[Edit: A few days after this post was written, the powers-that-be decided to retain the name JEE for the new entrance test that would replace JEE+AIEEE combo from next year]

The JEE and AIEEE, two flagship examinations that used to be conducted for students aspiring to secure an admission into the IITs/NITs are going to be  replaced by an exam called ISEET (Indian Science Engineering Eligibility Test). There are of course loads of issues surrounding this decision that the government took, but none that come under the purview of Linguistrix. Except one thing.

How would people pronounce ISEET? It’s of course a frivolous issue compared to more important questions concerning this matter, but relevant enough for Linguistrix. I remember a classmate who used to pronounce AIEEE as A-I-EEEEEEEEEEEE, as opposed to A-I-Triple E. And I’ve also heard a few people pronounce JEE as if it were one word (gee). I see two candidate pronunciations for ISEET—

  1. EYE-SEAT: This is personally my favourite. Given the i in the beginning and the general proliferation of words such as iPad, iPod, iTouch, I am prepared to put a bit of money on this pronunciation catching on. Also, ISER is pronounced EYE-SUHR, IIFA is pronounced EYE-FAH, so this matches the pattern. (Edit: Yashovardhan Siwach also added that this pronunciation also makes punny sense because all aspirants EYE-SEATs)
  2. E-SEAT: Someone suggested this one, but I don’t see it rolling. I could be wrong of course—I am but a humble blogger who’s entirely powerless against the Norma Loquendi.

What do you think? What would it be then? If, as my intuition says, the EYE-SEAT pronunciation catches on, I would be able to say with glee—’You read it first on Linguistrix!‘. If, however, the E-SEAT one catches on (or something totally different), well, I did say I could be wrong…