There are few things I enjoy more than correcting someone's pronunciation of "Nabokov" (though I have to admit I am a total asshole doing it, if they don't love his books as much as I do: "Maybe you should learn to say his name correctly before trying to critique his novels") but...there are a lot on here I've been screwing up. Time for me to save this list, I think.
i'm going to have to keep a copy of this. and i'm with you on Haruki Murakami, too. is there a place we can send in a "how do you say?" and they'll give you the right pronunciation?--that would be so helpful.
Well, I have been saying most of these names wrong for years, oh dear. I did hear somewhere that Palaniuk was actually Pal-a-nyuk. But he is not one of my favorites so I don't discuss him much anyhow. And I thought Anais was pronounced Ah-na-ees. There's a perfume called Anais Anais and I learned the pronunciation from the TV commerical.
I actually took Japanese so I can help you with the Murakami pronunciation: It's Ha-roo-kee Moo-ra-ka-mee. In Japanese most words have basically an equal emphasis on every syllable. However, the R is a little softer, almost like a D, if that makes any sense. Japanese letters are actually called syllabaries, and they almost always end in a vowel. Does that help?
Definitely bookmarking this list- a friend recently showed me a Barthelme story and laughed when I tried to pronounce it like a French name! As for Thoreau, all the teachers I've had thus far have pronounced it tha-ROW... maybe they could use a copy of this too :)
Anywya, the original Polish surname should be Ścieszka (with an accent over 's'). And that pronounciation is not exactly corret, but that's ok, I doubt Scieszka himself would be able to pronounce it as it containts three more difficult sounds in Polish language. :)
it should be SH(soft sh)-CH (soft ch)-EH-SH(hard sh) KA.
Ś and SZ are soft and hard 'sh' and are completely different sounds to us (even the worst spellers would never confuse them) but weirdly the rest of the world can't hear any difference ;-)))
There are few things I enjoy more than correcting someone's pronunciation of "Nabokov" (though I have to admit I am a total asshole doing it, if they don't love his books as much as I do: "Maybe you should learn to say his name correctly before trying to critique his novels") but...there are a lot on here I've been screwing up. Time for me to save this list, I think.
ReplyDelete-- Ellen
I'd save it. Like I said, I go back to it quite a bit. But I seriously wish Murakami was on it. I should probably just google it already.
ReplyDeleteThis is brilliant. I'm sure I've been screwing up many of these for years.
ReplyDeleteWow!! That is extremely helpful. Looks like I've been mispronouncing Michel Houellebecq for years. D'oh! And is everyone mispronouncing Thoreau? gah.
ReplyDeleteI was also questioning why Thoreau was on there but aside from a couple others the rest certainly twisted my tongue.
ReplyDeletei'm going to have to keep a copy of this. and i'm with you on Haruki Murakami, too. is there a place we can send in a "how do you say?" and they'll give you the right pronunciation?--that would be so helpful.
ReplyDelete~L (omphaloskepsis)
Well, I have been saying most of these names wrong for years, oh dear. I did hear somewhere that Palaniuk was actually Pal-a-nyuk. But he is not one of my favorites so I don't discuss him much anyhow. And I thought Anais was pronounced Ah-na-ees. There's a perfume called Anais Anais and I learned the pronunciation from the TV commerical.
ReplyDeleteI actually took Japanese so I can help you with the Murakami pronunciation: It's Ha-roo-kee Moo-ra-ka-mee. In Japanese most words have basically an equal emphasis on every syllable. However, the R is a little softer, almost like a D, if that makes any sense. Japanese letters are actually called syllabaries, and they almost always end in a vowel. Does that help?
Very helpful list, not that I throw these names around at work...LOL
ReplyDeleteDefinitely bookmarking this list- a friend recently showed me a Barthelme story and laughed when I tried to pronounce it like a French name! As for Thoreau, all the teachers I've had thus far have pronounced it tha-ROW... maybe they could use a copy of this too :)
ReplyDeleteKaren, That is quite helpful! Thank you so much for taking the time to break that down for me - it's greatly appreciated!
ReplyDeleteHey,
ReplyDeleteJon Scieszka is misspelled (it says Sciezska).
Anywya, the original Polish surname should be Ścieszka (with an accent over 's'). And that pronounciation is not exactly corret, but that's ok, I doubt Scieszka himself would be able to pronounce it as it containts three more difficult sounds in Polish language. :)
it should be SH(soft sh)-CH (soft ch)-EH-SH(hard sh) KA.
Ś and SZ are soft and hard 'sh' and are completely different sounds to us (even the worst spellers would never confuse them) but weirdly the rest of the world can't hear any difference ;-)))
This is so awesome, Brenna! I loved it!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant. Im saving this. Soooo useful!!
ReplyDelete