Is DATA pronounced /deita/ or /da: ta/?

Which pronunciation is more correct and modern?
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Comments  (Page 7) 

This is old but thank you! I wondered what happened. I too am over 50 and wasn't sure if it was that or zip code considering they are both correct according to the dictionary. But it looks like it will still be discussed for years. Lol

Either way works, but I think the deita pronunciation became more popular after Jean Luc Picard, of Star Trek Next Generation fame, first pronounced the android's name that way instead of the other way. I used to pronounce it as da:ta, but have mixed the way I say it since watching that series.

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I began my Data Processing career in 1979 as a U.S. Navy "Data Processing Technician". Like you we have always pronounced the term as "Dayta" as a plural. The singular of the term is "Daytum".

It is true that the word data is treated as singular But the word data is the plural form of the word datum

I am from Wisconsin, but have lived at times in Virginia, Texas, Hawaii, and the Philippines. I have been involved in accounting for 40 years. The last time I heard anyone say "dayta" was around 1972! It is, and has always been "datta" ever since. Only this past week in watching an Intuit video did I hear "dayta", and all I can say is, "You've got to be kidding!" It's been "datta" pure and simple in every place I have ever been in my adult life. Furthermore, it is treated as a singular collective noun. i.e. "The data is correct", not "The data are correct." I know that originally data was the plural of datum ("pronounced "dattum"), but again, that usage went out more than 45 years ago.


It's normally pronounced as day-ta in the UK.

I was taught that there are 3 ways to pronounce: an A, An A followed by an E is a LONG vowel. Think the sound of the A in DATE .DAY is also long as the Y can sub for an E.

An A as in CAP is a different pronunciation but note that if you add an E, it becomes CAPE, a long A

I think these are all modern American English. I pronounce data or database with the short A, as in DA TA.

The plural of "medium" depends on what you are talking about. If you are talking about printed material, radio, video, films, etc., the correct plural is "media". If you are talking about blue-haired chubby English women who conduct seances, the correct plural is "mediums". If you are talking about the material artists use to create paintings, collages, etc., the correct plural is "mediums". If you are talking about a collection of sweaters, shirts, or pants (those that are neither "smalls" nor "larges"), the correct plural is "mediums". Clear as mud.

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Listening to media from around the English speaking world I've concluded there's a Northern /Southern hemisphere divide. Most British and North Americans say DAY-ta. Most Australians and New Zealanders say DAH-ta, including me.
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