"Excel" pronunciation

Question

Is the name "Excel" as in "Microsoft Excel 2003" pronounced as in the verb "to excel"?

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Is the name "Excel" as in "Microsoft Excel 2003" pronounced as in the verb "to excel"?[/nq]
For example, according to my dictionary, the verb "export" is pronounced
3k 'spo@t
while the noun "export" is pronounced
'3k spo@t
Now, the verb "excel" is pronounced:
Ik 's3l
So I wonder, whether the noun might be pronounced as

'Ik s3l
or as
Ik 's3l

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Is the name "Excel" as in "Microsoft Excel 2003" pronounced as in the verb "to excel"?[/nq]
[nq:1]For example, according to my dictionary, the verb "export" is pronounced 3k 'spo@t while the noun "export" is pronounced '3k spo@t Now, the verb "excel" is pronounced: Ik 's3l So I wonder, whether the noun might be pronounced as 'Ik s3l or as Ik 's3l[/nq]
I always pronounce it like the verb, because I think that's where they took the name from. My German colleagues are always surprised, because here you almost always here it pronounced 'eksel !!!

Remove the security-insertion to mail me directly

Usenet · Answer

In alt.english.usage on 17 Aug 2004 13:02:36 GMT
[nq:2]Is the name "Excel" as in "Microsoft Excel 2003" pronounced as in the verb "to excel"?[/nq]
[nq:1]For example, according to my dictionary, the verb "export" is pronounced 3k 'spo@t while the noun "export" is pronounced '3k spo@t Now, the verb "excel" is pronounced: Ik 's3l So I wonder, whether the noun might be pronounced as 'Ik s3l or as Ik 's3l[/nq]
I have no idea what your phonetic writing says I could have just answered your first post, but I seem to exult in my ignorance.

But yes, it's pronounced like the verb. Because there is no noun afaik "excel". Maybe some foreign car has a name that sounds like that but I'm sure they spell it differently, and MS is trying to capture the meaning of the verb, not the car.
In addition to export, there are a lot of verb/noun words with the stress on the first syllable for a noun, on the second for a verb, but this isn't one of them.
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
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Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Is the name "Excel" as in "Microsoft Excel 2003" pronounced as in the verb "to excel"?[/nq]
Short answer: yes.
[nq:1]For example, according to my dictionary, the verb "export" is pronounced 3k 'spo@t while the noun "export" is pronounced '3k ... in your dictionary, or have you had to change some of the symbols so that they appear correctly on usenet?[/nq]
The difference in stress is correctly shown, at least.
[nq:1]Now, the verb "excel" is pronounced: Ik 's3l So I wonder, whether the noun might be pronounced as 'Ik s3l or as Ik 's3l[/nq]
Did you buy your dictionary in New Zealand?!
The "e" in "export" and both "e"s in "excel"/"Excel" are pronounced like the first "e" in "Essingen", at least in most varieties of British English.

The stress is on the second syllable.
Hope that helps.

Andrew Gwilliam
To email me, replace "bottomless pit" with "silverhelm"

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Short answer: yes.[/nq]
Thanks to everyone, who has replied in this thread!
[nq:2]'3k spo@t[/nq]
[nq:1]Are these transcriptions exactly how they appear in your dictionary, or have you had to change some of the symbols so that they appear correctly on usenet?[/nq]
"3" is a mirror-image of the epsilon-like symbol in the book, the "o" is denoting the o-like IPA-symbol, which is open on the left (like a mirrored "c") and "@" is the schwar.

To see the original, a Unicode-enabled web-browser can be used to display this page:
http://www.purl.org/stefan ram/pub/english-pronunciation

(Not yet revised to include the answers from this
thread.)
[nq:1]Did you buy your dictionary in New Zealand?![/nq]
I bought it in Germany:
NTC's Dictionary of American English Pronunciation, Professor Bernard Silverstein,
National Textbook Company,
Licolnwood, Illinois, U.S.A,
1995,
ISBN 0-8442-0727-6

