# How do ypou pronounce Betta?



## jtafaro (May 28, 2015)

I have been raising Bettas for probably 50 years and the first book I bought--long before Al Gore created the internet--specifically stated that the Genus _Betta_ was pronounced Bet-ah (rhymes with bet a horse). Wikipedia the online authoritative source also says it is Bet-ah not beta like the Greek letter. But when I ask about them in pet stores they are called betas. Where did that come from?

Henry Higgins said in the song about the English language "Well in America they haven't used it for years!" 

I guess I am spoiled because back in the 60's I was a zoology major in two colleges I took degrees in. Today that seems like another lifetime but the genus is still _Betta_ and we really should pronounce it correctly IMO.


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## big b (Jun 28, 2014)

I say it with a long a. As in bae tah.


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## kalyke (Nov 19, 2014)

I say Bet-ah. I really don't know the correct pronunciation, all I know is it is not named after the Greek letter.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Bet tah. Like let us bet, tah dah!


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## LizStreithorst (Jul 16, 2015)

I was unsure of the correct pronunciation myself so I decided to I pronounce it half way between the correct way and the incorrect way. Thanks for letting me know what's the right way.


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## big b (Jun 28, 2014)

I'm hard headed So I say bae tah, and I will always .


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## seaecho (Jan 31, 2012)

I've read quite a few times that the correct pronunciation is bet-ah, and that's how I've always said it. Yet, when I go to Petco or Petsmart, and even a few LFS, they all seem to pronounce it bae-tah! I don't get it, I'm baffled!


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## big b (Jun 28, 2014)

You're right, it's bet-ah, I say bae-tah cuz I'm hard headed.


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## chenowethpm (Jan 8, 2014)

You betta pronounce it right!


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## big b (Jun 28, 2014)

Baetah


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