Simple words, difficult pronouncement? - Page 5

arthwollipot · 18th November 2019, 10:12 PM

Originally Posted by TragicMonkey

It just occurred to me that "lisp" and "stutter" are difficult words to say for people who have those conditions.

Also "Rhoticism".

The Don · 21st November 2019, 03:06 AM

I grew up in the North East of England and whilst by accent and pronunciation is probably a lot more neutral, I do tend to maximise the number of syllables in words (Mrs Don's pronunciation in brackets)

Library - Lie-bra-ree (Lie-bary)
February - Feb-roo-arry (Feb-ree)
Wednesday - Wed-ens-day (Whens-day)
Film - Fill-um (Moo-vee)

Maybe we just add those syllables to give us something to do on those long, cold winter's nights

ahhell · 21st November 2019, 07:42 AM

Originally Posted by The Don

I grew up in the North East of England and whilst by accent and pronunciation is probably a lot more neutral, I do tend to maximise the number of syllables in words (Mrs Don's pronunciation in brackets)

Library - Lie-bra-ree (Lie-bary)
February - Feb-roo-arry (Feb-ree)
Wednesday - Wed-ens-day (Whens-day)
Film - Fill-um (Moo-vee)

Maybe we just add those syllables to give us something to do on those long, cold winter's nights

From what I can tell you both pronounce them incorrectly .
Lie brairy
Feb ue airy
Wend's day
Film

TragicMonkey · 21st November 2019, 09:03 AM

English is a wonderful language, perhaps some day they'll consider using it in England.

Trebuchet · 21st November 2019, 09:07 AM

When I was a kid, we would occasionally see a Jagwire on the street. You know, the British car brand named after a big cat of the western hemisphere.

alfaniner · 21st November 2019, 09:15 AM

The Japanese language puts four syllables in the word "film" in Katakana.

fu-i-ru-mu

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%8...83%AB%E3%83%A0
Not sure how the special characters will appear on your device but it looks OK on mine.

quadraginta · 21st November 2019, 09:40 AM

Originally Posted by Trebuchet

When I was a kid, we would occasionally see a Jagwire on the street. You know, the British car brand named after a big cat of the western hemisphere.

Unlike real live jaguars the Brit version was easy to track and catch. You just started at the dealership and followed the oil leaks until you got to where the clutch had given out.

Sometimes as much as entire blocks away.

Trebuchet · 21st November 2019, 09:50 AM

Originally Posted by quadraginta

Unlike real live jaguars the Brit version was easy to track and catch. You just started at the dealership and followed the oil leaks until you got to where the clutch had given out.

Sometimes as much as entire blocks away.

As it happens, I saw one dead on the roadside just yesterday! From the Ford era, I believe.

arthwollipot · 21st November 2019, 07:23 PM

Originally Posted by alfaniner

The Japanese language puts four syllables in the word "film" in Katakana.

fu-i-ru-mu

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%8...83%AB%E3%83%A0
Not sure how the special characters will appear on your device but it looks OK on mine.

That's because Japanese doesn't have a /l/, and because Katakana is a syllabary where each character represents either a single vowel, or a consonant and a vowel. Or a single consonant that we in English render with two letters, like /sh/ and /th/, and a vowel.

That's why Japanese is so easy to pronounce. It's pronounced exactly as it as written.

ETA: The /i/ character is smaller than the others, which means it modifies the previous character from /fu/ to /fi/. There is no single character for /fu/. So it's actually a little more complex than I said it would be. The word is pronounced fi-ru-mu.

ETAA: The /f/ sound as we use it doesn't strictly exist in Japanese either. The character for /fu/ appears on the /h/ line and is pronounced without a strong fricative sound as we would use it.

Japanese writing is fascinating.

Vixen · 22nd November 2019, 02:49 AM

Originally Posted by arthwollipot

That's because Japanese doesn't have a /l/, and because Katakana is a syllabary where each character represents either a single vowel, or a consonant and a vowel. Or a single consonant that we in English render with two letters, like /sh/ and /th/, and a vowel.

