Message: "Re: Polyxena" - Behind the Name

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[Opinions] Re: Polyxena

by New_Chloe

6/30/2010, 8:12 AM

I said it "polly-ZEENA" for years until my Classics prof said it like "pa-LIX-inna".... and I guess he'd know, since he studies that kind of stuff.... but I was disappointed. Polly-zeena sounds so much more friendly and alive and not so much like the name from a dead language.

It's a bit of a funny name to work with - putting plain, sturdy names next to it only makes Polyxena look weirder, but pairing it with similarily obscure choices turns the whole thing into a jumbled-looking mess...

So I'll just do whatevs.

Polyxena Phoebe
Polyxena Pearl
Polyxena Eulalie
Polyxena Margaret
Polyxena Anne
Polyxena Ivy / Ivy Polyxena
Polyxena June
Polyxena Daisy
Polyxena Claire
Polyxena Claude
Polyxena Nell
Polyxena Tess
Polyxena Zoe
Polyxena Frances
Polyxena Charlotte
Polyxena Lois
Polyxena Odette
Polyxena Aspasia

...hopefully those at least give you some ideas? Ugh. I'm off my game today.

This message was edited 6/30/2010, 9:29 AM

Replies

- lizagirl +8

6/30/2010, 9:25 AM

Hey, if this is a Greek name, your professor was WRONG! In Greek, X's are always pronounced like Z's. Polly-ZEENA is correct.

- SugarPlumFairy +1

6/30/2010, 11:16 AM

No, not really.

In the middle of the words, X almost always has a 'ks' sound. See names of Greek origin like Alexander, Alexis, Eudoxia, Roxana, etc. And Xenia is usually pronounced [ksinia] in English.

- lizagirl

6/30/2010, 11:54 AM

I stand corrected. I don't see the X in Polyxena as being an X in the middle of a name, as I am seeing the name as its two components, Poly and Xena. I understand the sound of the X in Alexander and Nyx, but all the pronunciation guides I've seen say that, when X begins a word, pronunciation is Z (Except in Chinese).

So, X is the same in Xanthippe, Alexander, Xenophone, and Polyxena? OK.

PS: Come to think of it, the Russians spell Xenia K-S-E-N-I-A.

- Hecate

6/30/2010, 9:32 AM

No, in Greece x is x and z is z.
I'm pretty sure the professor was wrong but it's a latinized form of a Greek name and I don't know if both names had similar pronounciation.

- New_Chloe +4

6/30/2010, 9:28 AM

Do you have a PhD in Ancient Greek?

- lizagirl +3

6/30/2010, 9:39 AM

Who, me? I was simply drawing a conclusion based on the fact that the pronunciation of Xanthippe is "ZAN-tip-ee", the pronunciation of Xena is "ZEE-nah", the pronunciation of xylophone is "ZY-lo-FOHN", and the pronunciation of Xenon is "ZEE-non". All words are ancient Greek or from the ancient Greek, and in all, the X is prounced as the English Z. That, to me, would indicate that the proper pronunciation of the X in Polyxena is also Z.

- Hecate

6/30/2010, 9:47 AM

These are the latinized pronounciations of these words/names. In Ancient and Modern Greek X is not pronounced Z.

BTW, Xanthippe is "ksan-THEE-pee" in Greek and "zan-THEE-pee" in English :)

- New_Chloe +1

6/30/2010, 9:44 AM

Xanthippe is said "Ksan-thee-pay" in Ancient Greek, and Xena is a made-up name, maybe based on the Greek Xenia, which is "Ksenia" - it's only modern English that turns the X into a X sound. So maybe both Polyxena pronunciations are right, it just depeneds if you want to say it like they did back in Aristotle's day or if you want to modernize it.

- lizagirl

6/30/2010, 9:51 AM

OK...not to be a bother, but what's your source? I've read a lot on Indo-European languages, and I've read a lot in encyclopedias about Greek mythology, but I've never come across this bit of information. (ADD moment...how DO people know about ancient pronunciation, anyways?)

Thanks for the info!

Liza

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