Pronunciation dictionaries suggest that words beginning with x, such as Xylofon and xenophob, should be pronounced with /ks/. This sounds awkward every time I try.
How common is it for real-life dialects to change this sound to something easier? If I talked about Xenongas, pronounced /se:nɔngas/, would I be understood?
xenophob, Xylophon, Xenosaga, Xanadu
pronounced with s. On the other hand, if you were to pronounceAxt, hex (base 16), faxen, hexen, Vertex
asAst, hess, fassen, Hessen, Vertes (=werde es?)
I would be pretty confused.