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I seem to be hearing many different vocalizations of the name, and I'm not sure which one is correct. The last thing I want to do is "erroneously" drop the name in a meeting, and someone feel the need to correct me. So is it pronounced "Ess-Cue-El-ight", or "Ess-Cue-El-Eye", or something else entirely? Is there a citation from one of the project developers lurking around the internet that explicitly states the correct pronunciation? Would really appreciate some clarification!

Two video sources:

https://youtu.be/Jib2AmRb_rk

https://youtu.be/giAMt8Tj-84

Edit:

Kind of embarrasing, but I didnt even realize that the first video link was actually the creator of SQLite, Dr Richard Hipp, and he pronounces it as "Ess-Cue-El-Ight/Eye". So that pretty much confirms the correct pronunciation is somewhere in that modicum of a ballpark.

Mitch
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Krythic
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  • Hello, Krythic. Pronunciation of new names being largely style choice, this question does not fit well with the ELU template. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 15 '18 at 20:07
  • @EdwinAshworth Please define "new name", because SQLite is 18 years old. – Krythic Feb 15 '18 at 20:23
  • @EdwinAshworth Also: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/7231/how-is-sql-pronounced?noredirect=1&lq=1 Which is a question for SQL pronounciation. This was considered on topic, and correctly asked on English SE. – Krythic Feb 15 '18 at 20:25
  • Please try to use IPA instead of your phonetic transcriptions, they are very confusing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet – Azor Ahai -him- Feb 15 '18 at 20:56
  • The first speaker you link appears to be saying "Ess que ell lite", with the last two syllables run together. The second seems to say "Ess que lite". I'm guessing that the first is a sop to the audience members who may not know how to pronounce "SQL" (as "sequel") -- his pronunciation would be understood by most. The second is just being "cute". – Hot Licks Feb 15 '18 at 20:57
  • Dr Hipp actually does not say ‘ess-cue-el-eye’. If you listen closely, you’ll hear that he says, roughly, /ˡɛskjuɛɫˡɑɪʔ/, with the final /t/ represented by a glottal stop, but not entirely absent. His dialect is quite unusual, showing a number of very Estuary-like features mixed in with a normal Eastern-Southern US accent. The glottalised /t/ at the end of the name here is probably the clearest of these features. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Feb 15 '18 at 21:18
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    The second answer below has Hipps saying '... pronounce it however you want' and adds 'so there is no "official" pronounciation'. This question is therefore not about standard English usage. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 15 '18 at 22:14
  • Actually, both videos are talks given by the creator of SQLite. – John Y Dec 31 '21 at 20:47

3 Answers3

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There are in general two ways to pronounce 'SQL' by itself and that leads to two reasonable ways to pronounce 'SQLite'.

'SQL' is pronounced either as 'ess queue ell' or 'sequel' (in IPA /'es 'kju: 'el/ or /'si: kwəl/ respectively).

This leads to 'SQLite' as either 'ess queue ell light' or 'see quell light', which in normal pronunciation comes out as 'ess queue ehlight' or 'seek quellight' (or in IPA /'es 'kju: 'el 'lait/ or /'si: kwə 'lait/ respectively note the syllable accents)).

The two varieties for SQLite are probably in the same variation as SQL.

Note that the inventor pronounces it the first way but in his accent (Estuary English) makes a glottal stop out of the final 't' (or even drops it altogether). In GenAmE the final 't' is unreleased and so may also be hard to hear for non-native speakers.

Mitch
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  • I changed my accepted answer to you, because it is better thought out, and fluently articulated. Thank you. – Krythic Feb 16 '18 at 18:20
  • The main bolded part of this answer gets wrong the main subtlty: the creator makes it clear that the ending is "ite", as in rocks like "granite", not "Lite" like light. So it's ' ... ite' not ' ... light' (at least if you want to match the author's interpretation). Admittedly this distinction gets lost in the preceding ell sound if you say it quickly, but spelling out "light" in the written pronounciation is still misleading. – Arthur Tacca Oct 02 '20 at 09:11
  • @ArthurTacca That doesn't sound right. Listen to the author say it. It sounds like /es kju el 'ait/ (with a bit of southern monphthongization like /... 'at/). It does not sound at all like /'græ nɪt/ (especially with the stress). It also wouldn't make sense at all to not pronounce it rhyming with 'light'. – Mitch Oct 02 '20 at 12:10
  • Sorry, reading back my comment I realise I worded it very badly. I mentioned "granite" as an example of a rock ending in "-ite" but I didn't mean it as an example of the sound. I agree SQLite has to rhyme with "light" – maybe graphite would be a better example. It's just the initial "l" of the "light" in your answer I was taking issue with. As I said, most of the time you wouldn't even be able to hear as a difference after the preceding ell, I just mentioned it because spelling out "ell light" (rather than "ell ight"?) implies a misleading etymology. – Arthur Tacca Oct 02 '20 at 15:10
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SQL by itself is (or can be) pronounced as "sequel".

