How to pronounce car names

[Didymus]

Originally Posted by Ingolstadt

Well i do agree using 'english' as the basis for phonetically pronouncing other language's names or brands is something very wrong, english is one of the most inconsistent and unsystematic language i've came across.

And you've "come across" so very many!

And while we're off-topic: English is "inconsistent and unsystematic" because it's the most derivative of all languages. And for that reason it has acquired a much larger and more nuanced vocabulary than other languages. But if you don't give a damn about capitalization or correct spelling, you probably don't appreciate the benefits of range of expression and precision of meaning.

Are you saying that it's always "very wrong" to change foreign words so they fit familiar speech patterns? Does that apply to speakers of all languages, or is it only "very wrong" if an English speaker alters a word to fit English speech patterns?

Heaven forbid we should pronounce it "pear-iss" rather than "pah-ree"!

Diddy

[henk4]

Originally Posted by Didymus

And you've "come across" so very many!

And while we're off-topic: English is "inconsistent and unsystematic" because it's the most derivative of all languages. And for that reason it has acquired a much larger and more nuanced vocabulary than other languages. But if you don't give a damn about capitalization or correct spelling, you probably don't appreciate the benefits of range of expression and precision of meaning.

Are you saying that it's always "very wrong" to change foreign words so they fit familiar speech patterns? Does that apply to speakers of all languages, or is it only "very wrong" if an English speaker alters a word to fit English speech patterns?

Heaven forbid we should pronounce it "pear-iss" rather than "pah-ree"!

Diddy

we caaan't or we ceen't..just as an example to what extent English has been abused all over the world...

[Didymus]

Originally Posted by henk4

we caaan't or we ceen't..just as an example to what extent English has been abused all over the world...

Another linguist heard from!

First it was Ingolstadt finding it "very wrong" that English speakers change the pronunciation of foreign words. (He didn't seem to have a problem with the fact that speakers of other languages do exactly the same thing.) Now you seem to be criticizing the language because speakers of English "abuse" the pronunciation of English words!

Hey, even a tiny country like the Netherlands has regional accents! What do you expect from the most widely spoken language in the world?

By the way, where in the world is "can't" pronounced "ceen't"? (And so what if it is?)

Diddy

[go.pawel]

Didymus, I think you've misunderstood the point. It's not about vocabulary, it's about pronounciation. The problem is, people try to explain the correct pronounciation using the sound-letter corespondence system from their own languages. For instance, one can write "Sooper-leg-ehra", but various people will read it in various ways, depending on the language thay use. I could write that it should be pronounced Superledżdżera or that Maybach is pronounced Majbah. But it will only be understood correctly by other polish speakers. That's why english (or any other language) shouldn't be used for these explanations.

Another problem is that english has an irregular pronounciation. And I mean irregular in a lingustic sense. One sound can be represented in two ways, and the other way round - one letter/set of letters can be pronounced in various ways. Furthermore, there are no consistent rules that regulate this. That's a significant difference from most other Indo-European languages. This makes it difficult to accurately explain foreign pronounciation using english letters. Not to mention that each language has its specific sounds which can be explained only approximately.

And as for changing foreign words to fit familiar speech patterns - I, peronally find it wrong, but it's only my point of view and I don't require anybody to agree with it. But proper names definitely should be pronounced the original way. How would you feel if someone mispronounced your last name? I hate when it happens.

I'd encourage everyone to use IPA for any further explanations. That's what it was developed for.

BTW, english is not necessarily the most popular language in the world. Mandarin has about the same amount of speakers. However, English is certainly the most popular second language.

[brandonj6]

Hmm. Acura is wrong. It isnt Ak-rr-ah, it's Ak-you-ruh

[The_Canuck]

yeah, or, a-cure-a

[seemoe]

Originally Posted by wikipedia

Porsche, a German proper name, is correctly pronounced PORSH-eh.

Some tend to over-vocalize the e, which results in Por-SCHA. Others mistakenly treat the e as silent, a pronunciation rule that applies to most words in English and French, but not in German, producing the monosyllabic porsh. The most common pronunciation used in the United States is porsh.

12345

[teatako]

Originally Posted by henk4

I'll explain.

Andre Citroen was a dutchman who moved to France. The dutch word citroen means lemon. While in France he changed his name to make it look more interesting by putting two dots on the "e" (have no idea how to reproduce that on my keyboard...). So what was basically a two syllabe word, was turned into three syllabes.
We have also a very famous Dutch painter named Karel Appel, yes, his name means "apple" in English...our Dutch surnames were invented during the occupation of the French at the Napoleontic period, when they wanted everybody to have proper surnames. Not everybody took this issue seriously and went to register a silly name......

the fact that the trema (the two dots) change the pronunciation probably had a lot to do as well. oe in french is not the same as oë. the trema separates the vowels, so to speak, as to pronounce both. so it could have been an attempt to have the french pronounce his name properly but i cant confirm as i don´t know a word of dutch. well i just learned "appel"