<p>It might depend on global locality or language being used. As a native English speaker I pronounce it as SPY-kuh. Then again, with the current omicron variant of Covid 19, most non British speakers of English pronounce it as OM-ikron, whereas many British speakers of English pronounce it as Ohm-ikron. The British and Americans can't agree on a common pronunciation of <em>tomato</em>, <em>leisure</em> or <em>oregano</em>. They even have different words for capsicum/bell pepper, zucchini/courgette, freeway/motor way, pavement/sidewalk (elsewhere foot path), diabase/dolerite.</p>
<p>Then there's the tricky issue amongst English speakers of how to pronounce <em>Uranus</em> and how the word is divided into syllables. American pronunciation is usually Uran-us, elsewhere it can be pronounced You-ranus - something very close to a part of the anatomy, which is unfortunate.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-22T12:32:16.943Z
The fun bit of the whole omicron thing is that neither the BrE nor AmE speakers are technically correct, it’s OH-mikron (or, more correctly with modern Greek pronunciation, roughly OH-mee-kron). But then, anglophones always seem to actively force their own pronunciation rules on any loan word they come across...
Austin Hemmelgarn
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-22T15:54:20.553Z
At school teachers would pronounce Uranus so that it sounds like ''urinous'', which is not much better.
Hollis Williams
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-22T16:45:11.553Z
@HollisWilliams: Thank you for that. Until now I wasn't aware of such a pronunciation. Yet another example of how one word can be troublesome.
Fred
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-03-28T01:42:30.573Z
just fyi the bounty on [What's known about Odd Radio Circle appearance? What would they look like if we could see them? Are they transparent/translucent in radio, or opaque?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/45321/7982) expires 2022-03-31 00:44 (plus a 24 hour invisible grace period) I see you've done some reading of recent results and started an answer that looks good...
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-22T09:55:58.137Z
2022-02-22T10:15:46.023Z
2022-02-22T10:15:46.023Z
Fred
<blockquote>
<p>Pronunciation seems to vary depending on the source, usually either SPY-kuh or SPEE-kuh. Which is correct?</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>SPY-kuh!</h3>
<p>The Oxford English Dictionary or &quot;OED&quot; calls itself:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The definitive record of the English language</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It gives <a href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/186500?rskey=aMY3uk&amp;result=1#eid" rel="nofollow noreferrer">two pronunciations</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Brit. /ˈspʌɪkə/, U.S. /ˈspaɪkə/</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The page has little audio players, one for each. They both sound pretty much &quot;SPY-kuh&quot;. &quot;Spy&quot; like with &quot;my little eye&quot; (I'll call it a long &quot;I&quot; vowel) and kuh like in &quot;cusp&quot;.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/jkcS0.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/jkcS0.png" alt="The Oxford English Dictionary for Spika (noun)" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-24T10:58:26.067Z
We can direct all future pronunciation questions to this question and close as duplicate. In other words, *just go to the OED and be done with it!*
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-24T10:56:01.280Z
2022-02-24T10:56:01.280Z
uhoh
<p>There is no general accepted pronunciation. <em>Spica</em> is a Latin word and there is no globally uniform pronunciation for Latin. How you pronounce Latin depends on your mother tongue as Latin most often is pronounced as if it were pronounced in the most familiar way to the language you speak. Yet, Wiktionary gives the <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spica" rel="nofollow noreferrer">pronunciation</a> as /ˈspiː.ka/ or [ˈs̠piːkä], thus <em>spee-kuh</em>.</p>
<p>Many foreign words are pronounced in English as if they were English words (which is fine, of course - especially for a word like Spica which has been in the English language for centuries, found even in its original Latin meaning), so in the English-speaking world you might most often find it pronounced as <em>Spy-kuh</em> [ˈspaɪkə].</p>
<p>Yet if your mother tongue and / or your audience is of different language background, you will find it pronounced differently. From a very limited sample size, yet most people from different European language backgrounds I met would pronounce it similar to the quoted Latin above, thus <em>Spee-kuh</em> [ˈspiːka]. Listen to the name pronounced <a href="https://www.kidpaw.com/names/spica/pronounce" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a> in different languages.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-22T17:05:59.580Z
Oh, I also wanted to clarify, [ˈspɪ:kə] seems to be for German, but in French it'd be more like [spiˈkɐ].
wjandrea
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-22T18:06:12.527Z
