Foundation of SQL Accent

Transact-SQL is the Microsoft SQL Server tongue of, or extension to, the ANSI and ISO SQL standards. When discussing aspects of the language that originated from ANSI SQL and are relevant to most dialects, I’ll typically use the term SQL. When discussing aspects of the language with the implementation of SQL Server in mind, I’ll typically use the term T-SQL. Note that the formal language name is Transact-SQL, although it’s commonly called T-SQL. Most programmers, including myself, feel more comfortable calling it T-SQL.

Many English-speaking database professionals pronounce SQL as sequel, although the correct pronunciation of the language is S-Q-L (“ess kyoo ell”). One can make educated guesses about the reasoning behind the incorrect pronunciation. My guess is that there are both historical and linguistic reasons.

As for historical reasons, in the 1970s, IBM developed a language named SEQUEL, which was an acronym for Structured English Query Language. The language was designed to manipulate data stored in a database system named System R, which was based on Dr. Edgar F. Codd’s model for relational database management systems (RDBMS). The acronym SEQUEL was later shortened to SQL because of a trademark dispute. ANSI adopted SQL as a standard in 1986, and ISO did so in 1987. ANSI declared that the official pronunciation of the language is “ess kyoo ell,” but it seems that this fact is not common knowledge.

As for linguistic reasons, the sequel pronunciation is simply more fluent, mainly by Database developer or DBA.