I am sitting at the Ubuntu Developer Summit in Dallas and I had a sudden realization. No one knows the “correct” way to pronounce “Ubuntu.” Everyone, community members, developers, Canonical employees, Mark Shuttleworth, Jono Bacon, we all pronounce it a little bit differently. I’ve heard eww-boon-too, eww-bun-too, yoo-boon-too, yoo-bun-too, oo-bun-too, oo-boon-too and a few more that I can’t figure out how to phoneticize.
I am a husband, father, reader, writer, researcher, occasional website designer and administrator, and all-around geek. I am also a musician who plays the guitar and the bass; I have played as a studio musician for other artists. I am an avid and voracious reader, speak several languages, have worked as an information consultant on topics including culture, language, religion and computers, and spent several years running a small business in North Africa.
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oo-buntu
Sorry I meant to sya that’s the way I say it. oobuntu. I have heard it pronounced you-buntu
How do you say it haha?
I’ve always said oo-boon-too with a “oon” as in “a boon to society” rather than “bun” as in “I have a fresh baked bun on my plate”.
Well, living in South Africa my entire life where there’s a company around every corner called “Ubuntu” and knowing a bit of Xhosa, I’m quite sure I’m pronouncing it correctly
How do you say it, Jonathan?
I’m of the kind of people that say oo-bun-too, or oe-boen-toe as I would write it down in phonetic Dutch.
According to Wikipedia you pronounce Ubuntu the OS like /uːˈbuːntuː/ They do provide two citations for the pronunciation, one being a video with Nelson Mandela.
The Ubuntu FAQ, which is the other source, says:
“Ubuntu, an African word from Zulu and Xhosa, is pronounced “oo-BOON-too”.”
They don’t explain how to pronounce Ubuntu the philosophy.
Wait a minute! I don’t say bun! I say boon! Darn English vowels!
I like the website howjsay.com, http://howjsay.com/index.php?word=ubuntu&submit=Submit or of course you could check out http://www.ubuntu.com/aboutus/faq where they say “Ubuntu, an African word from Zulu and Xhosa, is pronounced ‘oo-BOON-too’ ” or wikipedia where they say “Ubuntu (pronounced /uːˈbuːntuː/)”. But really I am not sure it matters and I usually say something like you-bun-too.
I’m South African. I just asked a Zulu guy, and he said oo-boon-too.
Woo hoo! On the basis of research performed by Sense and Gary, I believe I am saying it correctly.
Also, on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_%28philosophy%29 there is a video (that use to be in the ubuntu examples) of Nelson Mandela being interviewed by Tim Modesa. You can hear them both pronounce it oo-boon-too.
Well,
just watch Nelson Mandela:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx0qGJCm-qU
(should be mandatory for every Ubuntu user .. and it was part of the live CD for some time.)
oo-boon-too:
/usr/share/example-content/Experience ubuntu.ogg
I note you carefully put the word ‘correct’ in quotes. I have personally received criticism because of the way I pronounce Ubuntu either on the Ubuntu UK Podcast or in Screencasts. Frankly I don’t care. I am 100% certain that people who hear me on either of those mediums know exactly what I am talking about when I say ‘oo-bun-too’ or ‘oo-boon-too’ so it’s largely irrelevant whether it’s pronounced “correctly” so long as the meaning is conveyed.
People get way too over anal about the pronunciation of words like ‘Linux’ and ‘Ubuntu’ but as a Brit over here (with you Matthew [hello!]) in Dallas I’ve heard some real corker pronunciations of lots of things. I find it quirky, amusing, interesting, but not ‘incorrect’.
I can’t help but wonder if the same people who get their knickers in such a bunch over the pronunciation of ‘Ubuntu’ would do the same about the pronunciation of another brand such as Nike or Nokia – both of which I’ve heard pronounced “differently” (not incorrectly) than I’m used to.
“People are different shocker, film at 11″
You caught me, Popey. That is precisely why I used the quotes. I don’t have any emotional connection to one pronunciation and it’s “correctness,” but I am amused that there is no canonical version…maybe that’s the point. Ubuntu is Linux for Human Beings, right? Humans do things differently, but if we can communicate our meaning and be understood, then we’re all good.
Apropos pronunciation: how do you say “Lucid”? In German it would be something like “Loo-ceed”; how is it pronounced in English?
oliver: in American English (so noted for my British friends), I would say loo-sid.
I’m Scottish by birth and I pronounce it you-bun-too
I too have noticed this before, though never really dwelled on the matter that much. Guess nobody is totally sure. =]
Being a Ghanaian and African, I think I can help you pronounce it. It is uh-bun-tu. Where ‘uh’ is like ah inverted.
The website says oo-boon-too, so that’s how I pronounce it.
I always called it oo-boon-too. Because I actually knew it was South African in origin.
Maybe we better quit assuming words in other languages are pronounced using the American English tables.
In the end I found Ubuntu to be lacking as a Linux distribution and moved on to Arch, which is a lot closer to what Linux was meant to be like.
wow
you have an exceptional theme for your site
it’s very pleasant on the eyes
very nice indeed
I live in South Africa where we pronounce it “ooboontoo”, but diversity is also kool. Let’s put the Freedom back in Ubuntu instead of trying to imitate a corporate/consumer image. We are a community not a target market. Also it wouldn’t be Linux if we all dressed and spoke the same.