That's why I linked the sound samples :) - and it stresses the first paragraph: no general accepted pronounciation :)
planetmaker
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-25T02:59:07.013Z
I disagree with your affirmation that “there is no globally uniform pronunciation for Latin.” It is obvious that there was a (presumably) single way to pronounce it in Antiquity, as it *was* the mother tongue of most (West-)Europeans back then. This is called Classical Latin. It then “evolved” to Middle Latin, then Renaissance Latin, and I guess that’s when local accents started appearing. I prefer to pronounce it the Classical way: “Ave” would be “ah-way” and “circa” would be “kir-kah,” for example.
Pierre Paquette
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-21T16:34:55.200Z
2022-02-24T11:37:27.953Z
2022-02-24T11:37:27.953Z
planetmaker
<p>Pronunciation seems to vary depending on the source, usually either SPY-kuh or SPEE-kuh. Which is correct?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-21T12:27:22.320Z
It might depend on global locality or language being used. As a native English speaker I pronounce it as SPY-kuh. Then again, with the current omicron variant of Covid 19, most non British speakers of English pronounce it as OM-ikron, whereas many British speakers of English pronounce it as Ohm-ikron.
Fred
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-21T19:12:18.307Z
I moe or less considered Spica prounced "spick ah".   You might want to watch the Star Trek episode "The Trouble With Tribbles"; in the first bar scene Cyrano Jones and the bartender discuss "Spican flame gems".
M. A. Golding
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-21T21:19:39.300Z
There's no reason to close this question and block anyone from adding an answer. Communicating about astronomy may include speaking and challenging words may need some pointers since Astronomical names can have interesting stories. **voting to leave open** to allow others to continue to post answers because this may have several interesting ones!
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-22T06:01:17.117Z
@Fred You should write answers in the _answers_ section so they can be voted on and corrected if necessary, instead of writing it in the comment section where it's pushed in front of every legitimate answer and can not be discussed or refuted.
pipe
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-22T09:50:36.790Z
@pipe: thank you for your comment. I posted my statement as a comment because I didn't think it was good enough to be an answer. It was a comment based on observations over time. I have no idea if there is an "official" pronunciation amongst astronomers of *Spica*. Anyone can refute or discuss my comment by doing just what you did - addressing a comment to me. But if you think it's worthy of classification as an answer, fine, I'll post it as an answer & we can note what happens. Feel free to "discuss or refute".
Fred
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-22T12:54:00.173Z
Where does this H in uH and aH in all of these answers come from? I haven't heard any H in any of the possible pronunciations.
Vladimir F Героям слава
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-22T14:10:27.633Z
@Fred I've mostly heard "Ohm-ikron" in the US as well, but then I'm also more used to hearing that in relation to computer science.  People who say "OM-ikron" are either flustered over learning a new word, or sometimes just pretending not to know how to pronounce things in a form of subtle mockery - they're just as likely to add that superfluous 'N' in there, and call it "Omnicron".
Darrel Hoffman
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-22T15:13:48.397Z
@Close voters: pronounciation may vary regionally and by language, but definitely is not opinion-based...
planetmaker
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-22T15:35:54.593Z
@uhoh: Do you have enough reputation score to protect this question so it can't be closed, or is that the domain of the moderators? If you do, use your powers. Save it from closure.
Fred
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-22T15:53:27.873Z
It would depend on the language, but in Spanish it would definitely be pronounced SPEE-kah.
Hollis Williams
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-22T17:25:59.840Z
@Fred Omicron as in small o, compared to omega, as in large o, I suppose.
Andrew Morton
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-22T21:14:03.710Z
@Fred One can protect a question from certain things (like too many comments from rep=1 users I think) but not from closure. There are however already three re-open votes (one is mine) so we're almost open again. From [FAQ](https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/7931/303080) see [What is a “protected” or "highly active" question?](https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/52764/303080)
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-23T07:44:38.653Z
This sets a poor precedent. I regret providing an "answer".
ProfRob
<star><star-catalogues>
How is the star 'Spica' pronounced?
lucas
# How is the star 'Spica' pronounced?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-02-21)

