https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/ The Magazine's recommended daily allowance of news, culture and your letters. en Copyright 2012 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 18:00:20 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=4.33-en http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss An occasional guide to the words and names in the news from Jo Kim of the BBC Pronunciation Unit. The 18th Party Congress of the Communist Party of China has drawn to a close and China has appointed a new generation of leaders. The new Politburo Standing Committee, which is made up of the top leadership of the Communist Party, was led to the stage by newly appointed CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping as the final showpiece. Here are our recommendations for pronouncing the names of the Standing Committee members. Unlike English names, Chinese names do not appear in the Western order, i.e. given name first. Chinese names, like Korean, Vietnamese and Hungarian names, appear family-name first in the original language. Stressed syllables are shown in upper case, -uh as 'a' in sofa. Xi Jinping: SHEE jin PING (-sh as in ship, -j as in Jack, -i as in sit, -ng as in sing) Li Keqiang: LEE kuh chee-AANG (-ee as in street, -aa as in father, -ch as in church, -ng as in sing) Zhang Dejiang: JAANG duh jee-AANG (-j as in Jack, -aa as in father, -ng as in sing) Zhang Gaoli: JAANG gow LEE (-j as in Jack, -aa as in father, -ng as in sing, -ow as in now) Wang Qishan: WAANG chee SHAN (-aa as in father, -ng as in sing -ch as in church) Liu Yunshan: LYOH yuen SHAN (-ly as in million, -oh as in no, -ue as in French vu) Yu Zhengsheng: YUE jung SHUNG (-ue as in French vu, -j as in Jack, -u as in bun, -ng as in sing) The Pronunciation Unit's advice is anglicised so that any word, name or phrase, in any language, is pronounceable by broadcasters and intelligible to audiences. Some of our previous blog posts have discussed why Mandarin Chinese presents challenges in the process of anglicisation. Not only does Mandarin Chinese have a number of vowels and consonants that do not exist in English and have no obvious equivalent but it is also a tone language. Mandarin Chinese has four tones - high level, high rising, fall-rise, falling (and a fifth null-tone) - which are vital, just like vowels and consonants, to differentiating meaning. Many readers will know the famous example of the four 'ma's: depending on the tone, this syllable can mean "mother", "hemp", "horse" or "to scold". English is not a tone language and English broadcasters are not expected to recognise, much less reproduce, this level of phonetic detail in Chinese, or indeed, in all the world's languages, which is why in the Pronunciation Unit's systematic way of anglicising Chinese syllables, we do not reflect tones. The mismatch between the English and Mandarin Chinese systems also presents difficulties for Chinese speakers trying to pronounce English words and names. Mandarin Chinese does not have the vowel which appears in the English word cup and London written in Simplified Chinese as 伦敦, is pronounced by Mandarin speakers as luun duun (-uu as in book) with a rising tone on the first syllable and a high level tone on the second syllable. I should add here that while English isn't a tone language and that's why many native English speakers find it so hard to learn tone languages, English speakers do sometimes use tone and pitch in words to differentiate meaning, although not in the same way as Mandarin Chinese uses lexical tone. Let us imagine two British people trying to walk through a narrow doorway from either side. One person says a perfunctory "sorry!" but so quietly that the other doesn't quite hear her. "Sorry?" the second woman asks. "Sorry!" says the first woman, earnestly apologising for not speaking loudly enough. If you are a native British English speaker, you might have found yourself saying all these different sorries on any given day, sorries that have a pitch rise as a question, sorries that are apologies and have a big pitch fall. Hanyu Pinyin, the official transliteration system of Mandarin Chinese in the People's Republic of China, may also present confusion (and, in my particular case, a certain amount of despair in the first week of learning Pinyin) for people unfamiliar with the system because of the seeming discrepancy between spelling and pronunciation: the grapheme 'i' represents the sounds -ee (as in street), as in Pinyin 'xi', -uh (as 'a' in ago), as in Pinyin 'shi' and -i (as in pin), as in Pinyin 'jin'. However, Hanyu Pinyin's relationship between spelling and pronunciation is not as random as it seems because it is actually syllable-based; the syllable xi is always pronounced shee (-sh as in ship, -ee as in meet), whether in Xí Jìnpíng or móxī (the Chinese name for Moses). Compared with the wide variation one finds for the English syllable she in the words shed, she, fishes and masher, pronouncing Pinyin can suddenly seem much more pleasingly systematic and straightforward. You can download the BBC Pronunciation Unit's guide to text spelling. https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2012/11/how_to_say_chinese_leaders.