two or more isomerous modifications of the same organic compound.  c. Nat. Hist. The second sub-species or permanent variety of a species.  d. In various other classifications. Cf. alpha.

  1867 Chambers Astron. vi. ii. (1877) 492 Amongst the conspicuous stars b Libr? (green) appears to be the only instance.  1877 Watts Fownes' Chem. II. 497 Beta-orcin is obtained by dry distillation of usnic acid.  1877 I Dict. Chem. IV. 235 Stenhouse designated the acid obtained from South American Roccella+as a-orsellic, and that prepared+from South African Roccella as b-orsellic. 

  e. Math. beta distribution, a distribution of a variate x of the form dF = xp - 1(1 - x)q - 1dx/B(p, q), where 0 4 x 4 1, p, q > 0; beta function, the function B(p, q) = @10xp - 1(1 - x)q - 1dx, where p, q > o; also called the complete beta function and the first Eulerian integral; also, the function Bx(p, q) = @x0 xp - 1(1 - x)q - 1dx (the incomplete beta function).

  1888 W. W. R. Ball Hist. Math. xviii. 368 The Beta and Gamma functions were invented by Euler.  1924 C. H. Forsyth Introd. Math. Anal. Statistics iv. 61 The value of any Beta function for positive values of m and n can be expressed directly in terms of Gamma functions.  1941 Biometrika XXXII. 153 The special character of the Beta-distribution+makes it necessary to vary the method of computation in different parts of the range of variables covered.  1967 A. Battersby Network Analysis (ed. 2) 319 The method of calculating the expected value and variance of the duration of a job depends on the assumption that the duration follows a Beta distribution. The Beta distribution is derived from the Beta function. 

  f. Physics. beta (or b) radiation, the second of three types of radiation emitted by radioactive substances, having greater penetrating power than alpha radiation. So beta (or b) particle, ray.

  1899 Rutherford in Phil. Mag. XLVII. 116 These experiments show that uranium radiation is complex, and that there are present at least two distinct types of radiation?one that is very readily absorbed, which will be termed for convenience the a radiation, and the other of a more penetrative character, which will be termed the b radiation.  1902 Rutherford & Grier in Phil. Mag. IV. 325 For brevity and convenience we will call the non-deviable rays of all radioactive substances a rays and the deviable rays b rays.  1904 Rutherford in Nature 10 Mar. 437/1 It is to be expected that R?ntgen rays would be set up at the sudden starting as well as the sudden stopping of the electron or b particle.  1909 Soddy Interpr. Radium 55 In ordinary circumstances radium appears to be expelling both a- and b-particles together.  1922 A. S. Eddington Theory of Relativity 19 The b particles shot off from radioactive substances are negative electrons which sometimes attain speeds of 100,000 miles a second.  1933 Discovery Feb. 45/1 Beta radiations, which are streams of electrons.  1957 Technology Mar. 14/2 Both beta and gamma rays can also be used for gauging thickness or height in the examination, for instance, of red-hot sheets of steel. 

  Hence denoting a process in which, or a substance from which, beta particles are emitted, as beta decay, disintegration, emission, emitter.

  1931 Rutherford in Proc. R. Soc. A. CXXXII. 674 There will be a broadening of the line by the Doppler effect due to recoil of the nucleus from the immediately preceding b-disintegration.  1933 C. D. Ellis & Mott Ibid. CXLI. 502 The+upper limit of the b-ray spectrum is a significant parameter with which to classify a b-disintegration.  1934 G. Gamow Ibid. CXLVI. 217 Every theory treating the b-decay as the transformation of a nuclear neutron into a proton.  1935 Internat. Conference Physics 1934 I. 41 The final state of the nucleus after a b-emission is an excited one.  1947 C. D. Coryell in C. Goodman Sci. & Engin. Nuclear Power I. 248 (heading) Long-lived b emitters without c radiation.  1955 Gloss. Terms Radiology (B.S.I.) 6 Beta decay, the radioactive decay process characterized by the emission of a beta particle. The parent atom involved is called a beta emitter. 

  g. Metallurgy.  (a) Applied to the second of a series of allotropic forms of iron (see quot. 1949);  (b) applied to the second of a range of alloys, as beta brass, the second of a series of alloys of copper and zinc, containing less copper than in alpha brass. Cf. alpha 3d.

