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Re:Pronouncing non-English names for English speakers by remarkEon on Monday July 26, 2021 @03:34AM (#27956702)
My last name is French, but in reality the name comes from Germany. My family has been pronouncing it incorrectly for 100 years, and I … just don’t care enough to enforce the correct pronunciation. It feels snobbish to me, like you said. Might be an artifact of being an American.
Re:Pronouncing non-English names for English speakers by seszett on Monday July 26, 2021 @04:57AM (#27957207)
> My family has been pronouncing it incorrectly

Well, the French usage for names generally is just to use either a straight French pronunciation based on how the name is written, or an approximation of the foreign pronunciation using sounds that exist in French. Only a handful of well-known names get to have a special pronunciation.

If your family has been in France for 100 years, I wouldn't say they pronounce the name "incorrectly", they just pronounce it the correct way in France.

Re:Pronouncing non-English names for English speakers by neltnerb on Monday July 26, 2021 @05:46AM (#27957487)
This reminds me of the story of the town of Versailles, Indiana.

It was common knowledge nearby that anyone who came in and pronounced it "ver-sai" was from out of town. Because everyone living there called it "ver-sails".

I use this as an example of how if anyone gets to decide how something is pronounced, it's the people who live there. The city is simply called "ver-sails" and that's all there is to it.

It is not "wrong", anymore than pronouncing it as you likely say "karate" is not more wrong than "ka-ra-te" (the japanese pronunciation) or that the japanese prounciation of the english word "sweater" being "su-we-ta" is wrong. Borrowed word pronunciation is entirely up to the user.

Re:Pronouncing non-English names for English speakers by Radim on Monday July 26, 2021 @07:34AM (#27958181)
And also of "Socrates", an American Quake 3 player who insisted on the "soh-crates" pronunciation :-)

I also love the double mind-fuck of "karaoke":

EN: pronounced "owe-kee"

JP: "oh-keh"!

EN: but "oke" comes from the English "orchestra" (kara-oke = empty orchestra)… so really should be pronounced "or-keh"? Are we mispronouncing a Japanese mispronounciation of OUR OWN WORD??

(and then of course the Greeks chime in, OG)

Re:Pronouncing non-English names for English speakers by MereInterest on Monday July 26, 2021 @10:05AM (#27959481)
There's a apocryphal story about a translator at an anime convention being asked why he changed a name in the English dub, using an L sound, where the name in Japanese used an R sound. The translator's response was a very flat "Because 'Alucard' is 'Dracula' spelled backwards."
Re:Pronouncing non-English names for English speakers by s3cur3 on Monday July 26, 2021 @09:23AM (#27959023)
Here in Missouri (or rather in Missourah country), we have a ver-SAILS, MAH-l'n (Milan), New MAD-rid (Madrid), BALL-ah-ver (Bolivar), and La PLATE-ah (La Plata). :)
Re:Pronouncing non-English names for English speakers by soperj on Monday July 26, 2021 @09:23AM (#27959022)
> This reminds me of the story of the town of Versailles, Indiana.

Detroit would be the same way if it wasn't such a big city. Easier to see when you add back the accent, Détroit.

Re:Pronouncing non-English names for English speakers by b3morales on Monday July 26, 2021 @11:58AM (#27961050)
Versailles, France, is much more well-known than Le Détroit, France, though. (In the U.S.)
Re:Pronouncing non-English names for English speakers by frosted-flakes on Monday July 26, 2021 @07:22PM (#27966722)
I don't know if it's the city that's well-known so much as the Treaty of Versailles.
Re:Pronouncing non-English names for English speakers by myself248 on Monday July 26, 2021 @10:54AM (#27960132)
Oh, DEE-troit is just the beginning. Other notables include the home of Milan Dragway, pronounced MYL-in, or Lake Orion, pronounced OR-ee-yin.
Re:Pronouncing non-English names for English speakers by rayiner on Monday July 26, 2021 @09:45AM (#27959267)
> My family has been pronouncing it incorrectly for 100 years

Yes! This is why I’m not the least bit offended when someone mispronounces my name.