That's why Japanese is so easy to pronounce. It's pronounced exactly as it as written.

ETA: The /i/ character is smaller than the others, which means it modifies the previous character from /fu/ to /fi/. There is no single character for /fu/. So it's actually a little more complex than I said it would be. The word is pronounced fi-ru-mu.

ETAA: The /f/ sound as we use it doesn't strictly exist in Japanese either. The character for /fu/ appears on the /h/ line and is pronounced without a strong fricative sound as we would use it.

Japanese writing is fascinating.

I bet the Japanese real hate the word 'FujiFilm'.

ahhell · 22nd November 2019, 08:20 AM

Originally Posted by arthwollipot

Japanese writing is fascinating.

What you wrote confirms my understanding of the language, and I agree with the fascinating bit. What really fascinates me is why they bother with the 2000 or so characters they've borrowed from the Chinese when they can do just fine with the alphabet of just 42 characters. Why do they want to make life harder on them selves this way?

alfaniner · 22nd November 2019, 09:11 AM

Originally Posted by ahhell

What you wrote confirms my understanding of the language, and I agree with the fascinating bit. What really fascinates me is why they bother with the 2000 or so characters they've borrowed from the Chinese when they can do just fine with the alphabet of just 42 characters. Why do they want to make life harder on them selves this way?

Also, three writing methods. Once I found that katakana was mostly phonetic English word translation, it motivated me to learn it.

ahhell · 22nd November 2019, 09:29 AM

Originally Posted by alfaniner

Also, three writing methods. Once I found that katakana was mostly phonetic English word translation, it motivated me to learn it.

Meh, Katakana and Hiragana are more like different fonts or latin script versus cursive. The Kanji is as though someone asked, "Hey, is there a way to make it 50x harder to read?"

arthwollipot · 24th November 2019, 10:24 PM

Originally Posted by alfaniner

Also, three writing methods. Once I found that katakana was mostly phonetic English word translation, it motivated me to learn it.

Yes, katakana is used most often to denote transliteration of loan words. For example:

コーカー・コーラー
Kō-kā Kō-rā (Coca-Cola)

arthwollipot · 24th November 2019, 10:25 PM

Originally Posted by ahhell

What you wrote confirms my understanding of the language, and I agree with the fascinating bit. What really fascinates me is why they bother with the 2000 or so characters they've borrowed from the Chinese when they can do just fine with the alphabet of just 42 characters. Why do they want to make life harder on them selves this way?

Because the kanji came first. Hiragana and katakana were invented as ways to make the kanji easier.

Disclaimer: I only took two years of Japanese, thirty five years ago. If someone with a better working knowledge of the language says something different, pay attention to them and not to me.

xterra · 24th November 2019, 10:29 PM

Originally Posted by Gord_in_Toronto

Does anyone really know how to pronounce "pshaw"?

It is pronounced "PGeorge PBernard", of course.

ahhell · 25th November 2019, 06:56 AM

Originally Posted by arthwollipot

Because the kanji came first. Hiragana and katakana were invented as ways to make the kanji easier.

Disclaimer: I only took two years of Japanese, thirty five years ago. If someone with a better working knowledge of the language says something different, pay attention to them and not to me.

You beat my 1 year 35 years ago.

Still, hiragana and katakana are an order of magnitude better and easier Its not like Chinese with the tones and what not.

alfaniner · 25th November 2019, 08:33 AM

Originally Posted by arthwollipot

Yes, katakana is used most often to denote transliteration of loan words. For example:

コーカー・コーラー
Kō-kā Kō-rā (Coca-Cola)

That one right there was probably my epiphany.

Trebuchet · 25th November 2019, 08:45 AM

Originally Posted by xterra

It is pronounced "PGeorge PBernard", of course.

I'm reminded of Pterry's character Ptracy....

arthwollipot · 25th November 2019, 07:15 PM

Originally Posted by ahhell

You beat my 1 year 35 years ago.

Still, hiragana and katakana are an order of magnitude better and easier Its not like Chinese with the tones and what not.

You do still have to be careful though. My teacher's favourite example was Bāka - a sweet, and Baka - an idiot.

The line over the vowel denotes an extended sound - Baaaka. That is what the horizontal like in between the kana in Kōkā Kōrā represents.

The Common Potato · 26th November 2019, 10:18 AM

I always misread infrared to sound like the end bit of compared. Thermopylae really ought to be spelt and pronounced thermopile. As for the girls' name Penny Lope...

xterra · 26th November 2019, 10:20 AM

You want difficult pronunciation?

Try saying "Peggy Babcock" five times in succession.

arthwollipot · 26th November 2019, 09:21 PM

Originally Posted by The Common Potato

I always misread infrared to sound like the end bit of compared. Thermopylae really ought to be spelt and pronounced thermopile. As for the girls' name Penny Lope...

For years I thought Yosemite was pronounced like Vegemite. Except with only two syllables. Yose to rhyme with hose, mite to rhyme with height.

I always knew the character as "Yose-mite Sam"

BowlOfRed · 26th November 2019, 11:31 PM

How were you viewing the character's name without hearing a pronunciation? I'm imagining that in the cartoons he often says his name.

arthwollipot · 26th November 2019, 11:42 PM

Originally Posted by BowlOfRed

How were you viewing the character's name without hearing a pronunciation? I'm imagining that in the cartoons he often says his name.

Comic books mostly I think.

ahhell · 27th November 2019, 08:06 AM

Originally Posted by arthwollipot

For years I thought Yosemite was pronounced like Vegemite. Except with only two syllables. Yose to rhyme with hose, mite to rhyme with height.

I always knew the character as "Yose-mite Sam"

My wife considered naming one of our kids Yosemite until I started pronouncing it, "Yo Semite!"

Trebuchet · 27th November 2019, 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by The Common Potato

I always misread infrared to sound like the end bit of compared. Thermopylae really ought to be spelt and pronounced thermopile. As for the girls' name Penny Lope...

Here you go!

Safe-Keeper · 29th November 2019, 06:29 PM

"Issue" in British English. In US English it's pronounced more like "ishue", but when I listened to my Harry Potter audio books read by Stephen Fry, he pronounced it like it's written, "issue". I tried pronouncing it and found it remarkably difficult to make it sound right. Don't really know why.

novaphile · 29th November 2019, 07:46 PM

Don't worry, you're not alone.

Most Australians use the pronounciation: iSHue and tiSHue, and think it hilarious when I pronounce them correctly.

I think the confusion comes from sure, and sugar where su IS pronounced as sHu.

bobdroege7 · 1st December 2019, 07:13 AM

Originally Posted by arthwollipot

For years I thought Yosemite was pronounced like Vegemite. Except with only two syllables. Yose to rhyme with hose, mite to rhyme with height.

I always knew the character as "Yose-mite Sam"

I though he always declared his name in his cartoon appearances.

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GlennB · 1st December 2019, 07:50 AM

Originally Posted by Safe-Keeper

"Issue" in British English. In US English it's pronounced more like "ishue", but when I listened to my Harry Potter audio books read by Stephen Fry, he pronounced it like it's written, "issue". I tried pronouncing it and found it remarkably difficult to make it sound right. Don't really know why.

Most Brits pronounce it "ishue". Fry is posh.

arthwollipot · 1st December 2019, 08:50 PM

Originally Posted by bobdroege7

I though he always declared his name in his cartoon appearances.

I would not have connected the syllables he spoke with the appearance of the word.

quadraginta · 2nd December 2019, 07:06 AM

Originally Posted by arthwollipot

I would not have connected the syllables he spoke with the appearance of the word.

"Hermione" is another tough one.

TragicMonkey · 2nd December 2019, 07:22 AM

It was a long time before I realized the word I'd read and the word I'd heard were the same word, with "Adirondack". Not the place I assumed the stressed syllable fell.

