Ptolemy

Question

Hello
I wish you all a Merry Christmas.

The following is my question:

Ptolemy XII was Cleopatra’s father. When he died in 51 BCE, Ptolemy XII willed that seventeen-year-old Cleopatra and her twelve-year-old brother, Ptolemy XIII, were to marry and rule Egypt. Cleopatra was a very different ruler than the Ptolemies who came before her. She learned the Egyptian language; the other Ptolemies spoke only Greek. Cleopatra also practiced the religious customs of Egypt, and many of the Egyptians viewed her as a pharaoh. In 48 BCE, Cleopatra’s generals found they could not control her, so they ousted Cleopatra and made her brother the sole monarch of Egypt.
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My question is on the pronunciation of the word ' Ptolemy'. How do you pronounce it? Would you pronounce it as you pronounce the word 'psychology'.

When you pronounce the word ' psychology', the letter ' p ' is mute? I know it is a tall order to tell the pronunciation of words on the Internet.

Your comments please.

Serge Ant · Accepted Answer

You are right.

Ptolemy sounds like [ (t

l

-m

)]

CalifJim · Answer

"p" is always silent in initial "pt", "ps", "pf", and "pn".

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

yup perfect analogy to the word psychology..but ur history is slightly off...

Cleopatra wasn't willed the throne of egypt..she bickered with her brother ptolemy XIII....and married her younger brother who is known as Ptolemy XIV...she had Julius Caesar help her oust her brother Ptolemy XIII and became the last pharoah of egypt.....had a son Ptolemy XV...by caesar..and is known as Caesarion ("little caesar")

~Marc

Anonymous · Answer

0 01blockquote

01cite10Rex12cite10Hello12br
10I wish you all a Merry Christmas.12br
12br
10The following is my question:12br
12br
10Ptolemy XII was Cleopatra’s father. When he died in 51 BCE, Ptolemy XII willed that seventeen-year-old Cleopatra and her twelve-year-old brother, Ptolemy XIII, were to marry and rule Egypt. Cleopatra was a very different ruler than the Ptolemies who came before her. She learned the Egyptian language; the other Ptolemies spoke only Greek. Cleopatra also practiced the religious customs of Egypt, and many of the Egyptians viewed her as a pharaoh. In 48 BCE, Cleopatra’s generals found they could not control her, so they ousted Cleopatra and made her brother the sole monarch of Egypt.12br
10----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12br
12br
10My question is on the pronunciation of the word ' Ptolemy'. How do you pronounce it? Would you pronounce it as you pronounce the word 'psychology'. 12br
12br
10When you pronounce the word ' psychology', the letter ' p ' is mute? I know it is a tall order to tell the pronunciation of words on the Internet.12br
12br
10Your comments please.12br
12blockquote

10--------------------------------------------------------------------------02br
02br
00I want to know the same thing! Personaly I think the P is mute.0-

Clive · Answer

0Hi,02br
02br
00Yes, I've always heard it pronounced with the 'p' silent.02br
02br
00Best wishes, Clive0-

Anonymous · Answer

Ptolemy is pronounced Tol- em-y

Anonymous · Answer

The name Ptolemy has a mute P, so it is pronounced Tolemy.

It's my last name so I should know.

Mark Ptolemy

Raindoctor · Answer

This word tells another story about phonotactics of the target language. When a greek word is nativized (anglicized), such an word has to follow the phonology of English. The consonant cluster -pt- in the onset is not permitted; so, there are three ways to go about: (a) mute p when -pt- starts the word; (b) split -pt- across syllables; (c) pt is permitted in the coda, move it to the coda of the prior syllable.

Understanding this nativization is very important to understand L1 phonology.

A recent book discusses this topic:

"Loan Phonology, ed. by Andrea Calabrese and W. Leo Wetzels, Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 307, John Benjamins, 2009.

For many different reasons, speakers borrow words from other languages to fill gaps in their own lexical inventory. The past ten years have been characterized by a great interest among phonologists in the issue of how the nativization of loanwords occurs. The general feeling is that loanword nativization provides a direct window for observing how acoustic cues are categorized in terms of the distinctive features relevant to the L1 phonological system as well as for studying L1 phonological processes in action and thus to the true synchronic phonology of L1. The collection of essays presented in this volume provides an overview of the complex issues phonologists face when investigating this phenomenon and, more generally, the ways in which unfamiliar sounds and sound sequences are adapted to converge with the native language’s sound pattern. This book is of interest to theoretical phonologists as well as to linguists interested in language contact phenomena."

Clive · Answer

Hi,

All this is true, but let's not forget that the owner of a name traditionally has the final decision on how he wants it to be pronounced. Of course, he may or may not have success in persuading other people.

I have a surname like that, myself.

Here are a few extreme examples from http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/EnglishSpellingSystem/UnusualSurnames.htm

which show odd pronunciations that seem unrelated to the spelling.

Featherstonehaugh 'fanshaw'

St John 'singe-ern'

Best wishes, Clive

Anonymous · Answer

ptolomey is read as tolomey silent p I have relatives all over the world who carry surname Ptolomey .people call us tollies related too cleopatra and the astromomer ptolemy

Ptolemy

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