Therefore it seems logical that SQLite is pronounces "sequelite".

Edit: According to your edit the creator of SQLite pronounces it as "Ess-Cue-El-Eye". I don't think that's how he actually pronounces it, he's just talking fast and sloppy. He pronounces it (in my ears at least) as "Ess-Cue-El-ite". And later in that presentation he explicitly says that he doesn't care how you pronounce it.

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  • Please see my update. – Krythic Feb 15 '18 at 20:10
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    "Sequel-lite" is how I've always heard it pronounced. – Hot Licks Feb 15 '18 at 20:39
  • @HotLicks That would mean that you're double-pronouncing an L. There is only one L. No sources I've found on the internet use the "Sequel-ite" pronunciation, either. It's always either "Ess-Cue-El-ight", or "Ess-Cue-El-Eye". I'm personally leaning towards "Ess-Cue-El-Eye", simply because it has a better flow, thus can be said quicker. I'm just looking for a more concrete source, to validate, or invalidate what I have been seeing and hearing. – Krythic Feb 15 '18 at 20:47
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    @Krythic - If you're not so anal and just run the words together like a normal person then the double-l sorts itself out. – Hot Licks Feb 15 '18 at 20:53
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    @Krythic I don't use SQL at all, but how come your preferred transcription is "S Q L I" without the /t/ sound? – Azor Ahai -him- Feb 15 '18 at 20:54
  • @Azor-Ahai See my new update. The first video I linked is actually the SQLite creator, and he pronounces it like "Ess-Cue-El-Eye". – Krythic Feb 15 '18 at 20:56
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    @Krythic You're trying to use your own hyperliteral logic on something that is made up. The natural reading of it is 'see kwuhl lite' and I haven't heard anyting different. Are two ell's pronounced? Sort of. It's not a big deal. Say what ever you think, and look at people when you say it. If they squinch their eyes or cock their head, pronounce it the other way. – Mitch Feb 15 '18 at 20:56
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    I've always read SQLite as "sequel-lite". Pronouncing it as S-Q-L-I might make me think of SQLi (like the secure "improved" PHP handler for SQL) instead. – psosuna Feb 16 '18 at 01:20
  • @Mitch seek-whu-lite, surely? – Will Crawford Feb 16 '18 at 03:38
  • @WillCrawford Surely? The difference between yours and mine, if any, is well within the vague rules of 'spelling-pronunciation' which is informal at best. But using elementary school rules, since the first vowel is long, the 'k' goes with the second syllable. – Mitch Feb 16 '18 at 15:41
  • ... which gives the example for *freck-le* (not *fre-ckle), and this involves similar lip and tongue movements. Or at the top, work-ing* (albeit for different reasons, but then, those rules aren't actually very consistent, are they?) – Will Crawford Feb 16 '18 at 15:53
  • Also, *Divide between the 1st and 2nd consonants* would suggest splitting between the 'k' sound and the 'w', albeit that starts with a vowel-like oo sound anyway. – Will Crawford Feb 16 '18 at 15:58
  • @WillCrawford My fault for using that oversimplified link (which uses spelling rules) . It seems to be a hyphenation guide, not a pronunciation guide. Look at multiple online dictionaries to see the usual pronunciation guide which separates it before the 'k' sound. – Mitch Feb 16 '18 at 16:02
  • And I overreacted a little. I'm sorry. I just kinda said it half-out-loud and, you know, listened to myself. ~First sign of madness, amirite?~ and I think maybe either works. – Will Crawford Feb 16 '18 at 16:04
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I remember watching a presentation by the SQLite creator/maintainer Richard Hipps (you can watch yourself, its one of these videos)

In it he says "pronounce it however you want" - so there is no "official" pronunciation.

Decapitated Soul
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the_velour_fog
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  • Uh, did you just link the same video that I linked in the original post? Lol? Oh whoa! That's embarrasing. He is the creator! And he prounounces it as "Ess-Cue-El-Eye", so that confirms it! Update your video with the first video link I gave and say that the creator calls it "Ess-Cue-El-Eye", and then I will accept you as the answer. – Krythic Feb 15 '18 at 20:48
  • @Krythic Why don’t you just post your own answer? It’s obvious you’re not actually asking, but just want someone to agree with your pre-determined answer; you might as well just post it yourself and accept it. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Feb 15 '18 at 21:09
  • @Krythic He does personally pronounce it as "ess-cue-el-light" but he also says "pronounce it however you want". – Kidburla May 17 '21 at 10:04