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Are these transcriptions exactly how they appear in your dictionary, ... of the symbols so that they appear correctly on usenet?[/nq]
[nq:1]"3" is a mirror-image of the epsilon-like symbol in the book, the "o" is denoting the o-like IPA-symbol, which is open on the left (like a mirrored "c") and "@" is the schwar.[/nq]
I thought this was the case for "3" and "@", but wanted to make sure. I couldn't make my mind up about the "o"!
[nq:1]To see the original, a Unicode-enabled web-browser can be used to display this page: http://www.purl.org/stefan ram/pub/english-pronunciation (Not yet revised to include the answers from this thread.)[/nq]
You might find this useful:
http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Evan Kirshenbaum/IPA/ This is the transcription system used on sci.lang, which is where the professional linguists hang out. The PDF file is better than the HTML page. I tend to call this system Kirshenbaum IPA, but it usually seems to be called ASCII IPA.
[nq:2]Did you buy your dictionary in New Zealand?![/nq]
[nq:1]I bought it in Germany: NTC's Dictionary of American English Pronunciation, Professor Bernard Silverstein, National Textbook Company, Licolnwood, Illinois, U.S.A, 1995, ISBN 0-8442-0727-6[/nq]
You'll have to forgive my facetious question!
I was surprised by your transcription of the verb "excel" as (Ik 's3l), which would be (,Ik'sEl) in Kirshenbaum IPA. Obviously your dictionary is American, and I'm not, but the transcription reads to me like a stab at a New Zealand accent. I would have transcribed it as (Ek'sEl), which would be (3k 's3l) using your system. But I'm not saying you/your dictionary are wrong, this could just be because we're dealing with two different (but important) varieties of English.
By the way, I looked at your webpage. I hope you don't mind me saying this, but a few of the examples you give to explain the various IPA symbols aren't quite right. I've put some notes below for you (all transcriptions using the ASCII IPA system):
1. The vowel /i:/ in "she", "sea", is the same as in German "Sie". The":" shows that the vowel is long. I don't believe that there is a short /i/ in "standard" German or English, but it's the "i" in the French pronunciation of "Paris".

2. The vowel /I/ in "ship" is the same as in German "Schiff".
3. The examples you give for /e/ are not right. Most varieties ofEnglish have a diphthong in "great", "cake", and "eight". This would be transcribed /eI/. You will find long /e:/ in German "See". You will find the short /e/ in French "café". I don't believe that "e" is common in English, although I have a feeling it is used in India.
4. The vowel /E/ in "neck" is the same as the first "e" in "Essingen".
5. The vowel /@/, the schwa, is the same as the "a" in English "around".
6. The vowel /u/ is the same as the "u" in German "unser". It appearsin English as a long vowel in "food".

7. The vowel /U/ is the "u" in German "und" and English "foot".
8. The vowel that looks like an upside-down "a" is the usualtranscription for the "er" in German "ober".
The following would be too confusing to explain using examples in English, due to differences between major varieties of English, so I've only given examples using German words:

9. The vowel /a/ appears as a long vowel /a:/ in "Vater".
10. The vowel that looks like a back-to-front "c" is either the same as,or similar to, the vowel in "Gott". (I'm not certain.)

Finally, some comments on consonants:

11. I wouldn't use the second "g" in "garage" as an example of theconsonant /Z/, as there are two different pronunciations for this word, one using /dZ/ (at least in British English).

12. I'm sure you know that /v/ in English "vowel" is pronounced likeGerman "w".

13. You will also find the symbols /D/ and /T/ useful. These are bothwritten "th" in English, appearing in "that" and "bath" respectively.

I should also mention /V/, which looks like an upside-down "v". This appears as "u" in British English "but". This vowel-sound doesn't occur in (most) varieties of American English.
I mentioned diphthongs above; in simple terms this is where two vowel sounds together work to produce one sound, for example the "au" in German "Auto" is made up of /a/ and /u/, simply transcribed as /au/ when a diphthong. This has nothing to do with how a word is spelled; the "ie" in German "sieben" is not a diphthong. I can give you more detailed examples if you wish.
Hope the above is of use/interest, and apologies if I'm telling you lots of things you already know.
By the way, I've cross-posted this to alt.usage.english, which is a completely different group to alt.english.usage!!

