Pronunciations

[AlfredtheGreat]

Do any of you get mad when you learn the correct way to pronounce an authors name is different from what you've been saying for awhile.

Examples:

Aris to pha knees instead of aristo fanes (Aristophanes)
Ger tuh for Goethe
Bar thel may instead of bar thelme.

[kiki1982]

As to the Greek one, I think every language has its own way of pronunciation. In Dutch it is 'Aristopha nes'. Though, if you want to put the stress anywhere else, you are welcome to it. Mainly people who know Greek, I guess, would do it. ;)

As to Goethe, I am curious. How do peope pronounce that name if they do not now any German?

[billl]

I used to pronounce it "Goeth". Like "Goth" but with the "o" sound being a high "o", as in "toe". I think that was the common, ignorant, pronunciation in the U.S. I mostly just pronounced it in my own head, when I encountered it in another author's writing, or scanned the G's in the bookstore--it was quite a while before one of my friends actually read it and gave it a thumbs up, with the correct pronuncuation attached. However, I want to say that at least half the people that actually read the book probably eventually learned how to pronounce it correctly--and I think that the existence of the internet (and forums and podcasts) has pretty much alerted maybe 75% or more to the correct pronunciation (if they happen to recognize the name at all. That number may have dropped, for all I know... In fact, this is all guesswork, with these percentages.).

[PeterL]

It doesn't make much difference, because a few hundred years later even people of the native land will be pronouncing things differently.

People have made many guesses about how Ancient Greek sounded, but they are just guesses, because there are no contemporary recording, and the Greek language has changed tremendously since then.

[Seasider]

I wonder how Onassis pronounced his first name.

[OrphanPip]

What I never quite understood were those accepted mispronunciations. Like Wagner pronounced as Vagner, where you end up with a semi-German pronunciation that still maintains standard English for the rest of the word. Then if you completely anglicize the pronunciation you're libel to get dirty looks.

Edit: One I've heard butchered a handful of times is Luce Irigaray.

[AuntShecky]

Do any of you get mad when you learn the correct way to pronounce an authors name is different from what you've been saying for awhile.

Examples:

Aris to pha knees instead of aristo fanes (Aristophanes)
Ger tuh for Goethe
Bar thel may instead of bar thelme.


I always pronounced Don B.'s last name "Bar thel MAY" until somebody corrected me and said it was "Bar THELM."
As it turns out I was right the first time:

http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/35935-Literary-Names-and-How-to-Pronounce-Them

Did you know that even though everybody pronounces the Greek philosopher's name as SOC-ra-teez, the Greeks themselves call him "So-CRA-tays." Well, at least we didn't say "So-CRATES," right?

My question-- how do you pronounce Ayn Rand's first name? (Not that I'm going to be quoting her anytime soon.)

How about:

Anais Nin?

Djuna Barnes?

[AlfredtheGreat]

I think Ayn Rand is like Ann.

[papayahed]

I thought it was pronounced "ein" Rand?

[AlfredtheGreat]

Me too, but I heard her pronounced as Ann the other day.

[Wilde woman]

My question-- how do you pronounce Ayn Rand's first name? (Not that I'm going to be quoting her anytime soon.)

How about:

Anais Nin?

I've heard Ayn pronounced AY-un.

I've heard an American girl named Anais pronounce her name Ah-NEYES, with the second syllable rhyming with "eyes".

How do you pronounce Taliesin? I've heard it both as tal-ee-ESS-in and ta-LAY-eh-sin. Which is actually correct?

[Rores28]

What I never quite understood were those accepted mispronunciations. Like Wagner pronounced as Vagner, where you end up with a semi-German pronunciation that still maintains standard English for the rest of the word. Then if you completely anglicize the pronunciation you're libel to get dirty looks.

Edit: One I've heard butchered a handful of times is Luce Irigaray.

So Wagner is not pronounced Vog-ner?

[hanzklein]

Do any of you get mad when you learn the correct way to pronounce an authors name is different from what you've been saying for awhile.

Examples:

Aris to pha knees instead of aristo fanes (Aristophanes)
Ger tuh for Goethe
Bar thel may instead of bar thelme.
Isn't Aristophanes pronounced Aristo-pha-nes in the Greek? Anyway, these authors also have anglicized pronunciation, so its technically correct either way. I have heard lectures from professors who pronounced Aristophanes "Aristo-fanes".

By that pronunciation logic, "Caesar" is correctly pronounced kai-ser.

[Syd A]

I thought it was pronounced "ein" Rand?

That's correct. Ayn rhymes with mine.

[kiki1982]

Wow, learned something new. I was right, reading Ayn Rand's name...

And no, Wagner is not pronounced Va/og-ner. Actually it is a w pronounced as a voiceless 'v', which means getting your mouth in position as if you were to say a 'v', but not having your vocal cords vibrate. And heavier than a 'f', which takes the same mouth position but gets more air.

Now all try :D

But, to be honest, I usually use the anglisised version when speaking English, the Dutch version when speaking Dutch, and the French when speaking French (if that happens). There is nothing stranger than someone putting the occasional foreign-pronounced word in a sentence. :eek:

[Paulclem]

My history teacher tod of how at uni hestod uptodoa presentation on Goethe prnouncing him Go - eth.

I did similar thing with The Gulag Archipelago pronouncing it ar-chip-el-ar-go. If you've never heard it - and a that time, when I was working in the slaughterhouse, I didn't come across many who read Solzhenitsyn - you have no idea. Luckily, and to my embarrasment, my colleague from the Ministry had. He kindly corrected me after he had picked himself up from the floor.

[Three Sparrows]

Don Quixote is hard one too, in fact, I used to pronounce it as "Don Qwix-oh-t." Man, that was bad. I now pronounce it as "Don Khee-oh-tee." I sure hope that one is right. Oh, and how about Aeneas? I was completely at a loss as to how to pronounce it until I came across the proper pronunciation in the appendix of The Aeneid.

[billl]

It's pretty crazy how long it took before I connected the word "Protestant", which I often encountered in the newspaper or in books, with the word "Protestant" that I sometimes heard on TV and radio. I always thought the emphasis would be on the middle syllable.

[AlfredtheGreat]

Don Quixote - key ho tay.

[Paulclem]

It's pretty crazy how long it took before I connected the word "Protestant", which I often encountered in the newspaper or in books, with the word "Protestant" that I sometimes heard on TV and radio. I always thought the emphasis would be on the middle syllable.

It's an understandable one Billl with the word origin being protest. There are a number of words where the emphasis changes with the word. It causes our second language readers no end of trouble. Read(red) and read (reed) for example.

[Lokasenna]

A lot of people struggle with Evelyn Waugh as well. Though it is pronounced the same as 'war', I've heard plenty of things like 'woff', 'wag', 'warg', 'wow' and 'wow-ga'...

Tying into the chat about Wagner, do we attempt to pronounce things in their native manner? For example, I know a couple of British people with the surname Wagner, which they pronounce 'Wag-ner'. Take Mozart as well - should English speakers say 'Wolf-gang' or 'Vulf-gong'?

[kiki1982]

Haha, I was one of the 'wow'-ones! And then my hubby started to call him Evelyn 'woof'. :lol: