Some mispronounced proper names drive me bonkers
Saturday 1 August 2009 - Filed under Life Outside Work
Nokia is certainly no KIA, because, well, it’s all about “Connecting People” and not “More Car for Your Money.” Still, when it comes to pronouncing the name, lots and lots of people insist on what it is not, i.e. no-KIA, as opposed to what it is, i.e. Nokia.
Granted, it may be argued that those not-sure-how-to-pronounce “foreign” proper names just can’t be expected to be pronounced correctly unless one was born and brought up in the very linguistic culture zone from which those names originate. But I am of the opinion that global citizens, whichever continent they reside in, ought to make reasonable effort to pronounce foreign-language proper names as close to their correct pronunciations as possible especially if it’s easy to do so. In fact, people ought to make reasonable effort to pronounce all proper names correctly for that matter, not just foreign company names. So, to do my part, I thought I’d do a quick roundup of commonly mispronounced proper names that I come across often:
| Name | What it is (origin) | Common mispronunciation(s) | Close approximation of correct pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nokia | Company (Finland) | no KIA | KNOCK-ya |
| Siemens | Company (Germany) | SEE-munz | ZEE-men’s |
| Samsung | Company (Korea) | SAM-sung (SAM rhymes with “jam”, “bam”, “tram”) | sahm-SUNG (sahm rhymes with “calm” but shorter) |
| SAP | Company (Germany) | sap (rhymes with “zap”, “tap”, “gap”, “cap”) | es-ei-PEE |
| Fujitsu | Company (Japan) | foo-JIT-zoo | hu-jitz |
| BOSE | Company (United States) | bou-zay | boze (rhymes with “doze”, “rose”) |
| ASUS | Company (Taiwan) | ACE-us | ah-SOOS |
| Hyundai | Company (Korea) | high-UND-eye (UND as in “under”); HON-dae (HON as in “honey”) | HEE-un-dae (dae as in “sundae”) |
| Rokocoko | Rugby player (Fiji) | rokko-THOU-kou (TH as in “thorn”); rokko-cocoa | roh-koh-thoh-koh (th as in “though”) |
| Tuqiri | Rugby player (Fiji) | tu-KEE-ri | toong-GHI-ri |
| Fermat | Mathematician (France) | fer-MATT (MATT rhymes with “cat”) | fer-MAH |
| Capernaum | Biblical name | cup-PER-nium | kah-per-na-um |
| Philemon | Biblical name | fai-LEE-mon (LEE-mon as in Lehman Brothers) | fill-lemon |
| Mac OS X | Product (United States) | mac-oh-es-EX | mac-oh-es-TEN |
| SQL Server | Product (United States) | sequel server | es-kyu-EL server (somewhat debatable) |
| Australia | Country | os-tray-lia | o-sh*t-RAA-lia |
OK, that last one is a joke. Given the approximations, however, there is no way to “spell out” the pronunciations 100% accurately. Would the IPA help? Maybe, but I think the important thing is to do 20 seconds of research when ambiguities arise, and get close enough to what’s right.
2009-08-01 » JK
26 August 2009 @ 09:44
Haha – I actually pronounce a few correctly. Isn’t OS X also debatable? People know its a 10, X sounds cooler and I am pretty sure I have heard some advertisements using Oh es ex.
Speaking of SAP, I am doing my first assignment this semester on it.
3 April 2010 @ 17:48
There is a guy that started a Facebook page telling everyone that Rokocoko is said; Roko cocoa, as in the drink. I have tried to (politely) point out to him that in Fijian the letter “C” is said “th”. He is refuses to accept evidence I have posted on the page. It is one thing to not know the right way to say something but it is another to insist you were saying it right after someone politely points out your mistake.