Can you spell that for me, please...?
#51
Posted 28 January 2001 - 15:21
[QUOTE][i]I guess you mean Hiro Matsushita, heir to the Matsushita Electric family fortune - the Parent company of Panasonic. Actually the CEO and major shareholder in Swift these days.
I think the correct pronunciation would be "mat-sooshta" with just a hint of the i between the h and ta at the end. [/QUOTE]
David
Yes, you are right on all counts. I couldn't for the life of me think of his name (nor family company) at the time I posted.
I actually interviewed him and did a story on Swift and his then relatively new wind tunnel.
And your pronunciation is what I was trying to tell the journos, but they wouldn't have a bar of it. They were arguing mostly for "Matsu-sheeta", although some had variations on this.
Oh, and Higgins' name was Paul. I always found him entertaining when I met him on motoring releases. A very clever man, well educated and with a great sense of humour. Unfortunately his humour went over the heads of some people and came across to them as arrogance (although I think he had a bit of that in his make-up as well). I only ever spent short periods of time with him. He could possibly have been quite different to someone working or living with him.
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#52
Posted 28 January 2001 - 16:42
Here are two of our best drivers: Gijs van Lennep and Patrick Huisman (winner of the last four Porsche Supercups). Now you try to pronounce "Gijs" and "Huisman" the correct way... Or give my first name a fair shot: Mattijs.
(Marcel and Marco are excluded from this game.)
BTW, I had lots of fun watching the French GP on French television some years ago. The way the commentator pronounced many of the names - not even trying to do it the right way - was just cracking me up.
The best ones? "Dah-mone Eelle", "Da-veede Cool-tar", "Share-are Bare-shay", "Jean Man-you-song" and "Mee-kah Ak-kee-nong", the emphasis falling on each final syllable of course...
Compared to his, I'd say most Anglosaxons are doing a commendable job on French names! O-livey-yea Pennis isn't quite the O-leave-yea Pa-neese it is supposed to be, but it's pretty close...;)
Finally, the one name that seems to confuse almost anyone is Luca Badoer's surname. Here's how I think it should sound (Alessandro, please confirm this!). The name has three (Ba-do-er) syllables instead of two (Ba-doer), with the emphasis falling on the last one, thus leading to Bah-dough-ware, with the a in "ware" a bit 'shorter', like the e in "men".
#53
Posted 28 January 2001 - 17:09
Originally posted by Racer.Demon
Here are two of our best drivers: Gijs van Lennep and Patrick Huisman (winner of the last four Porsche Supercups). Now you try to pronounce "Gijs" and "Huisman" the correct way... Or give my first name a fair shot: Mattijs.
I am always up for a challange. Dutch and Portugese really are the two European languages that never fail to surprise me with pronunciation. I am a native English speaker who lives in Finland, and while it is a very complex language, it does have the distinct advantage of being phoenetic.
Back to the question. How does "Guys van Lennep" and "Patrick Hoysman" sound ?
I can here the laughter echoing from the Benelux countries even this far north
#54
Posted 28 January 2001 - 17:56
I am attempting to remedy this by learning my first FULL second language (German swear words don't count), Italian.
The beauty of this language is it's clear cut and logical rules of pronunciation. Vowels have very defined sounds, are always pronounced, and hardly ever change, until you are comfortable with the language and some just get kind of slurred. Once you know the rules, Italian words are very easy to pronounce and read. Comprehension just comes with time and practice.
I am just inclined to start writing all the other foreign words in Katakana. Took me about a week to learn how to read and is so logical - just simple phonetic sounds.
Oh, and also, when I was studying Botanical Latin, I would often get into debates with other 'botanists' about the correct pronunciation of plant names. The general concensus is that as long as we both know what plant we're talking about, it dosn't really matter! I'm sure the same could be said for drivers.[p][Edited by mono-posto on 01-28-2001]
#55
Posted 28 January 2001 - 18:27
English people have the same problem with the LL in Welsh. Try writing it down! Impossible!
