Pronunciation, local or 'Merican?

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pvnisher
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Pronunciation, local or 'Merican?

Post by pvnisher »

How do you go about pronouncing foreign words?

Do you go for the native/local way, ie, the way the people who live there pronounce it?
Or do you go for the 'Merican pronunciation?

I'm all for accuracy, and will refer to a name by it's proper pronunciation when in that country (Munich vs Muenchen, Ibiza vs Ibitha, Japan vs Nihon, etc). Especially if I'm using that language. It would be insane to say "Japan" in Japanese, for instance, since that means "well, bread!"

But I also hate sounding like a douche in America if I use the "proper" pronunciation.
So why is it douchey to use the proper word? I don't know. It sure seems that way, though.

So do you just americanize the words or try to do it right, or vary your approach on where you are and who you're with?
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shays_days
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Re: Pronunciation, local or 'Merican?

Post by shays_days »

Lol I don’t even pronounce my own name with the “foreign” pronunciation...(it’s obviously not Shay) let alone other words from other languages.

But I think it’s situational and depends on who you’re with
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greenonion
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Re: Pronunciation, local or 'Merican?

Post by greenonion »

Does anyone really know what a Merican is anymore these days?? I’m losing track, that’s for sure.
pizza-sandwich
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Re: Pronunciation, local or 'Merican?

Post by pizza-sandwich »

i’m from kansas so i pronounce words with my dialect.

but really, think about it this way: would you expect someone from nicaragua or tokyo or kyrgyzstan to pronounce US cities and states and names with a perfect US accent? of course not, they’ll use an accent colored by their language. so why expect yourself to have that burden?

everyone’s dialect and accent is their own and will pronounce words the way their mouth works. i don’t see a reason to go out of your way to identically match native pronunciations unless you’re fluently communicating in that language.
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disentangled
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Re: Pronunciation, local or 'Merican?

Post by disentangled »

Have you ever heard a Brit say Los Angeles?


Now if we could just pronounce couloir and glissade properly!
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greenonion
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Re: Pronunciation, local or 'Merican?

Post by greenonion »

shelly+ wrote: Sat Mar 06, 2021 8:11 am Have you ever heard a Brit say Los Angeles?


Now if we could just pronounce couloir and glissade properly!
Koowar is one I believe. But how is glissade different from glissade?? Glissahd??
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disentangled
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Re: Pronunciation, local or 'Merican?

Post by disentangled »

greenonion wrote: Sat Mar 06, 2021 9:40 am
shelly+ wrote: Sat Mar 06, 2021 8:11 am Have you ever heard a Brit say Los Angeles?


Now if we could just pronounce couloir and glissade properly!
Koowar is one I believe. But how is glissade different from glissade?? Glissahd??


couloir needs an L
kooL wahr (soft R)

The i in French is pronounced ee (without the Y sound at the end) and never has the sound of the English i like in "give".
glee sahd


lol whatever.
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greenonion
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Re: Pronunciation, local or 'Merican?

Post by greenonion »

shelly+ wrote: Sat Mar 06, 2021 1:02 pm
greenonion wrote: Sat Mar 06, 2021 9:40 am
shelly+ wrote: Sat Mar 06, 2021 8:11 am Have you ever heard a Brit say Los Angeles?


Now if we could just pronounce couloir and glissade properly!
Koowar is one I believe. But how is glissade different from glissade?? Glissahd??


couloir needs an L
kooL wahr (soft R)

The i in French is pronounced ee (without the Y sound at the end) and never has the sound of the English i like in "give".
glee sahd


lol whatever.
Glee and Sahd both in the same word. How French!
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SchralpTheGnar
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Re: Pronunciation, local or 'Merican?

Post by SchralpTheGnar »

My take has always been the more euro I can sound the better, the euros are sick
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mtnkub
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Re: Pronunciation, local or 'Merican?

Post by mtnkub »

Good rule of thumb for place names might be sticking to the language you are using at the time. But i don't care much.

Unless you are talking in English and pronounce "Paris" like "Paree". Then i WILL through up.
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Re: Pronunciation, local or 'Merican?

Post by Carl_Healy »

From the title I thought this was going to be a thread about how to pronounce "Buena Vista" or "Montrose"...
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cedica
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Re: Pronunciation, local or 'Merican?

Post by cedica »

SchralpTheGnar wrote: Sat Mar 06, 2021 1:26 pm My take has always been the more euro I can sound the better, the euros are sick
Luv them all...
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