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.
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.