#56
Posted 28 January 2001 - 18:38
Your favorite:
Right is Adolf Sczyrzycki (the name is polish origin) in temporary press it was without "r". He was borm 16.11.1895 in Ostrava and died 7.1.1940 in Prostejov. No idea about right anglish spelling.
#57
Posted 28 January 2001 - 19:40
You must have meant that Gijs van Lennep and Patrick Huisman were most difficult to pronounce. Is Patrick Huisman related to Harald Huisman?
You leave out Huub Vermeullen (sp) and his brother Jim, Henny Vollenberg, Cor Euser, Jos Verstappen, Huub Rothengatter and even the late Godin de Beaufort.
BTW I have always prided myself on being able to somewhat assimilate proper pronounciations. Having spent many years "living," in Germany and travelling around Europe. Unlike most American servicemen and women and their families, I lived in the local community rather than on a base or military housing ghetto.
I tell people it was either learn German or eat Wienerschnitzel for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
So here I am having spent the weekend with my friends at Spa for our EFDA Formula Ford 2000 event and the European Formula Two race, A "retired," American soldier traveling back to my home in Heidelberg.
I caught a ride with Kris Nissen's team to the German border at Aachen. I am standing on the side of the road holding a sign with the letters M A written on it and watching the German license plate for the matching letters.
MA stands for Mannheim and if I can get the the bahnhof in Mannheim I can catch a train to Heidelberg and home. I finally get offered a ride by a bearded "hippie," like guy in a battered old Vau Weh. (Volkswagen to the uninitiated)
As we are puttering along the autobahn we become involved in conversation. the old "whats your name? Where do you come from? Why are you going to Mannheim?"
Then he says. "Where were you born?" I responded. "ich bin aus Amerika."
He looks at me and pronounces. "Nein, du bist kein Amerikaner." I said. "ja bestimmt. Ich bin ein Amerikaner." Once again he says, shaking his head "Nein, du bist kein Amerikaner."
Confused, I asked. "varum?" To which he responded. "Du sprichts Deutsch so vie ein Hollander."
Ah ha! Of course! I had spent most of my weekend with friends from Holland! I then offered to show him my passport and explained that I had been with Dutch friends. He laughed and we continued on our merry way.
So much for assimilating....
Gil Bouffard
#58
Posted 28 January 2001 - 20:42
But now, oh horrors!, he had arrived in CART. Paul Page and his fellow commentators spent weeks calling him Mat-shuster or Mat-shooster or simply referring to 'the blue car'. Waiting for them to make the inevitable mistake and say that unacceptable word was far more exciting than the racing itself. A bit like listening to someone continuously repeating 'he shot the city sheriff' in public.
Finally, to the great 'relief' of the commentators he retired from the sport.
#59
Posted 28 January 2001 - 23:11
Ok then, that's Damon Hill, David Coulthard and Mika Häkkinen, but who are the ones in the middle???Originally posted by Racer.Demon
The best ones? "Dah-mone Eelle", "Da-veede Cool-tar", "Share-are Bare-shay", "Jean Man-you-song" and "Mee-kah Ak-kee-nong", the emphasis falling on each final syllable of course...
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#60
Posted 28 January 2001 - 23:12
Gil, I think Harald Huysman's from Norway!?Originally posted by Gil Bouffard
Is Patrick Huisman related to Harald Huisman?
#61
Posted 28 January 2001 - 23:30
Originally posted by Barry Boor
I think I might be quite close with my pronunciation of Gijs, but there is NO WAY I could write it down in English, because we simply don't have any way to replicate the sound in letters.
Barry: you're probably right about that. The G is similar to the "ch" back-in-throat sound in "Schumacher" that fines tried to explain but the "ij" (which is actually one letter) is impossible to replicate in English. The uy in David's "Guys" comes close but that would be vulgar dialect in Dutch! The sound is actually somewhere between the vocals in "guys" and "gays" (strictly phonetically speaking of course )
The ui in Huisman is even more difficult, as there is no other language with a similar sound than classic Greek. But it's certainly not the "oy" David is proposing. "Oy" is the common replacement sound for English-speaking people, though, and suits me fine.
