https://youtu.be/UK52v6bCPvg Here you have Richard Stallman saying it few times. Answer from q_uark on reddit.com
Reddit
reddit.com › r/linux4noobs › how do you pronounce gnu ?
r/linux4noobs on Reddit: How do you pronounce GNU ?
December 1, 2019 -
Non English speaker here. I still can't fell confortable about it
Reddit
reddit.com › r/linuxquestions › is gnu pronounced ga-nu or g n u.
r/linuxquestions on Reddit: Is GNU pronounced ga-nu or G N U.
September 30, 2017 -
Too scared to ask someone in real life, but I feel like I can’t get off easy by googling it.
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GNew
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IIRC, RMS (who created GNU) said it's supposed to be pronounced the way it's pronounced in the Khoekhoe language, with a click at the beginning. However, since he (and most people) can't pronounce that, he pronounces it with a hard G instead, kind of like ganoo.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/englishlearning › how is "gnu" pronounced?
r/EnglishLearning on Reddit: How is "GNU" pronounced?
April 24, 2023 - It's one of those words I guess I only ever saw written down. Had no idea the g was silent. I don't think I'll be able to stop reading it as g'nu though 😂 ... I've just gone down a gnu rabbit ...
Blogger
linguistlaura.blogspot.com › 2016 › 01 › a-g-nother-g-nu.html
linguistlaura: A-g-nother g-nu
Here's what they look like: It's pronounced the same as 'new', where the 'g' is not silent, exactly, because it changes the pronunciation of the 'n', but it's not pronounced as a /g/. However, in the well-known Flanders and Swann song The Gnu, ...
Vocabulary.com
vocabulary.com › dictionary › gnu
Gnu - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms | Vocabulary.com
Have you heard the gnus? A gnu (the "g" is silent) is a large animal with hooves that's found in the southernmost part of Africa. You can see gnus in zoos.
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › The_Gnu
The Gnu - Wikipedia
December 29, 2025 - The jocular mispronunciation of "g-noo" in the song has led, through familiarity, to this becoming a widespread pronunciation of the word "gnu" in British English. The Longman Pronunciation Dictionary seems to suggest this has tainted the word itself. It says the pronunciations beginning "in g- are jocular, as indeed is the whole word: in serious discourse this animal is known as a wildebeest".
Reddit
reddit.com › r/linuxquestions › what's the meaning of g of gnu?
r/linuxquestions on Reddit: What's the meaning of G of GNU?
February 16, 2021 -
GNU stands for GNU's Not UNIX.
But why did Richard Stallman choose letter g? We get a recursive acronym regardless of a certain letter. I'm just curious.
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GNU stands for GNU. See the explanation here .
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I saw a video where he explained why, he wanted a recursive acronym because autism, and he wanted it to be "not Unix" because autism, so he just wen through the alphabet looking for a word, ANU:not a word,BNU:not a word,CNU:not a word,DNU:not a word,ENU:not a word,FNU:not a word,GNU:oh look a obscure African animal, I have my projects name
Reddit
reddit.com › r/nostupidquestions › why do words like “gnome” and “gnat” have a silent g in front of them?
r/NoStupidQuestions on Reddit: Why do words like “gnome” and “gnat” have a silent G in front of them?
January 22, 2021 - Because real gs move in silence /s. Really though it has to do with pronunciations changing over time. In old English the g sounds were probably pronounced but over time it likely flowed better as a silent consonant and that pronunciation stuck
Snowboarding Forum
snowboardingforum.com › home › forums › snowboarding equipment › boards
How to pronounce "GNU" brand? | Snowboarding Forum - Snowboard Enthusiast Forums
Hard, not silent "G!" I used to pronounce it "noo" too! Just like the african agnimal! ... It's ga-new. Apparently when Mike Olson was thinking of names he was going to call it Antelope, but he thought it was too weird, so GNU it was.
