22 replies to this topic

[LBGSHI]

Apologies if this thread is in the wrong forum (I assume this forum or perhaps the Stacks sub-forum are the most likely to receive a number of knowledgeable responses). I have been unable to find a definitive answer to these questions either in these forums or anywhere else online:

What is the correct pronunciation of 'racetam'? For example, how does one pronounce 'piracetam', 'oxiracetam', 'aniracetam', etc?

What is the correct pronunciation of 'nootropic'?

I'm not interested in how someone on these or other forums happens to pronounce it based on guess-work or what "sounds right", nor am I interested in the most likely answers based on phonetics and linguistic patterns. What I am very interested in is how the people who created these words pronounce(d) them, and how people working for pharmaceutical companies that create these products pronounce them at work.

Thanks in advance for any relevant responses.

[NSN]

Well Noopept was invented by a Russian, so you'll have to put your your best accent hat on for that one. Piracetam was first synthesized by a Romanian. However, I'm not sure whether the names come directly from 1st synthesizers' or from chemical naming teams.

[LBGSHI]

Well Noopept was invented by a Russian, so you'll have to put your your best accent hat on for that one. Piracetam was first synthesized by a Romanian. However, I'm not sure whether the names come directly from 1st synthesizers' or from chemical naming teams.

Inaccurate.

Per Wikipedia: "The word nootropic was coined in 1972 by the Romanian Dr. Corneliu E. Giurgea,^[3][4] derived from the Greek words νους nous, or "mind," and τρέπειν trepein meaning "to bend/turn"."

Also Per Wikipedia: "Noopept - Patent of Russian Federation number 2119496, US Patent number 5,439,930 issued 8/8/1995"

Since Noopept was first patented about 23 years after Giurgea coined the word 'nootropic', I would imagine the word 'nootropic' did not come about due to the name 'Noopept', but rather the other way around.

Also, although Giurgea was both the creator of piracetam and the person who coined the word 'nootropic', Piracetam was created under the auspices of UCB, a Belgian company - a Romanian pronunciation cannot be concluded. In any case, even if the above statements had been correct, they still wouldn't have provided us with an answer to the questions I've posed.

However, thank you for the response.

[Introspecta]

The correct pron. of Piracatem is Pur Ra Si tam or Pur rasa tam.. Although I do not pronounce it that way I say Pira satam.

[LBGSHI]

The correct pron. of Piracatem is Pur Ra Si tam or Pur rasa tam.. Although I do not pronounce it that way I say Pira satam.

Could you tell me where you obtained this information?

Edited by lbgshi, 28 November 2012 - 10:00 PM.

[Rior]

For some odd reason I've always pronounced it Pie race itam.... But I here others call it Pur rasa tam.

[Introspecta]

I don't know where I obtained it. I remember watching a You tube video and hearing people pronounce it that so I looked into it. I forget where I looked but other places confirmed that. Does it really matter though. Pronounce it how you want really. lol.

[unregistered_user]

Piracetam = Pur Rass A Tam

Oxiracetam = Oxi Rass A Tam

Nootropics = New Trop Icks

[LBGSHI]

I don't know where I obtained it. I remember watching a You tube video and hearing people pronounce it that so I looked into it. I forget where I looked but other places confirmed that. Does it really matter though. Pronounce it how you want really. lol.

As mentioned in the first post, I'm not interested in sourceless conjecture; I'm interested in legitimate information from relevant sources.

Piracetam = Pur Rass A Tam

Oxiracetam = Oxi Rass A Tam

Nootropics = New Trop Icks

Could you tell me where you obtained this information? As mentioned in the first post, it is the factual pronunciations I'm interested in, not guesswork nor someone's opinion as to how something should be pronounced...

Edited by lbgshi, 29 November 2012 - 01:49 PM.

[NSN]

Ibgshi,
Noopept was first synthesized by a Russian scientist working for a Russian pharmaceutical company, so it is likely that the first utterance of the word "Noopept" was with a Russian accent. I doubt they paid too much attention to the exact original foreign pronounciation of "Nootropics"
You are correct in saying that we cannot conclude whether the word Piracetam was first pronounced by a Belgian or a Romanian, but sources do seem to indicate that he was the coiner of the the word "nootropic". We'd have to ask Giurgea himself, but he is dead now. Being in central Europe, it may have been a very multicultural office/lab, with multiple pronounciations. Some employees may have only seen the words on paper. Giurgea lived in Russia, Belguim, and his native Romania.
Robert

[LBGSHI]

Ibgshi,
Noopept was first synthesized by a Russian scientist working for a Russian pharmaceutical company, so it is likely that the first utterance of the word "Noopept" was with a Russian accent. I doubt they paid too much attention to the exact original foreign pronounciation of "Nootropics"

A good point; 'Noopept' may be pronounced in a different way than 'nootropic'. However, the question (and thread title) specifically concerned the pronunciation of 'nootropic'; 'Noopept' was never mentioned.

You are correct in saying that we cannot conclude whether the word Piracetam was first pronounced by a Belgian or a Romanian, but sources do seem to indicate that he was the coiner of the the word "nootropic". We'd have to ask Giurgea himself, but he is dead now. Being in central Europe, it may have been a very multicultural office/lab, with multiple pronounciations. Some employees may have only seen the words on paper. Giurgea lived in Russia, Belguim, and his native Romania.
Robert

Indeed; I had considered these possibilities. This morning, I sent an email to the staff at UCB, the Belgian pharmaceutical company Giurgea was working for when he coined 'nootropic' and synthesized (and possibly named) piracetam, asking if someone who worked with Giurgea or who continued his work could clarify the issue. Perhaps they will respond with a definitive answer (it's worth a shot).