Originally posted by david_martin
I am a native English speaker who lives in Finland, and while it is a very complex language, it does have the distinct advantage of being phoenetic.
Dutch is too - just as Italian, as mono-posto is rightly remarking. In Dutch every (combination of) letter(s) is always pronounced the same way, which is more than I can say for the ou's in "tough", "though", "thought" and "bout"
Originally posted by Gil Bouffard
Is Patrick Huisman related to Harald Huisman?
You leave out Huub Vermeullen (sp) and his brother Jim, Henny Vollenberg, Cor Euser, Jos Verstappen, Huub Rothengatter and even the late Godin de Beaufort.
Confused, I asked. "varum?" To which he responded. "Du sprichts Deutsch so vie ein Hollander."
I really enjoyed your story, Gil! Dutch people tormenting Germans on their camping sites with a horrid kind of Hollando-Germanic language mixture are feared to the bone in Germany (also by their behaviour...). The languages seem so similar - and are very much related - yet are different in many aspects.
BTW, to my best knowledge Harald Huysman (not Huisman) is Norwegian. I have no clue how the Norwegians would pronounce Huysman, however, as it doesn't seem to be a particularly Scandinavian name... Someone?
Ah yes, Huubs Vermeulen en Rothengatter. Another two quizzing diphtones, the "uu" and the "eu". This is easier: think French. Our "u"/"uu" (in Dutch vowels are doubled in a syllable closed by a consonant) en "eu" are pronounced the French way.
This thread needs .wav files!!
#62
Posted 28 January 2001 - 23:41
I've heard that before; is that like the "ll" in Spanish or do you have a single letter representing "ij"?Originally posted by Racer.Demon
(...) the "ij" (which is actually one letter
#63
Posted 29 January 2001 - 00:00
Sort-of a "y" but the two dots are imparative!
The typographic capital version is "IJ" - so two capital letters at the beginning when typing down the name of the Dutch harbour of IJmuiden (not Ijmuiden).
So, can anyone confirm my guess for the right Badoer pronunciation? Just to get back on topic again!
#64
Posted 29 January 2001 - 00:05
Originally posted by fines
Ok then, that's Damon Hill, David Coulthard and Mika Häkkinen, but who are the ones in the middle???Originally posted by Racer.Demon
The best ones? "Dah-mone Eelle", "Da-veede Cool-tar", "Share-are Bare-shay", "Jean Man-you-song" and "Mee-kah Ak-kee-nong", the emphasis falling on each final syllable of course...
Confused? I don't blame you, Michael.
Actually they are Berger and Magnussen. Can you believe I almost fainted?
#65
Posted 29 January 2001 - 00:12
So then, is Arie Luÿendÿk the correct spelling?
#66
Posted 29 January 2001 - 00:20
Where are we taking this thread?;)
Errm, that would be Luyendijk... (We did not expend with the regular y!)
#67
Posted 29 January 2001 - 00:40
#68
Posted 29 January 2001 - 00:52
Originally posted by fines
What I mean is, would you in Holland write it rather as Luyendijk or as Luyendÿk? I always try to find out about the correct spelling of names.
The hand-written version: Luyendk.
The typed version: Luyendijk.
So on this forum, go with the latter.
#69
Posted 29 January 2001 - 03:45
Originally posted by Gil Bouffard
I tell people it was either learn German or eat Wienerschnitzel for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Gil Bouffard
Reminds me of the time I arrived in Frankfurt after a 27 hour flight from Australia. It was early in the morning and the family with whom I was to stay were out for the day and I could not get access to their house.
I had 12 hours to fill, and in which to try to stay awake.
After stumbling around Frankfurt, through the zoo etc for hours, hunger pains set in.
I could speak only a sentence or two of German, badly. I chose a little kiosk on wheels in a square somewhere, selling every variety of sausage on a bread roll known to mankind.
After scouring up and down the menu board trying to find one I had some hope of pronouncing, I placed my order "Einen xxx bitte".