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2012/11/how_to_say_chinese_leaders.shtml How to Say Thu, 15 Nov 2012 18:00:20 +0000 An occasional guide to the words and names in the news from Martha Figueroa-Clark of the BBC Pronunciation Unit. It's that time again when European nations compete to be crowned winners of the Uefa Euro football championship. In the midst of all the excitement, it's the commentator's unenviable task to confidently pronounce 22 foreign players' names in a fast-paced 90-minute broadcast. Sixteen nations are competing, and with so many names in a squad and the fact that there are at least two competing languages in each match, how would you fare? As always, the Pronunciation Unit's advice is anglicised so that it is pronounceable by broadcasters and intelligible to audiences. We use BBC Text Spelling to render pronunciations in writing (in all cases, stressed syllables are shown in upper case and -uh represents 'a' in ago/sofa - see link to full BBC Text Spelling guide below). The pronunciation advice below generally lists the unit's recommendations first but also includes mention of other attested English pronunciations. In general, the Pronunciation Unit's policy on place names is as follows: where an established anglicisation exists, that is what we recommend. In cases like Paris, where the English and French form of the geographical place name are spelt identically, broadcasters are advised to use the established anglicised form (eg, PARR-iss not parr-EE). In cases where there is an established English name for a foreign place name, eg Munich or Moscow (pronounced as MYOO-nick and MOSS-koh respectively), rather than the German and Russian forms (München or Moskva), we advise broadcasters to adopt the English form of the name. In the case of little-known place names, we recommend a pronunciation which is as close to the native pronunciation as possible, within the constraints of the English sound system. The first match takes place in Warsaw - this is the English name for the Polish place name known as Warszawa. While the pronunciation of Warsaw in English is straightforward, WOR-saw (-or as in corn, -aw as in law), Warszawa is pronounced var-SHAV-uh (-v as in vet, -sh as in shop) in Polish. The other Polish venues are Krakow, Wroclaw and Gdansk. Krakow is the English form of the name, pronounced KRACK-off (-f as in fit) in English, although KRACK-ow (-ow as in now) is also sometimes heard and KRACK-oh (-oh as in no) and KRACK-ov are also attested in British English pronunciation dictionaries. The Polish form is Kraków, pronounced closer to KRACK-oof (-oo as in boot, -f as in fit). Wroclaw is pronounced VROTS-waff (-v as in vet, -ts as in bits, -w as in wit, -f as in fit) in Polish and English, although as with Krakow, there is more than one possible pronunciation in use more generally among English speakers, including VROTS-laav, VROTS-lav, VROTS-laaf, VROTS-laff and VROTS-waaf. Gdansk (Gdańsk in Polish) is pronounced gdansk (-gd as in 'lagged') but because the 'gd' consonant cluster can be difficult for native English speakers to pronounce at the beginning of a word, it can be further anglicised as guh-DANSK. The pronunciations guh-DYNSK (-y as in sky) and DANSK are also listed as possible anglicisations in specialist English pronouncing dictionaries. In Polish, the acute accent over the 'ń' before the fricative 's'-sound means that the preceding vowel is nasalised in Polish and sounds closer to gdy(ng)sk (-y as in sky, -(ng) after a vowel indicates that the preceding vowel is nasalised). Ukraine's venues, by contrast, are arguably less of a challenge for English speakers: The established anglicisation of Kiev is KEE-eff (-ee as in meet, -e as in get), although KEE-ev (-v as in vet) is also used in English. Kharkiv, another venue in Ukraine, is pronounced KHAR-kif (-kh as in Sc. loch, -f as in fit). Some of the players' names are perhaps more challenging, particularly as the orthography and transliterations do not always match the expected pronunciations. When it comes to foreign names, we make every effort to reflect native pronunciations as closely as possible in our advice to broadcasters. That said, the pronunciation of sports names is exceptional, given the international nature of the sporting world and especially the fact that sports professionals are often signed to high-profile foreign clubs, we find that clubs and professional sporting bodies tend to use a higher degree of anglicisation. These anglicised pronunciations are then adopted by fellow professionals and fans which, over time, cause certain pronunciations to become entrenched. An example of this is the Brazilian player Ronaldinho. In this country, he is known as as ron-uhl-DEEN-yoh but in Brazilian Portuguese his name is pronounced closer to khon-ow-JEEN-yoo (-kh as in Sc. loch, -o as in not, -ow as in now, -j as in Jack, -y as in yes, -oo as in boot). The pronunciation ron-uhl-DEEN-yoh is so well-established that using a pronunciation which more closely reflects the Brazilian Portuguese above would very likely cause confusion to listeners. Not only that, but it would probably be deemed an affectation by many English speakers, in much the same way that pronouncing Paris as parr-EE might raise a few eyebrows. In some cases, sports personalities themselves pronounce their names in a non-native way. A case in point is Poland's Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczęsny. In Polish, his name is pronounced VOY-chekh sh-CHE(NG)-sni (-oy as in boy, -ch as in church, -e as in get, -kh as in Sc. loch, -sh-ch as in pushchair, -(ng) indicates that the preceding vowel is nasalised). However, when we researched the club's pronunciation of his name, we were told that they pronounced it VOY-check SHEZH-ni (-sh as in shop, -zh as 's' in measure). Understandably, some people feel very strongly about the fact that we should recommend the native-like pronunciation but what if there was evidence that a football player used a