Dave Rogers · 2nd December 2019, 07:40 AM

I always stumble over the words "repeat prescription," which at my time of life is getting to be a significant issue.

Dave

alfaniner · 2nd December 2019, 08:20 AM

Originally Posted by TragicMonkey

It was a long time before I realized the word I'd read and the word I'd heard were the same word, with "Adirondack". Not the place I assumed the stressed syllable fell.

"nonchalant" = "non-cal-ent" (as read)
Before 8th grade, I had read and heard the word many times. I only knew the written word in context and thought it was different, though similar. Then during a read-aloud in class one guy said it properly and I finally made the connection. I was privately embarrassed and thankful that I was not the one reading that passage aloud at the time.

Originally Posted by quadraginta

"Hermione" is another tough one.

For years I thought it was "Her-my-own", because I had only read it in the credits of The Music Man. It was probably the first Harry Potter movie that enlightened me. (I had never read the books.)

xterra · 2nd December 2019, 03:25 PM

A graduate student of mine many years ago, in a discussion in class, pronounced "chaos" as chouse (ch from church and ouse from house).

I took him aside later and told him it is pronounces "KAY-ahs" (American English). British English is "KAY-os," I believe.

This was another case of never having heard the word, only read it.

arthwollipot · 2nd December 2019, 03:54 PM

Originally Posted by TragicMonkey

It was a long time before I realized the word I'd read and the word I'd heard were the same word, with "Adirondack". Not the place I assumed the stressed syllable fell.

My rule of thumb is that in a four-syllable word, the stress tends to be on the second syllable. There are exceptions, though, and the above word appears to be one of them.

commandlinegamer · 2nd December 2019, 04:32 PM

Originally Posted by GlennB

Most Brits pronounce it "ishue". Fry is posh.

Might also be a generational thing. C.f. controversial (five syllables).

alfaniner · 3rd December 2019, 04:38 PM

Two words I keep hearing lately, always related to political reporting.

Irrevocable and divisive.

But I often hear them pronounced differently from what I'm used to (and what the online Dictionary tells me).

I hear "ir-revoke-able" instead of "ir-revikable"
and
"dih-viz-iv" instead of "dih-vice-iv".

18th November 2019, 10:12 PM	#161
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Location, Location Posts: 65,109	Originally Posted by TragicMonkey It just occurred to me that "lisp" and "stutter" are difficult words to say for people who have those conditions. Also "Rhoticism".
	__________________ Self-described nerd. My mom told me she tries never to make fun of people for not knowing something. - Randall Munroe

21st November 2019, 07:42 AM	#163
ahhell Master Poster Join Date: Feb 2017 Posts: 2,856	Originally Posted by The Don I grew up in the North East of England and whilst by accent and pronunciation is probably a lot more neutral, I do tend to maximise the number of syllables in words (Mrs Don's pronunciation in brackets) Library - Lie-bra-ree (Lie-bary) February - Feb-roo-arry (Feb-ree) Wednesday - Wed-ens-day (Whens-day) Film - Fill-um (Moo-vee) Maybe we just add those syllables to give us something to do on those long, cold winter's nights From what I can tell you both pronounce them incorrectly . Lie brairy Feb ue airy Wend's day Film
ahhell Master Poster Join Date: Feb 2017 Posts: 2,856

21st November 2019, 09:03 AM	#164
TragicMonkey Poisoned Waffles September TLA & Pither Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Monkey Posts: 53,065	English is a wonderful language, perhaps some day they'll consider using it in England.
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21st November 2019, 09:07 AM	#165
Trebuchet Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: The Great Northwet Posts: 24,428	When I was a kid, we would occasionally see a Jagwire on the street. You know, the British car brand named after a big cat of the western hemisphere.
	__________________ Cum catapultae proscribeantur tum soli proscripti catapultas habeant.