The lady at the counter, who had been watching me hover around for some time, said, with just a trace of a mile, "Certainly, sir. Would you like sauce or mustard on that?"
#70
Posted 29 January 2001 - 03:58
But once, driving through Sweden, I stopped at a service station/eatery out in the country where no one in the place admitted to any knowledge of English.
I perused the menu board. Nothing looked even vaguely familiar. But my habit of learning at least how to say numbers, and a basic idea of how the written word is pronounced in various languages came good for me.
By remembering Swedish rally drivers' names, I remembered that "sk" can be "sh" and an "A" with two dots over it was more like a short "e". So "skinken" became "schinken" (and I now knew that was German for ham) and "ag" or "agg" with dots over the "a" became "egg".
I said to the art director of our magazine, who was travelling with me and was depressed at facing starvation for the want of knowing the right words, "would you like to have ham and eggs?"
"That would be great, but how can we get it? I can't see any we can point at."
I stammered out my version of skinken and agg and, to our amazement, we received ham and eggs. The art director was more amazed than impressed, which disappointed me. I felt as though I had scored one of the great successes of my life.
#71
Posted 29 January 2001 - 04:05
How do they pronounce "Blignaut" in South Africa?
#72
Posted 29 January 2001 - 09:59
It is not Joe-HANSEN but JOH-hann-sonn
Ronnie Peterson:
Im not even sure of that one! However it is NOT pete-ERR-son. Either it is PET-terr-son or PE-terr-son
Keke Rosberg:
Not ROSS-berggg but ROOOS-baerrj
Mika Häkkinen:
not ha-KII-nen but HEAEKK-i-nen
Michael Schumacher
Not MY-kell as in English and absolutely not me-HAIL as a certain Finnish commentator pronounces it (highly irritating!). From what I have heared from RTL the correct one seems to be something like MICH-ha-ell.
Kimi Räikkönen
RAEY-koe-nen
Rubens Barrichello
Barri-CHELLO or Barri-KELLO ?
A Finnish reporter actually asked Rubens himself but the answer was the usual "either"
Carlos Pace
Something like Pat-CHEY if I remember right.
Kenny Bräck
Not Brack but Breck
It is not always easy. About 1/3 of the letters I recieve spells my name Lief instead of Leif. (I got no idea how they are pronouncing it
Ok Mattijs. What's the correct answer? Is it MATT-ys or Ma-TII-as?
#73
Posted 29 January 2001 - 11:08
BTW, Mathijs, not all "ij" is pronounced in the typical manner, some "lijk" endings are a short "e".
The German "ch" is similar to the Spanish "j" or the Dutch "g", but also like the kyrillan "x". When translated from Russian into English, this "x" always is shown as "kh", so may be "kh" is the correct English letter combination.
#74
Posted 29 January 2001 - 11:49
Originally posted by Leif Snellman
It is not always easy. About 1/3 of the letters I recieve spells my name Lief instead of Leif. (I got no idea how they are pronouncing it
This is a slightly OT and personal question Leif, but is your first language Suomi or Svenske?
#75
Posted 29 January 2001 - 13:38
Have I taken this thread to low?
Stefan
stefan.ornerdal@minmail.net
#76
Posted 29 January 2001 - 16:05
#77
Posted 29 January 2001 - 17:09
This is a slightly OT and personal question Leif, but is your first language Suomi or Svenske?
[/B]
Svenska
#78
Posted 29 January 2001 - 17:41
A spelling rule in American English is: 'I' before 'E', except after 'C'.
The late American actor Leif Erickson was constantly called "Leaf Erickson."
Being a German speaker I am constantly appalled at people who don't recognize the 'EI' and 'IE' dipthong.
Bernstein is pronounced "Burn Steen." I recently watched (not for long) a TV movie where the actor playing an Air Force Officer requested that, "Ram Steen, be notified."
American football television commentator and former Washington Redskins quarterback, Joseph (Joe) Thiesman was christened "Joseph Thees Mon," until some Bozo at Notre Dame University changed the pronounciation to "Joe Th eyez Man."
