albedo ("al- bee -doe")

-doe") albeit ("al- bee -it")

-it") aliasing (" ail -ee-ass-ing")

-ee-ass-ing") anisotropic ("ann-eye-so- tra -pick"), although pronouncing the "tra" as "troe" is a common regional accent and doesn't sound incorrect

-pick"), although pronouncing the "tra" as "troe" is a common regional accent and doesn't sound incorrect antipodes ("ann- tip -oh-dees") even though the singular, "antipode" is pronounced " anti -pode"

-oh-dees") even though the singular, "antipode" is pronounced " -pode" Bezier ("bez-ee- yay ")

") bokeh (" boe -keh") according to the inventor of the English spelling

-keh") according to the inventor of the English spelling cache ("cash") the final "e" is silent. The word pronounced "cash- ay " is "cachet," which means something completely different. Also consider whether you really mean "cache" or "memoize" while you're thinking about the pronunciation.

" is "cachet," which means something completely different. Also consider whether you really mean "cache" or "memoize" while you're thinking about the pronunciation. de Casteljau ("dee cast-el- joh ")

") Cartesian ("car-tea- zhen ")

") Cauchy ("co- she ")

") Delone, a.k.a. Delaunay ("de- lawn -ayh") was Russian, not French (although of French descent). This is how it his name is pronounced by American academics, but "de-lawn- eh " is more accurate to the actual " Делоне́"

-ayh") was Russian, not French (although of French descent). This is how it his name is pronounced by American academics, but "de-lawn- " is more accurate to the actual " Euler (" oy -lur")

-lur") Eulerian ("oy- lair -ian")

-ian") Euclidean ("you- klid -ee-an")

-ee-an") experiment ("ex- pear -ih-ment")

-ih-ment") Fourier ("four-ee- yay ")

") Fresnel ("fren- el ")

") finite (" fine -ite")

-ite") frustum (" frus -tum") note that there is only one "r", near the beginning

-tum") note that there is only one "r", near the beginning GIF ("jif") like the peanut butter, according to the inventor, although the hard-G alternative is also commonly heard

Gouraud ("goo- roh ")

") Hermite ("air- meet ")

") homogeneous ("home-oh- gene -ee-yus") the "oh" is "ah" in some regional accents

-ee-yus") the "oh" is "ah" in some regional accents iterative (" it -ur-uh-tiv") the last syllable rhymes with "give"

-ur-uh-tiv") the last syllable rhymes with "give" iterate (" it -ur-ate") the last syllable is the number 8

-ur-ate") the last syllable is the number 8 infinite (" in -fin-it") the middle syllable is what a fish swims with. This is annoyingly different from the way that "finite" is pronounced

-fin-it") the middle syllable is what a fish swims with. This is annoyingly different from the way that "finite" is pronounced Jacobian ("jack- oh -bee-an") pronounced this way in English, although Jacobi was German, so this word based on his name theoretically should be pronounced "yak-oh-bee-an"

-bee-an") pronounced this way in English, although Jacobi was German, so this word based on his name theoretically should be pronounced "yak-oh-bee-an" [Steve] Jobs ("jahhbs") - as in, having more than one occupation, not like Job from the bible

like Job from the bible JPEG (" jay -peg")

-peg") Kajiya ("kah- gee -uh")

-uh") Lagrange ("lah- grahn -zhuh") does not rhyme with "range"

-zhuh") does not rhyme with "range" Lanczos (" lawn -sosh") the "cz" sound is the same one from "tsar/czar", which is between "s" and "z" in English

-sosh") the "cz" sound is the same one from "tsar/czar", which is between "s" and "z" in English Lebesgue ("luh- bayge ")

") moot (" moo -t"), like a cow

-t"), like a cow Mersenne ("mehr- senn ") rhymes with "pen", not with "sane"

") rhymes with "pen", not with "sane" Moir é ("mwah- ray ")

("mwah- ") niche ("neesh") although "nitch" is often considered acceptable today. Saying it like "Nietzsche" with two syllables is probably not acceptable anywhere, though