certain anglicisation of his/her own name and preferred this to an attempted native-like pronunciation that they did not identify themselves with? Ahead of the Euro opening matches between Poland and Greece, and Russia and the Czech Republic, here is a selection of pronunciations for some of the players' names: RUSSIA Vyacheslav Malafeev, pronounced vyatch-uh-SLAAF muh-luh-FYAY-yuhf (-vy as in view, -uh as 'a' in sofa, -fy as in few, -ay as in day, -y as in yes) Pavel Pogrebnyak, pronounced PAV-uhl puh-gruhb-NYACK (-a as in hat, -uh as 'a' in sofa, -ny as in manual) CZECH REPUBLIC Jan Laštůvka, pronounced YAN LASH-toof-kuh (-y as in yes, -a as in hat, -sh as in shop, -oo as in boot) Zdeněk Pospěch, pronounced ZDEN-yeck POSS-pyekh (-y as in yes, -o as in loss, -py as in pew, -kh as in Sc. loch) GREECE Stelios Malezas, pronounced STEL-i-oss mal-ez-ASS (-e as in get, -al as in pal, -note final syllable stress) Panagiotis Kone, pronounced pan-uh-YOT-iss kon-AY (-y as in yes, -ay as in day, -note final syllable stress) As the tournament progresses, we will include further pronunciation guidance for players' names. You can download the BBC Pronunciation Unit's guide to text spelling. https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2012/06/how_to_say_euro_2012_venues_an.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2012/06/how_to_say_euro_2012_venues_an.shtml How to Say Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:20:51 +0000 An occasional guide to the words and names in the news from Jo Kim of the BBC Pronunciation Unit. Following the disastrous oil spill in the Astrolabe Reef (ASS-truh-lab, -a as in "tap", stressed syllables in upper case) last month, several New Zealand place names have featured heavily in the news of late. Some of these place names are Maori, such as Tauranga and Mount Maunganui, the city and the town in the Bay of Plenty respectively. Our recommendation for Tauranga is an established anglicisation, TOW-rong-uh (-ow as in "now", -ng as in "sing" (not "finger"), -uh as "a" in "sofa"). We also recommend mong-uh-NOO-i (-o as in "top", -ng as in "sing", -oo as in "boot") for Maunganui. These are the pronunciations also used by Radio New Zealand's English language broadcasters. The established anglicisations of these place names raise interesting questions about the relationship between the Maori and New Zealand English sound systems. There are a multitude of English accents in the English speaking world, and native and non-native speakers alike may have noted some features of New Zealand English pronunciation when they encounter this accent in real life or in the media. (The unit's concentrated exposure to New Zealand English is from watching Flight of the Conchords, which we watched for endless hours in our leisure time - in the pursuit of pure linguistic research, of course.) Some of the most striking features are the relatively raised vowels (relative in comparison to Southern Standard British English, although perhaps not as much in comparison to General Australian English) and the "rotation" of certain vowels. Accents of English 3: Beyond the British Isles (Wells, 1982) gives a classic example of this - the quality of the "-i as in 'sit'" vowel in New Zealand English. In New Zealand, the "sit" vowel has become a central vowel and may sound much closer to the "-uh as 'a' in 'sofa'". Another example is the quality of the "-e as in 'bed'" vowel and the "-a as in 'bad'", which speakers of other English accents may hear as the word "bid" and "bed" respectively. Another noticeable characteristic of New Zealand English is the fronting of the back open vowel, the "-aa as in 'father'". This last point may, in some part, explain the anglicisations of the Maori place names above. The Maori "a" is classically described as being a very low and back vowel, relatively closer to my own British English quality of "-aa as in 'father'" than a New Zealand English speaker's pronunciation of the same vowel. You can hear the Maori pronunciations (from Te Karere Maori News) of Tauranga here and Maunganui here. To keep the backness and openess of the vowel, New Zealand English speakers may be mapping the Maori "a" onto their most back and open vowel, the "-o as in top" vowel, hence the "rong" and "mong" anglicisations. To download the BBC Pronunciation Unit's guide to text spelling, click here. https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2011/10/how_to_say_new_zealand_place_n.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2011/10/how_to_say_new_zealand_place_n.shtml How to Say Fri, 21 Oct 2011 13:27:28 +0000 An occasional guide to the words and names in the news from Marieke Martin of the BBC Pronunciation Unit. Every now and then the third largest city in Switzerland has been the subject of audience correspondence and staff queries to the BBC Pronunciation Unit. This time it's because of a Twitter debate over a commentator's pronuncation during a Champions League game between Manchester United and FC Basel. There are four different spellings in popular use - Basilea, Basel, Bâle and Basle - depending on the language and context they are all pronounced differently. The city of Basle is situated in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, in the border triangle of Switzerland, Germany and France. The original Latin name was Basilea (or Basilia), which has been preserved in Italian and Romansh. The German spelling is Basel, pronounced BAA-zuhl (-aa as in "father", -uh as "a" in "ago", stressed syllable in upper case). Given that it is in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, one