For years I thought Broad was pronounced "Braud." Now I learn that the real estate developer Kaufmann and Broad is not Kowf Mon and Braud, but rather, "Cough Men and Brode."
The German consumer electronics firm "Braun," is pronounced "Brawn."
And Americans have the balls to laugh (or is it laff) at people who don't speak "English."
Gil
#79
Posted 29 January 2001 - 17:51
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#80
Posted 29 January 2001 - 17:56
Originally posted by Gil Bouffard
Leaf, or is it Life.
Ok, so that you all know:lol:
The correct pronunciation of Leif is just like "Safe" but with a "L" instead of a "S".
#81
Posted 29 January 2001 - 18:18
Before they take me back to my little rubber cubicle....
A couple from my military days: There is (or should I say, was) this nice quaint town in the Phillipines with all these nice quaint establishments such as the U.S.1 and Lilly's and The Shack and so on, where the denizens of these establishments spoke phrases like. "I love you GI," and "You buy me drink, big boy?" called Alangapo City (Along Gah Poh).
During the Mount Pinautubo Blast, Alangapo City was covered in ash (up to it's ash). An American news reader referred to the locale as "Ala Gong Poh, City."
Luckily, I was sitting at the time.
Then there is the "Yoko Suka" U.S. Navy base in "Yo Kooska" Japan.
They're here now..
Gil
#82
Posted 29 January 2001 - 19:08
MEN-DITE-GUY and Roberto MY-ERS. Oh the shame.........!
#83
Posted 29 January 2001 - 19:52
The guy sitting behind his large mahogany desk started off by asking "Wer sind Sie?" Harmless enough I guess, it means "Who are you" or "What is your name?" Unfortunately the 'Wer' bit is pronounced like the English 'Where', but with a 'v'. So I took the question to mean "Where are you?"
So when he asked me what my name was, I replied proudly that "I am living in Brussells". I have to admit that this took him back a bit. But it was the climax of the interview, which merely deteriorated after that. To everyone's mutual relief they refused to enroll me.
#84
Posted 29 January 2001 - 21:49
Originally posted by Leif Snellman
Ok, so that you all know:lol:
The correct pronunciation of Leif is just like "Safe" but with a "L" instead of a "S".
See how sneaky those various Europeans are!
#85
Posted 29 January 2001 - 23:10
I have really enjoyed this thread.. Maybe because many of us (other than the Illustrious Colonel Kapps (it seems)) have floundered through numerous encounters of the worse kind..
Here they come again!
Gil
#86
Posted 29 January 2001 - 23:13
#87
Posted 30 January 2001 - 12:42
#88
Posted 30 January 2001 - 13:02
ä is pronounced as a "hard a" as in "cat"
ö is pronounced a bit like the "ew" in "sew"
y is pronounced a bit like the "ou" in "you"
so you can get some rather unusual looking words like pysähtyä, which means stop.
My attempt at Räikkönen would be something like
"RR-aa-i-k-k-ew-nen" !!! (the RR is there because Finns roll their R's like scotsmen).
#89
Posted 30 January 2001 - 15:36
So how is Menditeguy pronounced?
I heard one of those 1950s records of Raymond Baxter race commentaries and he called him something like "Mendit agey", which is how I have said it ever since.
#90
Posted 30 January 2001 - 19:18
#91
Posted 30 January 2001 - 22:28
But I could be...........
The other one is MEE-AIR-RES.
#92
Posted 30 January 2001 - 23:41
Originally posted by Leif Snellman
Kimi Räikkönen
RAEY-koe-nen
Leif, over here we have no trouble putting the emphasis right with HAK-kinen, although we say HAAK instead of HEK, but that's probably due to English sources refusing - or being unable - to print umlauts. (Only just now have we come to terms with saying Tommi MEKK-inen.)
With Räikkönen (here spelt Raikkonen, which says everything about our Anglosaxon-oriented motorsport press) I'm sure everyone will be pronouncing it as Rai-KO-nen, the same way we do with all those Finnish ski jumpers or Leo Kin-NU-nen!
So it should be RAY-koo-nen?
