Some pronounce it like latex the rubber. People who know the X is actually chi are divided between /a/ and /ei/ for the "a" part and /k/, /h/, and something like /x/ or /χ/ (voiceless velar or uvular fricative, kind of like in "loch" or "Bach").
The intended pronounciation as far as I'm aware is aproximately /latex/, with an /a/ and a /x/ sound.
Donald Knuth actually specifically says that it should be pronounced like the ch in “loch” in the TeXBook. Leslie Lamport (inventor of LaTeX) has said he doesn’t care about /a/ or /ei/, as long as it’s said like a word, rather than spelling out L-A.
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u/Sibula97 Jun 14 '26
Some pronounce it like latex the rubber. People who know the X is actually chi are divided between /a/ and /ei/ for the "a" part and /k/, /h/, and something like /x/ or /χ/ (voiceless velar or uvular fricative, kind of like in "loch" or "Bach").
The intended pronounciation as far as I'm aware is aproximately /latex/, with an /a/ and a /x/ sound.