might expect the English pronunciation to be based on the German but, in fact, the English form is Basle and for the pronunciation we give the established anglicisation baal (-aa as in "father"). This pronunciation is possibly based on the French spelling Bâle, which is also pronounced baal. So which pronunciation should we use? Our usual recommendation for place names is to recommend the established anglicisation, if one exists. For instance, recommending bur-LIN (-ur as in "fur") for Berlin (not bair-LEEN) or Munich, pronounced MYOO-nick (-my as in "mute", -oo as in "boot") for the English form of München (MUEN-khuhn -ue as in German "fünf", -kh as in German "ich"). Here at the Pronunciation Unit, we advise our broadcasters to base the pronunciation of Basel, Bâle or Basle on the spelling they are using. When speaking about the city, people would generally use the English spelling Basle and pronounce it baal (-aa as in "father"). An example of an English-language use of the German spelling is in the context of football. Our recommendation for the Swiss football club FC Basel 1893 is BAA-zuhl (-aa as in "father", -z as in "zoo"). When we spoke to the press office, the club confirmed that its official name uses the German spelling and pronunciation (BAA-zuhl) and that they preferred that this form be preserved in other languages. For those who are interested the High German pronunciation is EFF tsay BAA-zuhl AKH-tsayn-drigh-uun(t)-NOYN-tsikh (-ts as in "bits", -z as in "zebra", 1st -kh as in Scottish "loch", -ay as in "day", -igh as in "high", -uu as in "book", -oy as in "boy", 2nd -kh as in German "ich", stressed syllables in upper case). The pronunciation of place names is rarely as straightforward as one might think. As a native German speaker I can sympathise with foreigners who are met with a giggle when asking for WOR-sess-tuhr-shigh-uhr-SAWSS (-or as in "corn", -sh as in "ship", -igh as in "high", -aw as in "law"). Another example of a place name, which might be confusing, is Oudenaarde in Flemish Belgium. The established anglicisation for this place name is OO-duh-nard (stressed syllable in upper case, -oo as in "boot", -uh as "a" in "ago", -ar as in "bar"). The Flemish pronunciation is actually closer to OW-duh-nar-duh (-ow as in "now"). So you'd be forgiven for thinking that this is the French pronunciation, but actually the French spelling is Audenarde, pronounced closer to oh-duh-NARD (-oh as in "no"). The English pronunciation appears to be based on the French pronunciation of the Flemish spelling. The key is to have a clear understanding of the context in which a pronunciation is to be used and to be aware of any cultural, political or language-related considerations. To download the BBC Pronunciation Unit's guide to text spelling, click here. https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2011/09/how_to_say_baselbalebaslebasil.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2011/09/how_to_say_baselbalebaslebasil.shtml How to Say Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:39:12 +0000 An occasional guide to the words and names in the news from Marieke Martin of the BBC Pronunciation Unit. Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann has formally launched her bid to become the next Republican president. But how do you pronounce her name? It is not a very big leap to assume that it comes from the German-speaking parts of the world but the pronunciation of "ch" in her name might raise some eyebrows. Is it pronounced -k as in 'king' or as a fricative -kh as in Scottish "loch"? Our policy is to recommend the pronunciation the individual prefers or uses, where known. Michele Bachmann's own pronunciation, as can be heard on her campaign video on YouTube, is BAAK-muhn (-aa as in "father", -k as in "king", stressed syllables in upper case). However, there are other names of German origin that do not necessarily follow that trend - 18th Century composer Johann Sebastian Bach's last name is often anglicised as baakh (-kh as in Scottish "loch"), but some native English speakers also pronounce this name baak. More anglicised still is the pronunciation used be the German-born American banker Jules Bache who pronounced his German last name as baytch (-ay as in 'day', -tch as in 'catch'). The anglicisations of German names can vary according to country and individual preference. Here at the Pronunciation Unit we recommend pronouncing the composer's name baakh, given that this pronunciation is closer to the German pronunciation, which actually features a short vowel: bakh (-a as in hat; -kh as in Scottish loch). The quality of the German 'a' in Bach does not have an equivalent in British English, lying somewhere between -a as in hat and -aa as in father. There are two sounds represented by the German digraph "ch", the soft "ch" (-kh as in German "ich"), ie, the voiceless palatal fricative, which appears after "i", "e" and "r", which sounds rather different to the hard "ch" (-kh as in Scottish "loch"), ie the voiceless velar fricative, which appears after "a", "o" and "u". The soft "ch" is sometimes perceived by native English speakers as equivalent to the English -sh as in "shop" sound, although it is actually produced further back in the mouth. It is actually quite similar to the "h" sound in "human" or "Hugh". The soft "ch" sound is also often anglicised to -k as in "king", for instance in the German word for "I", ich, which some English speakers pronounce as ick, or in Marlene Dietrich, which is often anglicised as DEET-rick - the German pronunciation is closer to DEET-rikh (-ee as in "meet", -kh as in German "ich"). To download the BBC Pronunciation Unit's guide to text spelling, click here. https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2011/06/how_to_say_michele_bachmann.