  1885, etc. [see alpha 3d].  1895 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. XLVIII. 258 A special strong, hard, brittle, allotropic state called b iron.  1914 Jrnl. Inst. Metals XI. 105 Plane sections through a bees' honeycomb+a benzene water-foam, and an over-annealed b brass are all very similar in appearance.  1949 R. T. Rolfe Dict. Metallogr. (ed. 2) 24 Beta iron, formerly, a supposed allotropic form of i[ron] stable between+768? and about 900? C., of body-centred cubic form, and only very feebly magnetic. In reality, the change in magnetic susceptibility of a-iron occurring at 768? C. is not associated with any structural transformation and b-iron is no longer recognized as a distinct variety. 

  h. beta rhythm, waves, fast activity of the brain recorded in an electroencephalogram, having a frequency of fourteen to twenty-four cycles per second. Cf. alpha 3f.

  [1935 Brain LVIII. 349 Berger describes a definite series of small oscillations?the b waves?superimposed on the primary a waves of the 10 a second rhythm. The frequency of the b waves is given as 35 a second.]  1936 Archives Neurol. & Psychiatry XXXVI. 1215 Less prominent, because lower in voltage, is a faster rhythm, with a frequency of about 25 waves a second, called by Berger the ?beta waves?.  Ibid. 1220 A prominent fast (beta) rhythm.  1943 Electronic Engin. XVI. 237 Faster rhythms, sometimes called ?beta? rhythms, have been described in the EEG. 

  i. beta receptor (Physiol.), one of two categories of adrenergic receptor on organs innervated by sympathetic nerves, which when stimulated increases cardiac action and blood flow and relaxes smooth muscle; beta-blocker (Pharm.), a drug that prevents the stimulation of beta receptors; so beta-blocking adj.

  1948 R. P. Ahlquist in Amer. Jrnl. Physiol. CLIII. 596 One type of [adrenotropic] receptor is associated with most of the excitatory functions and with at least one of the inhibitory functions (intestine). The other type is associated with most of the inhibitory functions and with one+excitatory function (myocardium).+ Because of the opposite effects+the customary signs, E (excitatory) and I (inhibitory) cannot be applied. Therefore, for convenience they have been designated as the alpha adrenotropic receptors and the beta receptors.  1965 J. H. Burn Lect. Notes Pharmacol. (ed. 8) 8 The b-blocking agents are those which prevent adrenaline from causing relaxation in smooth muscle.  1970 Biol. Abstr. LI. 96372 Beta blockers exert a powerful physiological effect primarily on the cardiovascular system.  1977 South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) 22 July 16/4 We're hoping that beta blockers will calm performers without taking the edge off their performance.  1983 Oxf. Textbk. Med. II. xiii. 64 Inhibition of the beta receptor in bronchial smooth muscle is likely to produce a significant increase in airways resistance in asthmatic subjects.  Ibid. 66/1 Beta-blocking agents may produce depression and other central nervous system side-effects, such as sleep-disturbances, insomnia, and nightmares.  1986 Here's Health Dec. 28/3 With the advent of calcium channel blockers advertising has mentioned side-effects from beta blockers which were never mentioned during their peak of acceptability. 

  3. An examiner's second-class mark. Also transf.

  1902 [see alpha 4].  1936 ?N. Blake? Thou Shell of Death vi. 104 He's quite a decent old trot, but definitely in the Beta class.  1958 Oxf. Mag. 13 Mar. 362/1, I have mentioned twenty recent pictures+four have some alpha about them; the rest are gamma minus to beta plus (I have not mentioned deltas). 

Note: the pronunciation it gives (the only pronunciation it gives) is, effectiv:cool:quot;beetah". :cool:

[AaronMT]

Bay-Tah

[flyakite]

Go to http://webster.com/ and type in "beta" in the dictionary input field. Listen to the audio clip.

[E t h a n]

Go to http://webster.com/ and type in "beta" in the dictionary input field.  Listen to the audio clip.

586633337[/snapback]

Yeah, well, that was my point about language usage being relative. Webster is an American company, and so their pronunciation is American (ergo, "bay tah"). The Oxford English Dictionary, although it does include American pronunciations most of the time, is British English (ergo, "bee tah").

:rolleyes:

[hotdog666al]

My Friend john says "Bayta"

I say "Beeter"

[Alex Suraci]

I say it like behtuh. ;) Just looks like that too me.

[ste]

I say it how it says it with the dictionary!