Pronunciation

[Greenbhoy]

What is the correct pronunciation of Uranus?

Is it Your-in-us?

Is it Your-anus?

Is it Oor-in-us?

Is it Oor-anus?

and why do the media try and change pronunciations? Is it to avoid insulting the public by saying anus?

[fairy!]

I was taught it at primary school as "Yer-anus"

[ianess]

Yes, it's probably all to do with body parts but the pronunciation nowadays is along the lines of "you're a nuss".   Don't know what a nuss is, so sorry if that upset anyone.  Strange people, we Brits....so easily offended.

[Loosehead]

It is yure enus said almost as if it is one syllable. Ie no implied hyphen. Your-anus is the schoolboy extracted version.

[Greenbhoy]

Don't think it is so much the Brits as the North Americans. They have to be SO politically correct that they have changed heaps.

Don't forget, these are the folks that call Aluminium - Aloominum.

[Quizmonster]

Dear Greenbhoy, Sir Humphrey Davy, who discovered it, actually called it 'aluminum'. Others, however, decided that didn't sound scientific enough and simply changed it to 'aluminium', as other elements ended in 'ium'. The American usage has the older provenance, I'm afraid.

[Greenbhoy]

Quizmonster - thanks for the enlightenment. Do you also know if original name from Sir Davy was pronunced Al-oo-minum (american) or Al-you-minum (sorry for the simplified breakdown). Or is this just another example of personal preference like the word Jaguar?

[Quizmonster]

Dear Greenbhoy, I must apologise for an oversight on my part. Your request for further information made me look again at the relevant information, which revealed that Sir Humphrey originally - and briefly - called it 'aluminium' before he himself changed it to 'aluminum'! Sorry. The editors of the prestigious journal of the day, 'The Quarterly Review', changed it back to the 'iu' version. (Without so much as a 'by your leave', as far as I know!)

I cannot be certain, of course, how Sir Humphrey pronounced either word, but here's my guess. There is a chemical connection with the mineral 'alum' and that has no suggestion of a 'y' sound in it. I imagine, therefore, that the current American pronunciation - al-oo-minum (with a relatively light 'oo' sound) - is the closer to the original. Cheers. Apologies again for my error as to the words' age.

[rojash]

But, to get back to the original subject...

The name Uranus comes from the Greek "Ouranos" (sky), pronounced oo-ran-Os with the emphasis on the last syllable, so that mught give a guide to the correct pronunciation.

This probably won't display correctly, but here it is in Greek:

Ουρανός

[rojash]

As I suspected, you can type it in in Greek, but it doesn't display!

[Quizmonster]

Our language is awash with words of Greek origin, but their English pronunciation is not necessarily very close to the originals at all in many cases. The Oxford English Dictionary - the 'bible' as regards English words - offers two acceptable pronunciations for Uranus...effectively, your-in-us and you-rain-us.

[bernardo]

I have always pronounced "Uranus" with a schwa in the middle, and with the stress on the first syllable.

[bobbyx]

Ure (as in Midge Ure) & Anus (Ay-nuss). That's how it should be pronounced the confusion only exists because of PC do-gooders. Don't let them change it!

[landie]

Uranus my arse.