21st November 2019, 09:15 AM	#166
alfaniner Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 21,263	The Japanese language puts four syllables in the word "film" in Katakana. fu-i-ru-mu https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%8...83%AB%E3%83%A0 Not sure how the special characters will appear on your device but it looks OK on mine.
	__________________ Science is self-correcting. Woo is self-contradicting.

21st November 2019, 03:06 AM	#162
The Don Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Sir Fynwy Posts: 27,680	I grew up in the North East of England and whilst by accent and pronunciation is probably a lot more neutral, I do tend to maximise the number of syllables in words (Mrs Don's pronunciation in brackets) Library - Lie-bra-ree (Lie-bary) February - Feb-roo-arry (Feb-ree) Wednesday - Wed-ens-day (Whens-day) Film - Fill-um (Moo-vee) Maybe we just add those syllables to give us something to do on those long, cold winter's nights

21st November 2019, 09:40 AM	#167
quadraginta Becoming Beth Join Date: May 2009 Location: Central Vale of Humility Posts: 24,511	Originally Posted by Trebuchet When I was a kid, we would occasionally see a Jagwire on the street. You know, the British car brand named after a big cat of the western hemisphere. Unlike real live jaguars the Brit version was easy to track and catch. You just started at the dealership and followed the oil leaks until you got to where the clutch had given out. Sometimes as much as entire blocks away.
	__________________ "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep." "Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation."

21st November 2019, 09:50 AM	#168
Trebuchet Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: The Great Northwet Posts: 24,428	Originally Posted by quadraginta Unlike real live jaguars the Brit version was easy to track and catch. You just started at the dealership and followed the oil leaks until you got to where the clutch had given out. Sometimes as much as entire blocks away. As it happens, I saw one dead on the roadside just yesterday! From the Ford era, I believe.
	__________________ Cum catapultae proscribeantur tum soli proscripti catapultas habeant.

21st November 2019, 07:23 PM	#169
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Location, Location Posts: 65,109	Originally Posted by alfaniner The Japanese language puts four syllables in the word "film" in Katakana. fu-i-ru-mu https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%8...83%AB%E3%83%A0 Not sure how the special characters will appear on your device but it looks OK on mine. That's because Japanese doesn't have a /l/, and because Katakana is a syllabary where each character represents either a single vowel, or a consonant and a vowel. Or a single consonant that we in English render with two letters, like /sh/ and /th/, and a vowel. That's why Japanese is so easy to pronounce. It's pronounced exactly as it as written. ETA: The /i/ character is smaller than the others, which means it modifies the previous character from /fu/ to /fi/. There is no single character for /fu/. So it's actually a little more complex than I said it would be. The word is pronounced fi-ru-mu. ETAA: The /f/ sound as we use it doesn't strictly exist in Japanese either. The character for /fu/ appears on the /h/ line and is pronounced without a strong fricative sound as we would use it. Japanese writing is fascinating.
	__________________ Self-described nerd. My mom told me she tries never to make fun of people for not knowing something. - Randall Munroe Last edited by arthwollipot; 21st November 2019 at 07:41 PM.

22nd November 2019, 02:49 AM	#170
Vixen Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Suomi Posts: 17,899	Originally Posted by arthwollipot That's because Japanese doesn't have a /l/, and because Katakana is a syllabary where each character represents either a single vowel, or a consonant and a vowel. Or a single consonant that we in English render with two letters, like /sh/ and /th/, and a vowel. That's why Japanese is so easy to pronounce. It's pronounced exactly as it as written. ETA: The /i/ character is smaller than the others, which means it modifies the previous character from /fu/ to /fi/. There is no single character for /fu/. So it's actually a little more complex than I said it would be. The word is pronounced fi-ru-mu. ETAA: The /f/ sound as we use it doesn't strictly exist in Japanese either. The character for /fu/ appears on the /h/ line and is pronounced without a strong fricative sound as we would use it. Japanese writing is fascinating. I bet the Japanese real hate the word 'FujiFilm'.
	__________________ Blott en dag, ett ogonblick i sander, vilken trost vad an som kommer pa! ~ L Sandell