Pronunciation seems to vary depending on the source, usually either SPY-kuh or SPEE-kuh. Which is correct?

**Tags:** star, star-catalogues
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It might depend on global locality or language being used. As a native English speaker I pronounce it as SPY-kuh. Then again, with the current omicron variant of Covid 19, most non British speakers of English pronounce it as OM-ikron, whereas many British speakers of English pronounce it as Ohm-ikron.  
> **username_2**: I moe or less considered Spica prounced "spick ah".   You might want to watch the Star Trek episode "The Trouble With Tribbles"; in the first bar scene Cyrano Jones and the bartender discuss "Spican flame gems".  
> **username_3**: There's no reason to close this question and block anyone from adding an answer. Communicating about astronomy may include speaking and challenging words may need some pointers since Astronomical names can have interesting stories. **voting to leave open** to allow others to continue to post answers because this may have several interesting ones!  
> **username_4**: @Fred You should write answers in the _answers_ section so they can be voted on and corrected if necessary, instead of writing it in the comment section where it's pushed in front of every legitimate answer and can not be discussed or refuted.  
> **username_1**: @pipe: thank you for your comment. I posted my statement as a comment because I didn't think it was good enough to be an answer. It was a comment based on observations over time. I have no idea if there is an "official" pronunciation amongst astronomers of *Spica*. Anyone can refute or discuss my comment by doing just what you did - addressing a comment to me. But if you think it's worthy of classification as an answer, fine, I'll post it as an answer & we can note what happens. Feel free to "discuss or refute".  
> **username_5**: Where does this H in uH and aH in all of these answers come from? I haven't heard any H in any of the possible pronunciations.  
> **username_6**: @Fred I've mostly heard "Ohm-ikron" in the US as well, but then I'm also more used to hearing that in relation to computer science.  People who say "OM-ikron" are either flustered over learning a new word, or sometimes just pretending not to know how to pronounce things in a form of subtle mockery - they're just as likely to add that superfluous 'N' in there, and call it "Omnicron".  
> **username_7**: @Close voters: pronounciation may vary regionally and by language, but definitely is not opinion-based...  
> **username_1**: @uhoh: Do you have enough reputation score to protect this question so it can't be closed, or is that the domain of the moderators? If you do, use your powers. Save it from closure.  
> **username_8**: It would depend on the language, but in Spanish it would definitely be pronounced SPEE-kah.  
> **username_9**: @Fred Omicron as in small o, compared to omega, as in large o, I suppose.  
> **username_3**: @Fred One can protect a question from certain things (like too many comments from rep=1 users I think) but not from closure. There are however already three re-open votes (one is mine) so we're almost open again. From [FAQ](https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/7931/303080) see [What is a “protected” or "highly active" question?](https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/52764/303080)  
> **username_10**: This sets a poor precedent. I regret providing an "answer".  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_7 on 2022-02-21. Score: 17 | Accepted answer

There is no general accepted pronunciation. *Spica* is a Latin word and there is no globally uniform pronunciation for Latin. How you pronounce Latin depends on your mother tongue as Latin most often is pronounced as if it were pronounced in the most familiar way to the language you speak. Yet, Wiktionary gives the [pronunciation](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spica) as /ˈspiː.ka/ or [ˈs̠piːkä], thus *spee-kuh*.

