How should you pronounce kratom? “KRAT-um” and “KRAY-tum” are the two most common ways, and the one you’re most likely to hear will depend on where you live.
Don't you hate it when you're new to something, and everyone keeps correcting you? Something as small as pronunciation can be scrutinized and differentiate you from the pros. Sometimes, the difference arises from native languages and accents. Therefore, it's possible to have more than one correct word pronunciation.
Kratom is a good example. People often disagree about its pronunciation. Although most people have only read or watched a video about it by themselves before purchasing kratom products, the first time they hear someone pronounce the word is usually a surprise.
Quietly, the debate about kratom pronunciation has grown and even divided the community. But like other words, there is more than one correct pronunciation for kratom.
Common Kratom Pronunciation
The correct way to pronounce kratom varies depending on where you are. But there are two common ways to pronounce the word in the dictionary, but there's no specific rule to determine the right one.
KRAT-um
Most people pronounce kratom as KRAT-um, as in "atom." This is because it uses a short "a" sound for the A instead of a long "ay" sound. It's common in most languages to shorten the "ay" to "a" when pronouncing the As. That makes this the most common way to pronounce the word kratom.
KRAY-tum
KRAY-tum, like "Tatum," uses the "ay" instead of the short "a" sound. Most Americans pronounce the word this way. Unfortunately, it's not how most of the rest of the kratom population worldwide pronounces it.
Which One is “Right”?
You can make the case that both pronunciations are correct. But there's a fierce debate, with everyone defending their answer.
Unfortunately, the English pronunciation rules don't make it any easier to conclude the correct pronunciation. Many exceptions make it nearly impossible to say which pronunciation is right and which isn't.
The basic rules dictate that KRAY-tum is the correct pronunciation. But, many other words suggest that KRAT-um is more accurate.
Local accents will also impact how the "a" is pronounced, leading to variations between how people think it should be said and how it is said.
Some veteran kratom consumers advocate for the pronunciation of the plant to be similar to its native countries when deciding how to pronounce it in English, further complicating the situation. Some possible considerations include the following:
Southeast Asia
In Southeast Asia, where kratom grows, the locals call it ketum. The R is silent in many local pronunciations in Thailand. The locals have different names for the plant depending on where you are. It is hard to say which pronunciation is the most accurate.
In Malaysia, the most common pronunciation is Ketum, while Kruh-tome is the most common pronunciation in Thailand.
The reason is that Thai letters are different from Roman letters, so the two aren't equal. The "k" in kratom in Thai is an unaspirated "K." It sounds more like g and a k English, although the word is pronounced with a hard k sound in English.
Does this make much of a difference in the pronunciation? Do we have to follow the native pronunciation of Kratom when speaking in English, or is it unreasonable?
It's hard for English speakers to know the local pronunciation of kratom without knowing Malay, Thai, or other regional languages to use the local pronunciations efficiently.
Learning and integrating the pronunciations is possible and easy, but how do you choose which regional pronunciation will lead the way and become the standard?
Scientific name
The scientific name of kratom is another interesting take on its pronunciation. Mitragyna Speciosa – it doesn't even use the word kratom at all. Some individuals even abbreviate the word to simply M. Speciosa.
It seems the potential benefits aren't the only thing the kratom has in abundance, it also has many names, and they all refer to the same plant.
Does it Matter Which Pronunciation is Used?
No kratom pronunciation is the gold standard when choosing how to say the word. In fact, most of the contention on pronouncing kratom is only on the As. In other places around the world, people refer to kratom using different names without any problems.
Local accents are also going to play a role in the pronunciation of the word. Although kratom is common, most people won't have the luxury of hearing someone pronounce the word before saying it themselves.
Therefore, you can expect a lot of variation in the community about how the word is spoken. Possibly, as the popularity of kratom grows and it becomes more abundant, there will be an agreement on how to pronounce it.
The most important thing is to know what you're talking about, even if the pronunciation isn't correct. There shouldn't be a problem with having different variations of how the word is pronounced as long as you know what you want.
We tend to lean towards KRAT-um because it is closer to the native land of kratom. However, it's still okay to pronounce the word as KRAY-tum.
The Bottom line
It makes sense to create consistency across the industry to represent the compound equally. But people are already accustomed to their accents, and that's not something you can easily change. So the variation is perfectly fine, and the different pronunciations don't deviate from what you're referring to.
It's easy to get hung up on the technicalities of the proper pronunciation of kratom. But there are so many benefits of kratom that are more worthy of your attention than how you pronounce it.
Instead of getting caught up in mastering the pronunciation of kratom, your time is better spent discovering the wide range of kratom's benefits and advocating for safe consumption and the safety and regulation of the entire industry.