Neanderthal vs. Neandertal?

Question

Which one is correct, or are they both OK? I had always heard it with the "th" until my anthropology class last semester when my professor always said "neandertal", and just tonight I heard this same pronounciation on a TV show (Bones actually-Cam said it with the "th" and Zack corrected her). So...which one is better?

Answer 1

Both are considered correct, and both are used in the scientific literature. I have actually even seen "Homo neandertalensis" used as well as "Homo neanderthalensis".

As someone mentioned, the difference is due to a reform in German spelling around the turn of the last century (the old spelling just never got completely eradicated from use).

Edited to add--proper pronunciation should always be like "tal", with either spelling.  Though colloquially, people (at least English speakers) can get away with either.

Answer 2

The Neanderthal is in English,neandertal is in German,both correct

etimology:

The Neandertal is a small valley of the river Düssel in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, located about 12 km (7.5 mi) west of Düsseldorf, the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia. Neanderthal is now spelled two ways: the old spelling of the German word Thal, meaning "valley or dale", was changed to Tal in 1901, but the former spelling is often retained in English and always in scientific names, while the modern spelling is used in German while referring to the valley itself.

The Neander Valley was named after theologian Joachim Neander, who lived nearby in Düsseldorf in the late seventeenth century. In turn, Neanderthals were named after "Neander Valley", where the first Neanderthal remains were found. The term Neanderthal Man was coined in 1863 by Anglo-Irish geologist William King.

The original German pronunciation (regardless of spelling) is with the sound /t/. (See German phonology.) In English the term is commonly anglicised to /θ/ (th as in thin), though scientists frequently use /t/. "Neander" is a classicized form of the common German surname Neumann.

Answer 3

i always used the th one but i guess if you were tought to pronounce it one way

then your way is fine

Answer 4

Neanderthal is in the Ruhr Valley of Germany, a coal mining region where the first jaw bones were found while mining. So, there actually two pronunciations and either one may be used according to where your standing, In Germany or in America.

Answer 5

it is spelled the first way and pronounced the second way people just don't say it right

Answer 6

Thal, meaning valley, or dale was changed to tal in Germany in 1901. So, either way is correct for informal purposes, but the scientific spelling is always " Neanderthal. "