Dreamer2

Is it:

kih-klah-dez

sike-la-deez

sigh-clades

Kate

well, I don't know how it's pronounced by a Greek person, but I've always heard it as:

sick-la-deez

so, 'Cyc' pronounced as in 'bicycle', not 'cycle'

cocofromdijon

I agree with Kate but would add no "s" at the end(at least the french way)
sick lad!

bill_boy

Not being Greek, I never knew that this word was written/speleed any other way.

There's a good restaurant in Astoria, Queens (New York) called Kyclaedes and it's pronoundced by the local Greek migrants as kih-klah-dez.

rsb99

I'm not Greek either, but when I was there I always heard it pronounce kee-KLAH-dees (or maybe more of a "kih" sound).

chatham

I lived on the islands for a number of years and rsb99 has it right.

GeoffHamer

I'm not Greek either, but I do know enough of the language to know that the Greek alphabet is different, so any English names can only be a transliteration of the Greek name. That is why Greek names are spelt so many different ways in English: Kos, for example, is spelt "Cos" in some tourist guides.
In Greek, Cyclades is I think pronounced as above, but the "d" is a soft "d", pronounced more like the "th" in "these".

Kate

Then, chatham, I bow to your greater knowledge, and take my bad English pronunciation home with me.

kih-kladees it is for me from now on.

brotherleelove2004

kee-KLAH-des.....The 'des' has a soft d, almost a 'th' and sounds more like 'less' but not with a strong sibilant 's'.

jahoulih

Presumably the question is how to pronounce it in English, in which case, Kate, you had it right the first time and should stick to your guns.

If the question is how to pronounce it in French, then Corinne is of course correct, and Geoff is right about how to pronounce it in Greek.

cocofromdijon

thanks jahoulih but at least we all learnt something in greek ;-)

Marilyn

No different from "Pah-ris" vs "Pa-ree" -- the Greek pronunciation has a hard C at the beginning while the English version does not. Three syllables (not two) in both languages.

Eleni

The correct Greek pronounciation is easier to remember once you know that "c" is NOT a letter that appears in the Greek alphabet, and that in Greek the name of the island group is ÊÕÊËÁÄÅ& Oacute; (Kyklades).

Thus: keek-LAH-thes

"y" in greek is pronounced like the "e" in "me"
"d" in greek is pronounced, as a soft "th"

Eleni

Guess Fodor's doesn't allow typing in the Greek alphabet!