Alpha Phi?

[Jen]

.

For women's groups such as Alpha Phi, Phi is pronounced "Fee" as it is the feminine and it comes at the end.

However, other women's groups such as Delta Phi Epsilon and Phi Mu, it is pronounced "Fie" (I think...I could be wrong)

Similarly, the women's sorority Alpha Xi Delta, the Xi is pronounced "Zee", not "Zigh" (like sigh, but with a z sound).

[cash78mere]

gloriajean-

are you sure about the alpha "zee" delta? i'm almost positive it's called alpha "zigh" delta. but when you say the nickname, it's pronounced a"zee"d.

I'm not 100% sure so please correct me if i'm wrong

And yes, you're right, Phi Mu and D Phi E are both pronounced "Fie"

Originally posted by cash78mere:
[B]gloriajean-
are you sure about the alpha "zee" delta? i'm almost positive it's called alpha "zigh" delta. but when you say the nickname, it's pronounced a"zee"d.
B]

No, I am not certain about the Alpha Xi Delta being pronounced "Zee", but I guess I always assumed that if their nickname is a"zee"d, I thought that "Xi" must be pronounced "Zee". Maybe if there is an Alpha Xi Delta on this board, they can tell us for certain!

Another thing to ariesrising:
Phi gets pronounced "Fee" in the case of the men's fraternity "FIJIs"

The full name is Phi (Fie) Gamma Delta, but their nickname is
Phi(Fee)+G(from the Gamma) hence Fiji.

I am not quite sure why they wouldn't be pronounced "Fie G", but I guess from a phonetical standpoint it wouldn't sound as good as Fee Gee (FIJI)!

[ahhkbah]

I met a guy from greece and he told me that we pronounce the entire language incorrectly.

[SilverTurtle]

I met a guy from greece and he told me that we pronounce the entire language incorrectly

One of our members studied in Hungary for a semester, and when she came back she told us that some Greek (the nationality) guy had told her about the same thing!

I think that Phi's pronounciation does depend on it's location in the name.. I hadn't heard of the gender thing.. but it makes total sense (I know French and German both have those masculine/feminine endings for all of their words.. lost many points on many tests thanks to those )



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SilverTurtle@greekchat.com
Phi Beta Fraternity
Phi chapter

[Siobhan]

Silver Turtle, you're right about that pronounciation thing. In my chapter of DPhieE there are quite a few Greek girls, and they taught how to pronounce the letters correctly. NB, even though we pronounce it Delta FI Epsilon, it technically is FEE.

Siobhan

[APhiGirl]

hi! i am a sister in the delta chapter fo alpha phi, and the remarks about the vowel rule are correct. supposedly, our founding sisters consulted a greek professor at syracuse (alpha chapter) when deciding on the name and wanted to make sure they got the pronunciationa correct.

[cash78mere]

Localsororities-

I've never heard of FIJI pronouncing their name as "Fie-JI". Many of my friends at school are FIJI's and they pronounce their name like the island FIJI. In fact, one of their big social events is "FIJI Island" where they decorate their house like an island and have a big party.

Or are you saying that the nickname is only pronounced "Fie"? Sorry I'm all confused now after I've re-read it! Either way, I thought I'd let you know about FIJI Island because it's lots of fun!

Things could be different at different schools!

[Siobhan]

Cash78mere

There's a Fiji chapter at UBC and we pronounce the name like the Island. Our Fijis also through the imfamous Fiji Islander.

Siobhan

When you are saying the FULL OUT name, it is
Phi(Fi) Gamma Delta

but the nickname FIJI is pronounced Fee Jee.

[AlphaChiGirl]

So...if the correct pronunciation of "Phi" after "Alpha" is "Phee", does Alpha Phi Alpha refer to themselves as "Alpha Phee Alpha"? I've never heard that, even from members.

I did know that Alpha Phi used the correct Greek pronunciation, but I wasn't sure about Phi Mu.

Originally posted by AlphaChiGirl:
So...if the correct pronunciation of "Phi" after "Alpha" is "Phee", does Alpha Phi Alpha refer to themselves as "Alpha Phee Alpha"?

I think in the case of Alpha Phi Alpha Men's Fraternity, it is pronounced "Alpha Fi Alpha". Yes, the Alpha does precede the Phi in the name, so it would stand to reason that it should be pronounced Fee, but I think because this is a men's fraternity, they go with "Fi", rather than the feminine sound of "Fee".

[BSUPhiSig'92]

In the actual Greek language, Phi is always pronounced "Fee", Xi "Zee", etc. Over the years the pronunciations have been "Americanized" like lots of other words from other languages that have been adopted into our vocabulary. Heck, we barely even speak the same language as the English!! The Greek language as a course of study in most colleges had died out by the time most of the organizations were founded. Alpha Phi probably uses the correct pronunciation because Syracuse (Greek name by the way), still taught it. Also, the nickname for FIJI is pronounced "fee-gee", but I have always heard its proper name pronounced with a "fie".