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2011/06/how_to_say_michele_bachmann.shtml How to Say Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:20:55 +0000 An occasional guide to the words and names in the news from Jo Kim of the BBC Pronunciation Unit. A climber from Glasgow amazingly survived a 1,000-foot fall from a mountain peak near Ben Nevis and was featured in the news this past weekend. The name of the munro, the term for any Scottish mountain that is at least 3,000 feet high, is Sgurr Choinnich Mor. We recommend two pronunciations for this munro as both can be widely heard amongst locals, Scots Gaelic speakers and Scottish-English speakers. 1) SKOOR KHON-ikh MOR (-oor as in poor, 1st -kh as in Scottish "loch", 2nd -kh as German "ich", stressed syllables in upper case) 2) SKOOR KOYN-ikh MOR (-k as in king, -oy as in boy, -kh as in Scottish "loch") 1) is closer to the original Scots Gaelic pronunciation and 2) is the common English pronunciation used by Scottish-English speakers. To download the BBC Pronunciation Unit's guide to text spelling, click here. https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2011/01/how_to_say_4.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2011/01/how_to_say_4.shtml How to Say Mon, 31 Jan 2011 14:43:40 +0000 Brian Cowen is Ireland's taoiseach An occasional guide to the words and names in the news from Jo Kim of the BBC Pronunciation Unit. The announcement of the Irish Republic's austerity plan has made big headlines this week. Along with the economic and political news and analysis on the BBC, this has also highlighted several Irish political terms that can leave non-native speakers of Irish (initially) scratching their heads. Like English, Irish does not have a one-letter, one-sound correspondence: the "e" in English, after all, is pronounced differently in words such as "me", "bet", "dances". However, unlike English spelling, the correspondence between spelling and pronunciation is considerably more regular, once you get the hang of it. There is also a great deal of variation in accents and dialects of Irish and Irish-English, just like in British English. The pronunciation of the "ái" vowel can vary according to sociolinguistic factors. The realisation of the vowel can sound closer to -aw as in law, -aa as in father or -oy as in boy depending on the region. For words and phrases in languages other than English, it is the BBC Pronunciation Unit's policy to recommend a pronunciation which is as close as possible to the original, while still pronounceable by our generally native English speaking broadcasters and understandable to our audience members. We also recommend established anglicisations, codified in English pronunciations dictionaries, when they exist. The sign of a "good" pronunciation in a programme is when it is unnoticeable and one ingredient of a broadcast. A mispronunciation or an unfamiliar "foreign" pronunciation of a place name that has an established anglicisation may distract listeners and viewers, or in the worst case scenario, make them unable to understand the content. Geographical and historical factors, as well as the large number of bilingual and native Irish English (also known as Hiberno-English) speakers, have resulted in established anglicisations of native Irish words. So we recommend established anglicisations where they exist for the sake of consistency, even though many different realisations of these words can be heard in every day speech. The following pronunciations are given in BBC Text Spelling. Stressed syllables are in upper case and "uh" is the sound of "a" in ago. For further details, please see the bottom of this blog. Taoiseach (or An Taoiseach) is the title for the head of government and the equivalent of prime minister. The established anglicisation for this word is TEE-shock (-ee as in meet, -sh as in ship). The anglicised pronunciation TEE-shuhck is also widely heard. The deputy prime minister is referred to as Tánaiste, pronounced TAW-nuhsh-tyuh (-aw as in law, -sh as in ship, -ty as in tune, est. anglicisation). We recommend the established anglicisation ERR-uhk-tuhss (-err as in merry) for the Oireachtas, the national parliament. However, the Irish pronunciation and the Irish English pronunciation is closer to irr-OKH-tuhss (-irr as in mirror, -o as in top, -kh as in Scottish loch). The Lower House, Dáil Éireann, is pronounced DOYL AIR-uhn (-oy as in boy, -air as in hair, est. anglicisation) and the Upper House, Seanad Éireann, is pronounced SHAN-uhd AIR-uhn (-sh as in ship, -a as in man, -air as in hair). (Listen on the official Oireachtas introduction video here.) Two of the major political parties with potentially tricky pronunciations are Fianna Fáil, pronounced FEE-uh-nuh FOYL (-ee as in meet, -oy as in boy, est. anglicisation). (Listen on RTE.) and Fine Gael, pronounced FIN-uh GAYL (-i as in sit, -ay as in say) (Listen on RTE.) To download the BBC Pronunciation Unit's guide to text spelling, click here. https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2010/11/how_to_say_irish_political_ter.