Andrew Gwilliam
To email me, replace "bottomless pit" with "silverhelm"

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I was surprised by your transcription of the verb "excel" as (Ik 's3l), which would be (,Ik'sEl) in Kirshenbaum IPA. ... saying you/your dictionary are wrong, this could just be because we're dealing with two different (but important) varieties of English.[/nq]
Yes.
There are different pronunciations even within the United States.
I have decided deliberately to make the pronunciation given by the NTC-dictionary my personal pronunciation. It was written by an american professor of the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology of the University of Tennessee, so I believe his pronunciation to be more american English than that of most Germans. (I am aware of the possibility that there might be native speakers of american English, who might claim his pronunciation to be wrong in some cases.)
[nq:1]By the way, I looked at your webpage. I hope you don't mind me saying this, but a few of the examples you give to explain the various IPA symbols aren't quite right.[/nq]
They are based the book mentioned and thus might not be right based on other variants of pronunciation.
[nq:1]1. The vowel /i:/ in "she", "sea", is the same as in German "Sie". The ":" shows that the vowel ... there is a short /i/ in "standard" German or English, but it's the "i" in the French pronunciation of "Paris".[/nq]
Thanks for this and many other detailed explanations! I have read them and saved them for further review.
[nq:1]3. The examples you give for /e/ are not right. Most varieties of English have a diphthong in "great", "cake", and "eight".[/nq]
Yes, most also have a diphthong in "way", "say", and "pay", which Silverstein just gives as (we), (se), and (pe). Silverstein gives (nu) for "new", (not (nju)). I like this and I am aware that there are native speakers who really pronounce like this and others who do not. But I hope my pronunciation will be more consistent, when it is based on a single source.
[nq:1]Hope the above is of use/interest, and apologies if I'm telling you lots of things you already know.[/nq]
I have carefully read your information which is of great use and interest to me!

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I have decided deliberately to make the pronunciation given by the NTC-dictionary my personal pronunciation. It was written by an ... that there might be native speakers of american English, who might claim his pronunciation to be wrong in some cases.)[/nq]
I don't argue with his pronunciation, because I've never met the man and have never heard him speak. However, from the examples you had on your website, he seems to have some odd habits when transcribing English using IPA. In other words, he's writing sounds in a different way than would usually be done by other professionals, so you may get a bit confused if you see phonetic* transcriptions in other books that are different from his.
* I use the word "phonetic" in its everyday sense, and not necessarily in the way it's used by linguists.
[nq:1]Thanks for this and many other detailed explanations! I have read them and saved them for further review.[/nq]
You're welcome. Feel free to post or email any questions you have.
[nq:2]3. The examples you give for /e/ are not right. Most varieties of English have a diphthong in "great", "cake", and "eight".[/nq]
[nq:1]Yes, most also have a diphthong in "way", "say", and "pay", which Silverstein just gives as (we), (se), and (pe). ... who do not. But I hope my pronunciation will be more consistent, when it is based on a single source.[/nq]
I doubt very much that Prof. Silverstein pronounces those words with (e). I'm fairly confident in saying that this would not be a common pronunciation for much of the US or the UK. I think that he's just decided that it's "easier" to use for his transcriptions.

I have no argument with "(nu)" as the transcription for "new"; I would transcribe it differently, but that's because I would pronounce it differently. That's what you would expect from two native speakers who speak different varieties of the same language.
Oh, I used ":" to show long vowels. American linguists generally don't bother with this; this is just a stylistic difference between US and UK transcription, so there's no significance in the fact that your dictionary doesn't use it. I think you will find that German dictionaries use it, however.
[nq:1]I have carefully read your information which is of great use and interest to me![/nq]
Thank you, and I'm glad.

Andrew Gwilliam
To email me, replace "bottomless pit" with "silverhelm"

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I always pronounce it like the verb, because I think that's where they took the name from. My German colleagues are always surprised, because here you almost always here it pronounced 'eksel !!![/nq]
It is "XL" the two letters, using English pronunciation.

Not unlike "XP".
GFH

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I always pronounce it like the verb, because I think ... because here you almost always here it pronounced 'eksel !!![/nq]
[nq:1]It is "XL" the two letters, using English pronunciation.[/nq]
That is of no help to the OP, however, because his query was regarding the correct placement of the stress. YMMV, but I would pronounce a hypothetical "XL" with a fairly even stress, although weighted perhaps a bit towards to the beginning; "Excel", otoh, I pronounce with the stress on the second syllable.
Although, for Stefan's reference, I will add that I have realised that the pronunciation is different in the phrase "Excel spreadsheet"; the stress moves back to the first syllable (I have a feeling that this is regarded as a regular rule in English).

Andrew Gwilliam
To email me, replace "bottomless pit" with "silverhelm"

"Excel" pronunciation

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