How to Pronounce Kratom

If you are like most of the Kratom world, you do not possess a ton of confidence when attempting to pronounce the word Kratom. Then there are times when you feel confident in your chosen pronunciation until, of course, you come across another individual who confidently pronounces entirely differently. So with all of the different ways that people pronounce it, how do you pronounce Kratom? What is the proper way?

Kratom and its Proper Pronunciation

Kratom comes from the Thai language. It is a tropical evergreen tree grown in Southeast Asia and a relative of the coffee plant family. But are we pronouncing it correctly? According to the Oxford Dictionary, there are two ways to pronounce it correctly: as Krat•,um, which rhymes with “atom,” and as Kray•tum, pronounced with a long “ay” sound. However, both seem equally used and accepted in the Kratom universe. So there seems to be some flexibility.

Additional Pronunciations

Then there are differential pronunciations, such as Kruh•tom, “kruh,” rhyming with “duh,” and the name Tom. This seems to be the way it is pronounced in English in Southeast Asia and has carried over to the states, but it is much less common than the “Krat” and “Kray” pronunciations. Finally, there is Kruh•tome, “Kruh” rhyming with “duh” and “tome” rhyming with “home.” This being the least popular in pronunciations, however, can still be heard with some confidence by some Kratom enthusiasts.

Conclusion 

So much like the varying dialect of words such as potato and tomato, or data, route and either, there seems to be a fluctuation in the “proper” way to pronounce this word, Kratom. But if it bothers you and you still feel unsure whether you are saying it right, you could always start referring to it with its scientific name, “Mitragyna Speciosa.” Now, how hard could that be?