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2010/11/how_to_say_irish_political_ter.shtml How to Say Thu, 25 Nov 2010 13:14:10 +0000 An occasional guide to the words and names in the news from Linda Shockey and Esther de Leeuw of the BBC Pronunciation Unit. South Africa is a land of many languages: there are 11 offical languages, many of which contain sounds which are unusual for English native speakers. For example, Xhosa has clicks like the sounds we write as "tsk tsk" and the sound we make to encourage a horse. These sounds are, to Xhosa speakers, just as easy as ABC to us. Small wonder that we aren't always sure how to pronounce the words we see associated with the World Cup. The vuvuzela and the Jabulani - the name of the official World Cup football - are perhaps the most hotly debated words related to the World Cup. The English pronunciation of the instrument is voo-vuh-ZEL-uh (-oo as in boot, -uh as in a in ago) whilst the Adidas press office has advised that the English pronunciation of the ball is jab-oo-LAA-ni (-aa as in father, -final -i as in y in happy) and means "to celebrate" in Zulu. In the final match of the World Cup, the Jo'bulani ball will be in play, pronounced joh-boo-LAA-ni (-oh as in no). According to our South African contacts, the English pronunciation of Johannesburg, and hence the one the BBC Pronunciation Unit recommends, is joh-HAN-iss-burg (-j as in Jack, -ur as in fur); whilst the Afrikaans pronunciation is closer to yoh-HAN-iss-burkh (-y as in yes, -kh as in Scottish loch). Other place names are pretty straightforward, like Polokwane (pol-uh-KWAA-nay; -aa as in father) and Durban (DUR-buhn; -ur as in fur), but not "Nelspruit" which is pronounced NEL-sprayt (-ay as in day). Stadium names (see BBC Sport's guide to World Cup 2010 venues) can also be a challenge: Mbombela may appear to have an impossible consonant combination, but it might help when pronouncing m-bom-BAY-luh to think of the final sound in the English word "stadium" and the initial sound in "ball". Put these words together, remembering to softly pronounce "m", and you've pronounced the initial consonant cluster in Mbombela. Bafokeng is easy if you remember to stress the last syllable (baff-oh-KENG; -oh as in no, -ng as in sing), but Loftus Versfeld holds some surprises: the "v" and the "f", for example, are pronounced identically (LOFT-uhss FAIRSS-felt; -air as in hair). To download the BBC Pronunciation Unit's guide to text spelling, click here. https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2010/06/how_to_say_world_cup_2010_tong.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2010/06/how_to_say_world_cup_2010_tong.shtml How to Say Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:42:15 +0000 An occasional guide to the words and names in the news from Linda Shockey of the BBC Pronunciation Unit. A volcano has errupted under a glacier in the Eyjafjallajokull area of Iceland, causing a cloud of volcanic ash to spread which in turn has led to British airports being shut down. Here is the BBC Pronunciation Unit's guide on how to saw the glacier's name. Eyjafjallajökull (or Eyafallajökull) is pronounced AY-uh-fyat-luh-YOE-kuutl (-uh) , that is -ay as in day, -fy as in few, -oe as in French coeur, -uu as in boot, the -tl as in atlas. The (-uh) is "a" as in ago. Stressed syllables are in capital letters. To download the BBC Pronunciation Unit's guide to text spelling, click here https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2010/04/how_to_say_eyjafjallajoekull.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2010/04/how_to_say_eyjafjallajoekull.shtml How to Say Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:53:21 +0000 An occasional guide to the words and names in the news from Jo Kim of the BBC Pronunciation Unit. The protests and violent clashes in Kyrgyzstan last week culminated in the ousting of the president and the formation of an interim government. Some of our recommended pronunciations for Kyrgyz place names and people's names relevant in the news are given below. Our recommendation for the pronunciation of Kyrgyzstan is kur-gist-AAN (-ur as in fur, -i as in sit, -aa as in father, stressed syllables in upper case). This is the established anglicisation codified in British English dictionaries. Kyrgyz, the name of the ethnic group and language, is pronounced KUR-giz (-z as in zoo, established anglicisation). For place names, it is Pronunciation Unit policy to base our recommendation on the local pronunciation; however, if there is an English form of the name (eg Munich) or an established anglicisation (eg Paris), we recommend this rather than the form in the native language. It is important to point out that our recommendations are anglicised and not intended to strictly reflect native Kyrgyz pronunciation. Krygyz has sounds in the phoneme inventory which do not exist in English. For example, the original Kyrgyz pronunciation of Kyrgyzstan contains sounds which are unfamiliar and "foreign" to many native English speakers, such as the close back unrounded vowel and the voiced uvular fricative. Monolingual English broadcasters are not expected to recognise, much less reproduce, this level of detail. In cases where an established anglicisation does not exist, the Pronunciation Unit has a standardised and systematic way of anglicising foreign languages. We consider a number of factors before making a recommendation: the phonetics and phonology of the relevant language, the opinions of native speakers on how they might expect it to be anglicised, the ease of pronunciation for our broadcasters and perception by the audience. Note: stressed syllables are shown in upper case. Talas - tuh-LASS (-uh as a in ago) Bishkek (the capital of Kyrgyzstan ) - bish-KECK Naryn (a provincial town) - nuh-RIN Jalalabad (a province) - juh-laa-luh-BAAT (-aa as in father, -t as in top) Manas (site of American airbase) - man-ASS President Kurmanbek Bakiyev - koor-man-BECK back-EE-yeff (-f as in fit) Roza Otubayeva - ROH-zuh ot-uun-BAA-yuh-vuh (-oh as in no, -uu as in book, -aa as in father) To download the BBC Pronunciation Unit's guide to text spelling, click here. https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2010/04/how_to_say_kyrgyzstan.