Joyofclothes
admin.joyofclothes.com › assets › docs › is-the-g-silent-in-gnu-728ae1
is the g silent in gnu
21.3 How Automake can help in silencing make. / i) ist ein unixähnliches Betriebssystem und vollständig freie Software, das im Rahmen des 1984 gestarteten GNU-Projekts als Softwaresammlung von Anwendungen und Bibliotheken entwickelt wird. A Gnu is an animal.
WIKI NSN Search
wiki.nsnsearch.us › home › can the letter g be silent?
Can the letter g be silent? - WIKI NSN Search
June 27, 2022 - A gnu (the “g” is silent) is a large animal with hooves that’s found in the southernmost part of Africa. You can see gnus in zoos. A gnu is the same thing as a wildebeest — gnu comes from the Dutch gnoe, which has roots in the Khoisan i-ngu and the Southern Bushman !
YouTube
youtube.com › watch
How to Pronounce GNU - YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/gnome › how is it pronounced?
r/gnome on Reddit: How is it pronounced?
March 10, 2021 -
How do you pronounce gnome
Top answer 1 of 8
24
Guh-nome is historically accurate. Silent G is very common and is absolutely fine. Jee-nome is just wrong. That needs to sit in a corner with the jif people.
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The GNOME wiki clears it up reasonably well. "GNOME was originally an acronym for GNU Network Object Model Environment, but the acronym was dropped because it no longer reflected the vision of the GNOME project" GNU is pronounced Guh-NU, so GNOME was Guhnome. With the acronym being dropped it would stand to reason that Gnome is perfectly fine now. I still like Guhnome though :)
Reddit
reddit.com › r/linux › how do you say gnome
r/linux on Reddit: How do you say gnome
December 1, 2018 -
This is bugging me right now. What is the right way to say gnome? Is it g-nome, guh-nome, nome, ga-nom-eh, or is there even a correct answer?
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I vote we throw away the current pronunciations and start calling it Genome.
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A lot of people say "guh-nome", which I think is the official way to say it, in the same vein as GNU, which is supposed to be pronounced "guh-new". I usually prefer to say it like the magical creature or the lawn ornament, because I can't help feeling like an idiot saying "guh-nome" for some reason.
Wiktionary
en.wiktionary.org › wiki › gnu
gnu - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
^ Sue Butler (2020), “False patterns in English spelling”, in Rebel Without A Clause[1], Macmillan, →ISBN: “The pronunciation [guh-noo] was popularised as a joke until we all heard that pronunciation so often that it seemed more familiar than [nu].” · ^ Flanders and Swann (1957), “The Gnu”: “If the animal in question hadn't put that chap to shame / And remarked "I h'ain't a h'elk, I'm a g-nu"”
Ubuntu Forums
ubuntuforums.org › archive › index.php › t-177562.html
GNU, GNOME, KDE pronounciations? [Archive]
The meeting point for the Ubuntu community
Quora
quora.com › Why-is-there-a-silent-g-in-words-like-gnome-reign-and-foreign
Why is there a silent 'g' in words like gnome, reign, and foreign? - Quora
Answer: If it’s a Germanic word, QPG, it’s because the /ɡ/ dropped off as part of the transition into Modern English: English no longer accepts initial /ɡn/. That change happened at the same time as initial /kn/ dropped off, and that appears ...
GNU
gnu.org › gnu › pronunciation.en.html
How To Pronounce GNU - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation
The name “GNU” is a recursive acronym for “GNU's Not Unix!”; it is pronounced as one syllable with a hard g, like “grew” but with the letter n instead of r.
Oreate AI
oreateai.com › blog › the-curious-case-of-the-gnu-how-to-pronounce-this-unique-animal › 9da9f3d982115aa30a4a229e18e01fcc
The Curious Case of the Gnu: How to Pronounce This Unique Animal - Oreate AI Blog
January 6, 2026 - While some may chuckle at mispronunciations or debate whether they should emphasize the silent letters (or not), what truly matters is our shared fascination with wildlife—and perhaps sharing a laugh along the way. So next time you come across a gnu—whether in conversation or on your travels—remember: it’s simply ‘new.’ And embrace both its quirky name and incredible journey through life as part of Earth’s diverse tapestry.