“Wiki” is Pronounced “We-key” not “Wick-ee”

Daven February 25, 2011 8

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The proper pronunciation of “wiki” is actually “we-key” and is often mispronounced as “wick-ee”.

TAGS » etymology wiki, wiki pronunciation

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8 Comments »

J. Papke February 25, 2011 at 7:18 pm -

IPA would help here. Ward Cunningham seems to suggest it should be pronounced [ˈwiːki], to rhyme with “leaky”.
Daven February 25, 2011 at 7:20 pm -

@Papke: That is correct: “Did you intend the word to be pronounced as wee-kee (rhyming with leaky) or as wick-ey (rhyming with sticky)?”: Cunningham’s answer: “I believe the former is the proper pronunciation though I’ve been known to use the latter. My preference would be that the word be pronounced as a Hawai’ian would, and that wick-ey be an acceptable alternative.” (source)
bill February 25, 2011 at 7:25 pm -

YOu might want to inform Jimmy Wales at Wikipedia that he has been pronouncing it wrong all these years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

Bill
Daven February 25, 2011 at 11:26 pm -

@Bill: Wikipedia was not the first wiki, as many people seem to think. The general “user edited web” platform was named by Howard G. Cunningham who developed the first wiki, WikiWikiWeb, in 1995 which eventually a version of that idea, UseModWiki, was what Wikipedia originally based their platform on. “Wiki” is actually a Hawaiian word meaning “quick”, which is where Cunningham first learned of the word and subsequently named his platform from. So, in fact, yes, Jimmy Wales has been technically pronouncing it wrong all these years, assuming he wants to go with the original Hawaiian pronunciation, which was Cunningham’s preference, though clearly not what Wales prefers. You can read more about the first wiki here.
bill February 26, 2011 at 5:27 am -

Daven

You’re right. …and Wikipedia appears to contradict the pronunciation key given on the “wiki” page with this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_Hawaiian
Hmmm…

Thanks for the TIFO site, I like it.