[Introspecta]

I mean it really is just obvious how you pronounce it if you know the engligh language. A 2 second google search yields this http://www.merriam-w...nary/piracetam. Have you searched and can not find anything or something?

Edited by joelski28, 29 November 2012 - 09:14 PM.

[Mind]

Since there is no official pronounciation AND since Longecity has the most active nootropic forum, we should decide the official pronounciation. Someone has to do it. Let us lead the way. Maybe a poll?

Here are my suggestions.

Pur rasa tam

Noah tro pic

[Nickotin]

I've seen some stuff floating around, various videos and lectures that do pronounce it Noah tro pic and other official looking videos that pronounce it New troh pics. Personally I like new troh pics because it is one less syllable and seems to be universally accepted. You wouldn't pronounce noots as no oats, instead you would say newts. Plus it sounds kind of sexy when she says it.

Here is another thread about it.

[LBGSHI]

I mean it really is just obvious how you pronounce it if you know the engligh language. A 2 second google search yields this http://www.merriam-w...nary/piracetam. Have you searched and can not find anything or something?

I know, it's a cheap shot, but you spelled 'English' incorrectly

Yes, I'm aware that Merriam-Webster provides the following pronunciations:

Piracetam - Pie - Rass - Eh - Tam

Nootropic - Noah - Tro - Pic

...and I've been pronouncing them this way for some time. However, MW's pronunciation of 'nootropic' doesn't work well with the common abbreviation 'noot' (as mentioned by others, who wants to say "No oat"?). Personally, I don't mind this (I find 'noot' to sound silly, and besides, it's a homophone of 'newt'...and I don't feel like verbally explaining why I'm ingesting newts to non-supplementers).

The important thing is that I don't know MW's source - it might just be online contributors. In any case, it would be more informative to hear it or read it from the source, and the closest thing we have now is either UCB, or a consensus of industry experts/workers who use it in everyday speech.

Since there is no official pronounciation AND since Longecity has the most active nootropic forum, we should decide the official pronounciation. Someone has to do it. Let us lead the way. Maybe a poll?

Here are my suggestions.

Pur rasa tam

Noah tro pic

A capital idea; agreed on all points.

If a poll is undertaken, it should include both 'piracetam' and 'nootropic', and as many commonly proposed pronunciations as possible, including a choice of 'Other pronunciation', with the option to fill in the other pronunciation.

In the meantime, I await anyone with substantiated evidence as to the correct pronunciation of either, and I also await a response to my email from UCB.

Edited by lbgshi, 29 November 2012 - 10:19 PM.

[Introspecta]

What does it matter if we have a group pronunciation when none of us are talking. We are all writing?haha. Nootropic seems pretty self explanatory. New Tropic. How could it be anything else. oo is always pronounced as oo as in pool, shoot and tropic is always pronounced traw pick but some choose to pronounce as trow pic as in throw. Can't imagine why anyone would call it noah tropic. I gotta get out here this is silly,lol.

[LBGSHI]

What does it matter if we have a group pronunciation when none of us are talking. We are all writing?haha.

Some of us may want to speak verbally about nootropics, such as the 'racetams, and confidently pronounce these words correctly. I don't see how this basic requirement isn't immediately evident to you.

Nootropic seems pretty self explanatory. New Tropic. How could it be anything else. oo is always pronounced as oo as in pool, shoot

...and zoology? The word 'nootropic' reputedly comes from the Greek word 'noos' (sometimes spelled 'nous'); I've seen and heard this Greek word pronounced either 'no ohs' or 'noose'. However, the (also Greek) word 'noocracy' (meaning 'authority of the wise'), coined by Plato, is pronounced 'no - ah - crah - see'; I could scarcely imagine it being pronounced 'new - crah - see'. The point is that there is more than one possible pronunciation, hence the necessity of establishing a 'correct' pronunciation.

and tropic is always pronounced traw pick but some choose to pronounce as trow pic as in throw.

'Allotropic' can be pronounced either 'al - oh - tro - pic' or 'al - oh - trah - pic. In fact, there are at least 30 words ending in 'tropic', most of which can correctly be pronounced either way; Google is your friend in this regard. Incidentally, 'tropism' is pronounced 'tro - piz - um', not 'trah - piz - um'.

Can't imagine why anyone would call it noah tropic. I gotta get out here this is silly,lol.

See you later.

Edited by lbgshi, 30 November 2012 - 02:26 AM.

[Mind]

With your approval ibghsi, I could start a poll right here in this thread. Or would a different/new poll/thread be better?

[LBGSHI]

If acceptable, I'd like to keep this thread focused on facts and the positions of authorities on the subject, with the goal of determining what the original intention for pronunciation was. Optimally, I'll receive a response from UCB, and post it in this thread for reference.

Would you please create a separate poll, to cover the general consensus of opinion/deduction? If not, I could do so later...

Edited by lbgshi, 30 November 2012 - 09:35 PM.

[Mind]

Ok, why don't you create the poll. Thanks. I'll help promote it around the Internet.

[LBGSHI]

Sounds like a plan; will do.

By the way, I just noticed a terrible typo in my thread title...any chance you could change the title of this thread to read: "
Official pronunciation of "piracetam"/"oxiracetam"/etc, and of "nootropic"...

...? It would be most appreciated.

[alecnevsky]

Worthless thread. But that's just my speculative, 1st person opinion.

[LBGSHI]

Worthless thread. But that's just my speculative, 1st person opinion.

Glad it's not 3rd person...

I guess it's worthless, if you never speak to people, and only type, text, or write for all communication. Or, if you're intent on keeping your nootropic use a secret, it might not matter if you're able to correctly pronounce critical terms of the subject.

Otherwise, I'd say this is quite a called-for and relevant thread.