What is the correct pronunciation of “gyro”? | Hacker News Reader

What is the correct pronunciation of “gyro”?

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27 pointsthrow0101a27 comments

"Gyro" is pronounced just like it's spelled, since it's an English word. There is no word "gyro" in Greek.

There is a Greek word γύρος, transliterated "gyros". In Greece there are several pronunciations, including "zhee-rohs", "gee-ros", and "yee-rohs", though the latter is preferred. Either way, the last syllable includes a long O and an S, roughly rhyming with "dose".

It's a singular noun, with the Greek "-os" ending similar to the "-us" ending in Latin. The plural is γύροι, "gyroi", though that word hasn't really been imported into English. Under the English rules, the plural of "gyros" would be "gyros", though a case could be made for "gyroses" (and Google turns up a few uses of that word).

There's no good justification for "yee-roh". Of course English pronunciation doesn't require justification, and no such thing as "correct pronunciation" of any word beyond what people understand. Any restaurant will give you meat on a pita when you order a "yee-roh". But if the owner is Greek, they'll be quietly rolling their eyes.

> There is no word "gyro" in Greek.

Greek here. Yes, there is: γύρω. Means "around". Same root as the word "γύρος" (noun).

> In Greece there are several pronunciations, including "zhee-rohs", "gee-ros", and "yee-rohs", though the latter is preferred.

I'd say not only the preferred, but also the standard one. Others may be used in local dialects. I've never heard of "gee-ros" (with the "g" pronounced either as in "google" or as the "j" in "jive"), by you may hear "zhee-ros" from people in Crete with a heavy Cretan pronunciation.

> the last syllable includes a long O and an S, roughly rhyming with "dose".

No, I'd say it rhymes with the "os" in MS-DOS.

Thanks for correcting that. (Not a native Greek speaker myself, obviously. Just a linguist with some outside familiarity.)

> "Gyro" is pronounced just like it's spelled,

That's tautologically true in English and every language.

Why would you assume that a Greek restaurant owner would roll their eyes because English dropped the s for grammatical consistency?

I’ve always pronounced it gyro until I moved to SF and now everyone seems to look at me crazy and insist it’s “gyro”, so not 100% sure still.

Yee-row if you're talking about the delcious food (hold the Feta please)

Ji-Row if you're talking about the navigational instrument that uses lasers and a ring of fiber optics, or ... in olden times, a large spinning mass.

I grew up in "olden times"? I'm technically (barely) a millennial! :(

The latter being short for "gyroscope" of course.

It can also be a 'copter with an unpowered main rotor, a gyrocopter/autogyro/gyroplane or "gyro" for short.

Do you mean a "'pter"?

Helicopter is (like gyro, from the Greek) a helico-pter (whirl wing)

You have the right derivation and you've broken "helicopter" correctly, but what exactly is a "gyroco"? It seems to me "gyrocopter" was very likely coined in English from the root "gyro" and the "copter" from "helicopter" as a back-formation.

It’s “yee-ro” (Ask anyone of Greek heritage)

This is how the very Greek owners of the best Greek food in Austin (Santorini Cafe) taught me how to say it. And I’m inclined to believe them, because they make a damn good yee-ro.

Like you say "ye" from "year" and "raw"; in other words, it should sound like "ye-raw".

Now, if you want to say "this is gyros", you simply pronounce it as "ye-ross".

Dated a Greek girl. Through experiences with her family.. Can confirm.

Greek here. This is correct.

So… how does one pronounce ˈʝiros?

As a non-native speaker the whole article confused me. In Germany 'gyros' has a 'g' as in 'going'. How do the greek say it?

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B3%CF%8D%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%8...

ʝ is the voiced counterpart of ç (the ch in "ich"), so you might be able to get pretty close by pronouncing it "Chiros" but buzzing your voice box during the initial consonant.

Its funny that there is so much discussion about the 'g', but no suggestion to pronounce the 'y' differently. In German, it is pronounced gew-ross or gü-ross (English transliteration). I always just assumed that is what everybody else calls it, except in english-speaking countries (but they also say calo-rimmeter instead of calori-meter, and sometimes aluminum instead of aluminium ;-)).

I thought in Germany it was pronounced "döner".

Correct pronunciation is: Döner Kebap.

I kid, I kid.

In Australia, it’s spelled “Yiros” if that’s anything to go by...

Since language is a living thing (consider English in Shakespeare's time), all the people get to decide. The consensus is 'correct'. (You say MOE-DEM I say MAH-DEM.) The origin language is immaterial.

Language is a living thing, but it doesn’t follow that it can be arbitrarily determined by individuals. You don’t get to make up and impose your own words, pronunciations, and meanings, or not if you want to be understood and respected. Language is a collective endeavour that evolves through the interactions of many people.

You don't get to impose your own words, pronunciations, and meanings, but you do get to attempt to make up your own, as does everyone else. If you can actually get your words to gain traction, then so be it. Anyone who is credited with coining a new term very much did what you said they couldn't. They created a word, gave it a meaning, it took hold and became a thing.

Ive used both pronunciations of "gyros" and in my experience it's concretely better in the US to use the "wrong" one. As in, if you say it "yeeros" some servers won't know what you're talking about, by "jy-ros" would be understood by all (but some will think you're saying it wrong).

I think it's a case where language is to communicate and you can't be the "correct" person by verbalizing in a way others don't understand.

So where does it crossover? For example male and female have definitions but activists are pushing to redefine those terms along with others. Why is that any more legitimate than an individual redefining a word? And what level of critical mass “permits” redefinition?

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