mickl Posted September 10, 2013 Report Share Posted September 10, 2013 (edited) At one of our recent get togethers we had a discussion on how to properly (or improperly) pronounce Beta. Some of the answers seemed to depend on which region of the world you originated from. So I figured it would be interesting to throw it out to the TC members. Maybe someone connected to Beta can provide a more official answer. Edited September 10, 2013 by mickl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilh Posted September 10, 2013 Report Share Posted September 10, 2013 beeeeeee ta!!!! as in, they will never beeeeta gasgas 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelly1 Posted September 10, 2013 Report Share Posted September 10, 2013 wrong way round the gasgas beeta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t-shock 250 Posted September 10, 2013 Report Share Posted September 10, 2013 At one of our recent get togethers we had a discussion on how to properly (or improperly) pronounce Beta. Some of the answers seemed to depend on which region of the world you originated from. So I figured it would be interesting to throw it out to the TC members. Maybe someone connected to Beta can provide a more official answer. Yes but beta never invented the word, so it's got nothing to do with them!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copemech Posted September 11, 2013 Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 Beater! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken_hosking Posted September 11, 2013 Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 (edited) I think that we need to recognise that Beta is an Italian company and that therefore Italian, not English, pronunciation rules should prevail. In Italian, 'e' is pronounced similarly to the English 'ay' whereas 'i' is pronounced more like the English 'e'. To me, that means the pronunciation should be Bay-ta. However, I would be interested to hear from a native Italian speaker on this subject, particularly since the name 'Beta' is an 'artificial word' formed from the initials of the two persons who ran the original company at the time when the name Beta was adopted. The name does not appear to have any relationship to the Greek word 'beta'. Edited September 11, 2013 by ken_hosking 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetupfun Posted September 11, 2013 Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 I think that we need to recognise that Beta is an Italian company and that therefore Italian, not English, pronunciation rules should prevail. In Italian, 'e' is pronounced similarly to the English 'ay' whereas 'i' is pronounced more like the English 'e'. To me, that means the pronunciation should be Bay-ta. However, I would be interested to hear from a native Italian speaker on this subject, particularly since the name 'Beta' is an 'artificial word' formed from the initials of the two persons who ran the original company at the time when the name Beta was adopted. because of the initials origin, we should say b.e.t.a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken_hosking Posted September 11, 2013 Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 because of the initials origin, we should say b.e.t.a Whilst there is some logic in feetupfun's suggestion, I think that there is ample evidence that the name Beta was intended to be a name, despite its origin as a set of initials, from the beginning. I don't think that analogies with names like AJS, DKW or BMW are relevant in this case. It is probably time for a person from Beta, particularly one who speaks Italian and who knows the story intimately, to make a post. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greychapel Posted September 11, 2013 Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 Ha Ha! and I thought it was the 2nd letter of the greek alphabet.... so we needed an ancient greek to tell us how to pronounce it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xeriotti Posted September 11, 2013 Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 BET like in gambling... and then TA like those damn taxes without the "X".... BETA sounds dry. like BETAH 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guys Posted September 11, 2013 Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 BET like in gambling... and then TA like those damn taxes without the "X".... BETA sounds dry. like BETAH +1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetupfun Posted September 11, 2013 Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 Whilst there is some logic in feetupfun's suggestion, I think that there is ample evidence that the name Beta was intended to be a name, despite its origin as a set of initials, from the beginning. I don't think that analogies with names like AJS, DKW or BMW are relevant in this case. It is probably time for a person from Beta, particularly one who speaks Italian and who knows the story intimately, to make a post. I was only joking and actually voted for BEE-TA, but I love hearing a Canadian friend call his bike BAY-TA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetupfun Posted September 11, 2013 Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 A funny sideline to this Beta thing is the name of the fabulous speedway motors named after James Arthur Prestwich. They were originally referred to as Jap motors, but after the Japanese started selling huge numbers of motorbikes, the James Arthur Prestwich brand was then referred to as J.A.P. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_scorpa3 Posted September 11, 2013 Report Share Posted September 11, 2013 Came across this old clip with Princess Anne talking about rust problems on the Beta! Well it's not Princess Anne... or the Trials bike, but worth a look. Check out that accent! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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