22nd November 2019, 08:20 AM	#171
ahhell Master Poster Join Date: Feb 2017 Posts: 2,856	Originally Posted by arthwollipot That's because Japanese doesn't have a /l/, and because Katakana is a syllabary where each character represents either a single vowel, or a consonant and a vowel. Or a single consonant that we in English render with two letters, like /sh/ and /th/, and a vowel. That's why Japanese is so easy to pronounce. It's pronounced exactly as it as written. ETA: The /i/ character is smaller than the others, which means it modifies the previous character from /fu/ to /fi/. There is no single character for /fu/. So it's actually a little more complex than I said it would be. The word is pronounced fi-ru-mu. ETAA: The /f/ sound as we use it doesn't strictly exist in Japanese either. The character for /fu/ appears on the /h/ line and is pronounced without a strong fricative sound as we would use it. Japanese writing is fascinating. What you wrote confirms my understanding of the language, and I agree with the fascinating bit. What really fascinates me is why they bother with the 2000 or so characters they've borrowed from the Chinese when they can do just fine with the alphabet of just 42 characters. Why do they want to make life harder on them selves this way?
ahhell Master Poster Join Date: Feb 2017 Posts: 2,856

22nd November 2019, 09:11 AM	#172
alfaniner Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 21,263	Originally Posted by ahhell What you wrote confirms my understanding of the language, and I agree with the fascinating bit. What really fascinates me is why they bother with the 2000 or so characters they've borrowed from the Chinese when they can do just fine with the alphabet of just 42 characters. Why do they want to make life harder on them selves this way? Also, three writing methods. Once I found that katakana was mostly phonetic English word translation, it motivated me to learn it.
	__________________ Science is self-correcting. Woo is self-contradicting.

22nd November 2019, 09:29 AM	#173
ahhell Master Poster Join Date: Feb 2017 Posts: 2,856	Originally Posted by alfaniner Also, three writing methods. Once I found that katakana was mostly phonetic English word translation, it motivated me to learn it. Meh, Katakana and Hiragana are more like different fonts or latin script versus cursive. The Kanji is as though someone asked, "Hey, is there a way to make it 50x harder to read?"
ahhell Master Poster Join Date: Feb 2017 Posts: 2,856

24th November 2019, 10:24 PM	#174
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Location, Location Posts: 65,109	Originally Posted by alfaniner Also, three writing methods. Once I found that katakana was mostly phonetic English word translation, it motivated me to learn it. Yes, katakana is used most often to denote transliteration of loan words. For example: コーカー・コーラー Kō-kā Kō-rā (Coca-Cola)
	__________________ Self-described nerd. My mom told me she tries never to make fun of people for not knowing something. - Randall Munroe

24th November 2019, 10:25 PM	#175
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Location, Location Posts: 65,109	Originally Posted by ahhell What you wrote confirms my understanding of the language, and I agree with the fascinating bit. What really fascinates me is why they bother with the 2000 or so characters they've borrowed from the Chinese when they can do just fine with the alphabet of just 42 characters. Why do they want to make life harder on them selves this way? Because the kanji came first. Hiragana and katakana were invented as ways to make the kanji easier. Disclaimer: I only took two years of Japanese, thirty five years ago. If someone with a better working knowledge of the language says something different, pay attention to them and not to me.
	__________________ Self-described nerd. My mom told me she tries never to make fun of people for not knowing something. - Randall Munroe

24th November 2019, 10:29 PM	#176
xterra So far, so good... Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: On the outskirts of Nowhere; the middle was too crowded Posts: 3,401	Originally Posted by Gord_in_Toronto Does anyone really know how to pronounce "pshaw"? It is pronounced "PGeorge PBernard", of course.
	__________________ Over we go....