The "Matshoosta" case is vividly painting the picture of every Westerner putting the emphasis wrong in Japanese names as well. In Holland everyone said Na-KA-no whereas it should be NA-kano. Or HOSH-no instead of Ho-SHEE-no. Na-KA-djeema? TA-kagi? That needs some getting used to! You guessed it, it's common practice in Dutch (and in English as well, I guess) to put the emphasis on the second syllable in words with three syllables - and on the third with four syllables, etc.
Italian is another case in point where the emphasis in some cases comes sooner than expected, most common in first names. It's CHAY-sa-ray Perdisa instead of Chay-SAH-ray. And ET-tow-ray Chimeri (Kee-may-ree) instead of Et-TOW-ray.
And to put this one to rest: it's Sk-yatta-rella!
As far as the Spanish is concerned - but Felix or Jarama (JA-rama or Ja-RA-ma?) should be the judges - I find it very practical that they use accents to point out where the emphasis should lie. But then these get hopelessly lost in the totally accent-less typesetting machines in the Anglosaxon press...
Originally posted by Leif Snellman
Ok Mattijs. What's the correct answer? Is it MATT-ys or Ma-TII-as?
Mat-TIJS... (with the same emphasis on the second syllable as in Matteo or Matthias).
BTW, still no-one daring to help on Badoer?
And another one for the Aussies: Vern Schuppan. Is that Shoe-pen? Shup-pen? Skup-pen?
#93
Posted 31 January 2001 - 01:20
#94
Posted 31 January 2001 - 05:56
Originally posted by Racer.Demon
So it should be RAY-koo-nen?
Yes. In almost every case the emphasis should be on the first syllable in a word, although some long words have a secondary emphasis on an intermediate syllable.
#95
Posted 31 January 2001 - 12:27
Originally posted by David McKinney
I would have said 'Menda-tagy' which is probably the same as you're saying, Barry
Yes David. I think we are both trying to say the same thing.
Perhaps we all should learn phonetic spelling, as used in the dictionaries - although I never have quite come to grips with that.
However, is this the correct pronunciation for Menditeguy?
I assume it is Spanish, but do Argentinians pronounce Spanish the same way as the Spaniards do?
I remember once telling a French person I had added a little to my knowledge of French while on the Safari Caledonien in New Caledonia. I was told, haughtily, "That isn't really French they speak in New Caledonia".
#96
Posted 31 January 2001 - 19:12
Perhaps you could pronounce your Barry with an Australian accent, and me, mine with a Cockney one. Then people won't get us muxed ip!
#97
Posted 31 January 2001 - 21:56
Originally posted by Barry Lake
Originally posted by David McKinney
I would have said 'Menda-tagy' which is probably the same as you're saying, Barry
Yes David. I think we are both trying to say the same thing.
Perhaps we all should learn phonetic spelling, as used in the dictionaries - although I never have quite come to grips with that.
However, is this the correct pronunciation for Menditeguy?
I assume it is Spanish, but do Argentinians pronounce Spanish the same way as the Spaniards do?
Barry,
yes, his accent is very special and easily recognizable for us, but the emphasis is in the same syllables.
#98
Posted 31 January 2001 - 22:01
[QUOTE]
As far as the Spanish is concerned - but Felix or Jarama (JA-rama or Ja-RA-ma?) should be the judges - I find it very practical that they use accents to point out where the emphasis should lie. But then these get hopelessly lost in the totally accent-less typesetting machines in the Anglosaxon press...[/QUOTE]
Racer,
FE-lix
Ja-RA-ma
#99
Posted 31 January 2001 - 22:28
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#100
Posted 31 January 2001 - 23:14
Originally posted by fines
But isn't the track called Járama?
Nop! It´s exactly pronounced as jarama says : Ja-RA-ma
Actually, my name is to be written with an accent : Félix, so you pronounce it FE-lix and not, as usually english-speaking people do : FI-lex. I don´t like fighting against long-standing traditions, so sometimes when spelling my name I just say :"Remember Felix the cat? Write it like that"
Félix