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2010/04/how_to_say_kyrgyzstan.shtml How to Say Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:17:17 +0000 An occasional guide to the words and names in the news from Jo Kim of the BBC Pronunciation Unit. In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, there are some place names appearing frequently in the news which have raised pronunciation questions. For foreign place names, it is BBC Pronunciation Unit policy to recommend a standardised and systematically anglicised version of the local pronunciation. However, if there is an English form of a place name (e.g. Munich for München), then we recommend this rather than the native language form. We also recommend established anglicisations where they exist (e.g. Paris). In the case of Haiti and Port-au-Prince, we recommend the established anglicisations HAY-ti (-ay as in say, stressed syllables in upper case) and PORT-oh-PRINSS (-i as in pin). These anglicisations appear as early as in the 1937 edition of Broadcast English advice on foreign place names by the Pronunciation Unit's predecessor BBC Advisory Committee on Spoken English, which had members such as Arthur Lloyd James and Daniel Jones. These anglicisations are now so established that they are codified in British English pronunciation dictionaries, gazetteers and atlases. In the case of Port-au-Prince, the established anglicisation is reportedly commonly used in Haiti in English language contexts. Of course, different anglicisations for foreign place names can exist at the same time. For Port-au-Prince, in our recommendation for this place name, we acknowledge that pronunciations closer to the Haitian Creole pronunciation PORT-oh-PRA(NG)SS (-a(ng) as in French "vin") and French pronunciation POR-oh-PRA(NG)SS (-t is silent) are still used by English speakers. However, for the sake of consistency across the BBC, we advise our broadcasters to use the established anglicisation, PORT-oh-PRINSS. Similarly, while different anglicisations for Haiti (HIGH-ti, high-EE-ti and haa-EE-ti) are in still use, HAY-ti is considered the most widespread and established and we recommend this pronunciation. To download the BBC Pronunciation Unit's guide to text spelling, click here. https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2010/01/how_to_say_haiti_and_portaupri.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2010/01/how_to_say_haiti_and_portaupri.shtml How to Say Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:39:59 +0000 An occasional guide to the words and names in the news from Esther de Leeuw of the BBC Pronunciation Unit. During his lifetime, most people would not have given much thought to the pronunciation of Vincent van Gogh's name. Nowadays, getting it right has become a priority for many, especially those who plan to visit The Real van Gogh exhibit which opens at the Royal Academy later this month. But what is the real pronunciation of Van Gogh? Native English speakers can be heard saying van GOFF (-v as in vet, -a as in pan, -g as in get, -f as in fit) or van GOH (-oh as in no). In fact, most Dutch people pronounce his surname along the lines of vun KHOKH (-v as in vet, -u as in bun, -kh as in Scottish loch) or fun KHOKH (-f as in fit, -u as in bun, -kh as in Scottish loch). I know that as a child in Anglophone Canada, my Dutch father would have cringed if I ever pronounced one of the former possibilities because he wanted me to say Vincent van Gogh like a native Dutch speaker. At the Pronunciation Unit, we don't expect non-native Dutch speakers to pronounce his name with a perfect Dutch accent. Instead, we recommend the established Anglicisation van GOKH (-v as in vet, -g as in get, -kh as in Scottish loch) which is codified in numerous British English pronunciation dictionaries. This recommendation represents a compromise between the aforementioned English pronunciations and the Dutch pronunciations. The benefits of this recommendation are twofold. Firstly, recommending a single pronunciation ensures consistency across the BBC which in turn supports ease of perception for our audience. Secondly, this particular pronunciation is rendered by our broadcasters with relative ease (who are for the most part English native speakers) - and approaches the native Dutch pronunciation. Moreover, we explain the Dutch pronunciation vun KHOKH to our broadcasters. This is helpful for those who want to understand the reasoning behind our recommended established anglicisation van GOKH. Accordingly, our recommendation aims to satisfy - at least to a certain extent - voices such as as those coming from my father, whilst at the same time ensuring ease of perception and production for English native speakers. To download the BBC Pronunciation Unit's guide to text spelling, click here. https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2010/01/how_to_say_van_gogh.