25th November 2019, 06:56 AM	#177
ahhell Master Poster Join Date: Feb 2017 Posts: 2,856	Originally Posted by arthwollipot Because the kanji came first. Hiragana and katakana were invented as ways to make the kanji easier. Disclaimer: I only took two years of Japanese, thirty five years ago. If someone with a better working knowledge of the language says something different, pay attention to them and not to me. You beat my 1 year 35 years ago. Still, hiragana and katakana are an order of magnitude better and easier Its not like Chinese with the tones and what not.
ahhell Master Poster Join Date: Feb 2017 Posts: 2,856

25th November 2019, 08:33 AM	#178
alfaniner Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 21,263	Originally Posted by arthwollipot Yes, katakana is used most often to denote transliteration of loan words. For example: コーカー・コーラー Kō-kā Kō-rā (Coca-Cola) That one right there was probably my epiphany.
	__________________ Science is self-correcting. Woo is self-contradicting.

25th November 2019, 08:45 AM	#179
Trebuchet Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: The Great Northwet Posts: 24,428	Originally Posted by xterra It is pronounced "PGeorge PBernard", of course. I'm reminded of Pterry's character Ptracy....
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25th November 2019, 07:15 PM	#180
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Location, Location Posts: 65,109	Originally Posted by ahhell You beat my 1 year 35 years ago. Still, hiragana and katakana are an order of magnitude better and easier Its not like Chinese with the tones and what not. You do still have to be careful though. My teacher's favourite example was Bāka - a sweet, and Baka - an idiot. The line over the vowel denotes an extended sound - Baaaka. That is what the horizontal like in between the kana in Kōkā Kōrā represents.
	__________________ Self-described nerd. My mom told me she tries never to make fun of people for not knowing something. - Randall Munroe

26th November 2019, 10:18 AM	#181
The Common Potato Thinker Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: The Scunthorpe Problem Posts: 180	I always misread infrared to sound like the end bit of compared. Thermopylae really ought to be spelt and pronounced thermopile. As for the girls' name Penny Lope...

26th November 2019, 10:20 AM	#182
xterra So far, so good... Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: On the outskirts of Nowhere; the middle was too crowded Posts: 3,401	You want difficult pronunciation? Try saying "Peggy Babcock" five times in succession.
	__________________ Over we go....

26th November 2019, 09:21 PM	#183
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Location, Location Posts: 65,109	Originally Posted by The Common Potato I always misread infrared to sound like the end bit of compared. Thermopylae really ought to be spelt and pronounced thermopile. As for the girls' name Penny Lope... For years I thought Yosemite was pronounced like Vegemite. Except with only two syllables. Yose to rhyme with hose, mite to rhyme with height. I always knew the character as "Yose-mite Sam"
	__________________ Self-described nerd. My mom told me she tries never to make fun of people for not knowing something. - Randall Munroe

26th November 2019, 11:31 PM	#184
BowlOfRed Graduate Poster Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Silicon Valley Posts: 1,670	How were you viewing the character's name without hearing a pronunciation? I'm imagining that in the cartoons he often says his name.

26th November 2019, 11:42 PM	#185
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Location, Location Posts: 65,109	Originally Posted by BowlOfRed How were you viewing the character's name without hearing a pronunciation? I'm imagining that in the cartoons he often says his name. Comic books mostly I think.
	__________________ Self-described nerd. My mom told me she tries never to make fun of people for not knowing something. - Randall Munroe

27th November 2019, 08:06 AM	#186
ahhell Master Poster Join Date: Feb 2017 Posts: 2,856	Originally Posted by arthwollipot For years I thought Yosemite was pronounced like Vegemite. Except with only two syllables. Yose to rhyme with hose, mite to rhyme with height. I always knew the character as "Yose-mite Sam" My wife considered naming one of our kids Yosemite until I started pronouncing it, "Yo Semite!"
ahhell Master Poster Join Date: Feb 2017 Posts: 2,856

27th November 2019, 11:08 AM	#187
Trebuchet Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: The Great Northwet Posts: 24,428	Originally Posted by The Common Potato I always misread infrared to sound like the end bit of compared. Thermopylae really ought to be spelt and pronounced thermopile. As for the girls' name Penny Lope... Here you go!
	__________________ Cum catapultae proscribeantur tum soli proscripti catapultas habeant.