Many foreign words are pronounced in English as if they were English words (which is fine, of course - especially for a word like Spica which has been in the English language for centuries, found even in its original Latin meaning), so in the English-speaking world you might most often find it pronounced as *Spy-kuh* [ˈspaɪkə].

Yet if your mother tongue and / or your audience is of different language background, you will find it pronounced differently. From a very limited sample size, yet most people from different European language backgrounds I met would pronounce it similar to the quoted Latin above, thus *Spee-kuh* [ˈspiːka]. Listen to the name pronounced [here](https://www.kidpaw.com/names/spica/pronounce) in different languages.

> **Comments:**
> **username_12**: Oh, I also wanted to clarify, [ˈspɪ:kə] seems to be for German, but in French it'd be more like [spiˈkɐ].  
> **username_7**: That's why I linked the sound samples :) - and it stresses the first paragraph: no general accepted pronounciation :)  
> **username_13**: I disagree with your affirmation that “there is no globally uniform pronunciation for Latin.” It is obvious that there was a (presumably) single way to pronounce it in Antiquity, as it *was* the mother tongue of most (West-)Europeans back then. This is called Classical Latin. It then “evolved” to Middle Latin, then Renaissance Latin, and I guess that’s when local accents started appearing. I prefer to pronounce it the Classical way: “Ave” would be “ah-way” and “circa” would be “kir-kah,” for example.  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-02-22. Score: 2

It might depend on global locality or language being used. As a native English speaker I pronounce it as SPY-kuh. Then again, with the current omicron variant of Covid 19, most non British speakers of English pronounce it as OM-ikron, whereas many British speakers of English pronounce it as Ohm-ikron. The British and Americans can't agree on a common pronunciation of *tomato*, *leisure* or *oregano*. They even have different words for capsicum/bell pepper, zucchini/courgette, freeway/motor way, pavement/sidewalk (elsewhere foot path), diabase/dolerite.

Then there's the tricky issue amongst English speakers of how to pronounce *Uranus* and how the word is divided into syllables. American pronunciation is usually Uran-us, elsewhere it can be pronounced You-ranus - something very close to a part of the anatomy, which is unfortunate.

> **Comments:**
> **username_11**: The fun bit of the whole omicron thing is that neither the BrE nor AmE speakers are technically correct, it’s OH-mikron (or, more correctly with modern Greek pronunciation, roughly OH-mee-kron). But then, anglophones always seem to actively force their own pronunciation rules on any loan word they come across...  
> **username_8**: At school teachers would pronounce Uranus so that it sounds like ''urinous'', which is not much better.  
> **username_1**: @HollisWilliams: Thank you for that. Until now I wasn't aware of such a pronunciation. Yet another example of how one word can be troublesome.  
> **username_3**: just fyi the bounty on [What's known about Odd Radio Circle appearance? What would they look like if we could see them? Are they transparent/translucent in radio, or opaque?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/45321/7982) expires 2022-03-31 00:44 (plus a 24 hour invisible grace period) I see you've done some reading of recent results and started an answer that looks good...  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2022-02-24. Score: 0

> Pronunciation seems to vary depending on the source, usually either SPY-kuh or SPEE-kuh. Which is correct?

### SPY-kuh!

The Oxford English Dictionary or "OED" calls itself:

> The definitive record of the English language

It gives [two pronunciations](https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/186500?rskey=aMY3uk&result=1#eid):

> Brit. /ˈspʌɪkə/, U.S. /ˈspaɪkə/

The page has little audio players, one for each. They both sound pretty much "SPY-kuh". "Spy" like with "my little eye" (I'll call it a long "I" vowel) and kuh like in "cusp".

[![The Oxford English Dictionary for Spika (noun)](https://i.sstatic.net/jkcS0.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/jkcS0.png)

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: We can direct all future pronunciation questions to this question and close as duplicate. In other words, *just go to the OED and be done with it!*  

---