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2010/01/how_to_say_van_gogh.shtml How to Say Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:40:04 +0000 An occasional guide to the words and names in the news from Catherine Sangster of the BBC Pronunciation Unit. The shortlist for the 2009 Man Booker Prize has been announced, and, as always, there are some names which raise pronunciation questions for broadcasters. These are usually easy for the Pronunciation Unit to resolve by contacting agents, publishers or, where possible, the authors themselves. This year, the list includes Hilary Mantel (pronounced man-TELL), Simon Mawer (maw), Adam Foulds (fohldz), and AS Byatt (BIGH-uht). But the trickiest name is probably that of South African author JM Coetzee. The first syllable is pronounced kuut (uu as in book); debate rages about the pronunciation of the "ee" at the end. Many South Africans, whether Afrikaans speakers or not, pronounce this as a diphthong EE-uh, as in the word "idea". Indeed, kuut-SEE-uh was the Unit's original recommendation in the early 1980s, based on the advice of the South African Broadcasting Corporation and his London publisher, Secker and Warburg. However, that vowel can also be pronounced as a monophthong (kuut-SEE), especially by those from the south of the country, and this is the pronunciation that the author uses and prefers the BBC to use too. We have a letter from JM Coetzee himself in our files, written in response to our query, making this very clear and, as our policy is always to say people's names in the way that they wish, that is what we have recommended ever since. https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/09/how_to_say_3.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/09/how_to_say_3.shtml How to Say Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:49:40 +0000 An occasional guide to the words and names in the news from Martha Figueroa-Clark of the BBC Pronunciation Unit. People often want to know how "economic" should be pronounced - a question most recently asked by Monitor letter writer Sheelagh Robertson of West Yorkshire. Is the initial "e" pronounced as -ee (ee-kuh-NOM-ick) or as -e (eck-uh-NOM-ick)? The word "economic" is related to the Modern Greek oikonomikos (= "economic") which is derived from the Ancient Greek words oikos = "house" and nemein = "manage". In Ancient Greece, the word oikos would have sounded a bit like OY-koss (-oy as in boy; stressed syllables appear in capitals) but the "oi" vowel combination underwent a sound change and, in Modern Greek, it is pronounced as -ee (as in street). The Modern Greek words oikonomikos and oikonomia (= "economy") are therefore pronounced ee-kon-om-ee-KOSS and ee-kon-om-EE-uh respectively. In English, both ee-kuh-NOM-ick and eck-uh-NOM-ick are heard and both are listed in English pronunciation dictionaries and the OED - but if you want to know which pronunciation is more commonly used by British English speakers, the phonetician and author of the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, Professor J.C. Wells, conducted a poll of speakers of all ages and found that 62% of speakers preferred ee-kuh-NOM-ick, while 38% pronounced it as eck-uh-NOM-ick. To download the BBC Pronunciation Unit's guide to text spelling, click here. https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/08/how_to_say_economics.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/08/how_to_say_economics.shtml How to Say Wed, 05 Aug 2009 08:24:18 +0000 An occasional guide to the words and names in the news from Jo Kim of the BBC Pronunciation Unit. This week has seen riots and fighting between the Han Chinese and Uighur ethnic groups in Urumqi. China's President Hu Jintao cut short his visit to the G8 summit to tackle the crisis. It is important to note that BBC Pronunciation Unit policy is to recommend a standardised and systematically anglicised version of the local pronunciation. (In the case of Mandarin Chinese, we do not recommend tones in our anglicised pronunciation because we do not expect monolingual English broadcasters to recognise and reproduce sounds and features which do not exist in English.) However, if there is an English form of a place name (e.g. Florence), then we recommend this rather than the form in the native language. We also recommend established anglicisations where they exist (e.g. Paris). Note: where only one syllable appears, it should be stressed. Otherwise, stressed syllables are shown in upper case. The common anglicisations of Urumqi are oor-uum-TCHEE (-oor as in poor not pour, -uu as in book, -tch as in church) and oor-UUM-tchi. The original Uighur pronunciation is closer to: ue-ruem-TCHEE (-ue as in French vu). The Mandarin Chinese form of the place name (Hanyu Pinyin: Wūlǔmùqí), which is based on the Uighur pronunciation, is pronounced closer to: woo-LOO-moo-TCHEE (-oo as in boot). Hu Jintao, President of China, is pronounced KHOO jin TOW (-kh as in Sc. loch, -j as in Jack, -ow as in now) L'AQUILA is pronounced LACK-will-uh (-note first syllable stress) BEIJING is pronounced bay-JING (-j as in Jack, this is the established anglicisation) XIN JIANG is pronounced SHIN ji-AANG (-sh as in ship, -j as in Jack, -aa as in father) UIGHUR, the ethnic group, is pronounced WEE-guhr (-w as in wet, -ee as in meet, this is the established anglicisation) Han Chinese is pronounced han (-h as in hot, this is the established anglicisation; the Mandarin Chinese pronunciation is closer to khan, -kh as in Sc. loch) Hui, another Chinese ethnic group, is pronounced khway (-kh as in Sc. loch, ay as in say) Li Zhi, Urumqi's Communist party boss, is pronounced lee juh (-j as in Jack, -uh as a in ago) To download the BBC Pronunciation Unit's guide to text spelling, click here. https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/07/how_to_say_chinese_names_and_e.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/07/how_to_say_chinese_names_and_e.shtml How to Say Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:18:59 +0000