29th November 2019, 06:29 PM	#188
Safe-Keeper Philosopher Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 8,689	"Issue" in British English. In US English it's pronounced more like "ishue", but when I listened to my Harry Potter audio books read by Stephen Fry, he pronounced it like it's written, "issue". I tried pronouncing it and found it remarkably difficult to make it sound right. Don't really know why.
Safe-Keeper Philosopher Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 8,689	__________________ "He's like a drunk being given a sobriety test by the police after being pulled over. Just as a drunk can't walk a straight line, Trump can't think in a straight line. He's all over the place." --Stacyhs

29th November 2019, 07:46 PM	#189
novaphile Quester of Doglets Moderator Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 2,167	Don't worry, you're not alone. Most Australians use the pronounciation: iSHue and tiSHue, and think it hilarious when I pronounce them correctly. I think the confusion comes from sure, and sugar where su IS pronounced as sHu.
	__________________ We would be better, and braver, to engage in enquiry, rather than indulge in the idle fancy, that we already know -- Plato.

1st December 2019, 07:50 AM	#191
GlennB Loggerheaded, earth-vexing fustilarian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Arcadia, Greece Posts: 25,713	Originally Posted by Safe-Keeper "Issue" in British English. In US English it's pronounced more like "ishue", but when I listened to my Harry Potter audio books read by Stephen Fry, he pronounced it like it's written, "issue". I tried pronouncing it and found it remarkably difficult to make it sound right. Don't really know why. Most Brits pronounce it "ishue". Fry is posh.
	__________________ "Even a broken clock is right twice a day. 9/11 truth is a clock with no hands." - Beachnut

1st December 2019, 08:50 PM	#192
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Location, Location Posts: 65,109	Originally Posted by bobdroege7 I though he always declared his name in his cartoon appearances. I would not have connected the syllables he spoke with the appearance of the word.
	__________________ Self-described nerd. My mom told me she tries never to make fun of people for not knowing something. - Randall Munroe

2nd December 2019, 07:06 AM	#193
quadraginta Becoming Beth Join Date: May 2009 Location: Central Vale of Humility Posts: 24,511	Originally Posted by arthwollipot I would not have connected the syllables he spoke with the appearance of the word. "Hermione" is another tough one.
	__________________ "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep." "Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation."

2nd December 2019, 07:22 AM	#194
TragicMonkey Poisoned Waffles September TLA & Pither Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Monkey Posts: 53,065	It was a long time before I realized the word I'd read and the word I'd heard were the same word, with "Adirondack". Not the place I assumed the stressed syllable fell.
	__________________ You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara.

2nd December 2019, 07:40 AM	#195
Dave Rogers Bandaged ice that stampedes inexpensively through a scribbled morning waving necessary ankles Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Cair Paravel, according to XKCD Posts: 30,108	I always stumble over the words "repeat prescription," which at my time of life is getting to be a significant issue. Dave
	__________________ Inspiring discussion of Sharknado is not a good sign for the audience expectations of your new high-concept SF movie sequel. - Myriad

2nd December 2019, 08:20 AM	#196
alfaniner Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 21,263	Originally Posted by TragicMonkey It was a long time before I realized the word I'd read and the word I'd heard were the same word, with "Adirondack". Not the place I assumed the stressed syllable fell. "nonchalant" = "non-cal-ent" (as read) Before 8th grade, I had read and heard the word many times. I only knew the written word in context and thought it was different, though similar. Then during a read-aloud in class one guy said it properly and I finally made the connection. I was privately embarrassed and thankful that I was not the one reading that passage aloud at the time. Originally Posted by quadraginta "Hermione" is another tough one. For years I thought it was "Her-my-own", because I had only read it in the credits of The Music Man. It was probably the first Harry Potter movie that enlightened me. (I had never read the books.)
	__________________ Science is self-correcting. Woo is self-contradicting.