Poisson ("pwah- sawn ")

") queue ("cue", like the letter "Q")

Runge-Kutta (" roon -geh coot -tuh")

-geh -tuh") sans serif (" sahn sair -if")

-if") schema (" skee -mah")

-mah") Seidel (" zay -del")

-del") scalar (" scale -are")

-are") spatial (" spay -shull")

-shull") SPIR-V (" spear -vee") according to Neil Henning

-vee") according to Neil Henning SIGGRAPH (" sih -graf" rhymes with "pig laugh")

-graf" rhymes with "pig laugh") subsequent (" sub -seck-went")

-seck-went") Silicon (" sill -ih-cahn") the element used in circuits, distinct from rubbery "silicone"

-ih-cahn") the element used in circuits, distinct from rubbery "silicone" temporal ("tem-pore-ull") the stress moves between the first and second syllable depending on regional accent

Ubisoft (" you -bee-soft")

-bee-soft") Verlet ("verr- lay ") the first syllable is like "purr" from a cat

") the first syllable is like "purr" from a cat Voronoi (" vor -ron-noy") note that Georgy Voronoy was Russian, not French

-ron-noy") note that Georgy Voronoy was Russian, not French vignette ("vin- yet " rhymes with "pin bet")

" rhymes with "pin bet") Vive ("vie-v") Rhymes with "dive"

Wang [Tiles] ("wong")

Weta ("whet-ah") As in, not dry

Americans tend to move the accents for the French names to the first syllable, although I'm assured by native French speakers that is incorrect.



By popular requests on Twitter I'm adding my own name and those of some of my colleagues:

Morgan McGuire (" more -gun mick- wire ")

-gun mick- ") Cem Yuksel ("gem yook- sell ")

") Cyril Crassin ("seer- rill krass- awn ")

krass- ") Szirmay-Kalos Lazlo ("seer-may kal-owe-sh lazz-low")

Letters and Numbers

Alpha ("al-fah")

Beta ("bait-ah")

Gamma ("gam-mah")

Delta ("del-tah")

Theta ("they-tah")

Eta ("ay-tah")

Lambda ("lamb-dah")

Mu ("mew")

Pi ("pie")

Phi ("fee" or "fie", the second rhymes with "die")

Omega ("oh-may-gah" or "oh-me-gah")

Alpha ("al-fah")

Beta ("vee-ta")

Gamma ("wram-mah")

Delta ("thel-tah")

Theta ("thee-tah")

Eta ("ee-tah")

Lambda ("lamb-thah")

Mu ("me")

Pi ("pee")

Phi ("fee")

Omega ("oh-may-hah")

z ("zee")

number 0 ("zero")

number 1 ("won")

z ("zed")

number 0 ("zero" rhymes with "hero", although "nought" is sometimes used)

number 1 ("won" or "unity")

9 and trillion = 1012, British and American English used to differ and you could conceivably encounter ambiguity in reading an old text. "Billion" in British English used to mean 1012 and "trillion" used to mean 1018.

Painters



The surname of Vincent van Gogh pronounced correctly in Dutch sounds something like "van-cock" to the ears of English speakers. However, British English speakers usually say "van-goff" and American English speakers usually say "van-goh." The BBC recommends "van-gock." Beware that although the terms have been standardized today as billion = 10and trillion = 10, British and American English used to differ and you could conceivably encounter ambiguity in reading an old text. "Billion" in British English used to mean 10and "trillion" used to mean 10 Certain painters occasionally are mentioned in graphics, particularly expressive rendering.The surname of Vincent van Gogh pronounced correctly in Dutch sounds something like "van-" to the ears of English speakers. However, British English speakers usually say "van-" and American English speakers usually say "van-." The BBC recommends "van-."

Bonus Advice





Morgan McGuire (@morgan3d) is a professor at Williams College, a researcher at NVIDIA, and a professional game developer. His most recent games are Project Rocket Golfing for iOS and Skylanders: Superchargers for consoles. He is the author of the Graphics Codex, an essential reference for computer graphics now available in iOS and Web Editions.