It's "Bay-Jing", not "Bay-zhing"

[Anonymous]

Let's get it right people.

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=ap-tv-whatcity&prov=ap&type=lgns

[Anonymous]

Very interesting! I'll admit that I've slipped up with 'zhing'.!

[Anonymous]

Who knew? Thanks for the info!

[Anonymous]

Well, and it's pair EE, too, not Paris, but that's how we say it in English.

In English, Bay-Jing and Bay Zhing are almost interchangeable. Most people don't know one lick of Mandarin in this country, so lighten up.

In Japanese, for example, it's pronounced OH saka, not oh SA ka. It's acceptable to pronounce certain global cities the way they are said in the native speaker's language, otherwise it sounds pretentious. I believe SNL did a whole skit of this with Jimmy Smits as the guest host, pronouncing Spanish words with a really heavy spanish accent and then speaking the rest in English. "Please pass me the burrrrrrrrrrr ito, Steve." It was hilarious, because it pointed out how stupid it is when someone tries to throw a correct foreign pronunciation into their own language--it sounds weird.

[Anonymous]

I think people say it with the "zhing" believing that to be the correct way to say it, like the commentators Meredith Viera and Bob Costas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, and it's pair EE, too, not Paris, but that's how we say it in English.

In English, Bay-Jing and Bay Zhing are almost interchangeable. Most people don't know one lick of Mandarin in this country, so lighten up.

In Japanese, for example, it's pronounced OH saka, not oh SA ka. It's acceptable to pronounce certain global cities the way they are said in the native speaker's language, otherwise it sounds pretentious. I believe SNL did a whole skit of this with Jimmy Smits as the guest host, pronouncing Spanish words with a really heavy spanish accent and then speaking the rest in English. "Please pass me the burrrrrrrrrrr ito, Steve." It was hilarious, because it pointed out how stupid it is when someone tries to throw a correct foreign pronunciation into their own language--it sounds weird.

Yeah, that would make sense, except that we aren't pronouncing it the way it is said in our language. I can think of a hundred examples of where the J makes the "Juh" sound, as in Java, Jingle, Jersey, etc...not too many where the J makes the "zhu" sound. Bad argument, sorry.

[Anonymous]

Like the guy in the article said..."What strikes him odd is that the “zh” sound isn’t used in the English language.

“You have to work to get it wrong,” he said."

But hey, what's he know, he's just a college professor and author of “The Language of China.”...LOL

[Anonymous]

Mixed feelings about whether this is important and haven't decided but it does remind me of the time a French colleague of mine pointed out that we had been calling her Nah-tah-LEE in order to sound correct in French but that in fact her name was pronounced Neh-teh-LEE -- more like the American name Natalie except with the emphasis on the "lie."

Whoops!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, and it's pair EE, too, not Paris, but that's how we say it in English.

In English, Bay-Jing and Bay Zhing are almost interchangeable. Most people don't know one lick of Mandarin in this country, so lighten up.

In Japanese, for example, it's pronounced OH saka, not oh SA ka. It's acceptable to pronounce certain global cities the way they are said in the native speaker's language, otherwise it sounds pretentious. I believe SNL did a whole skit of this with Jimmy Smits as the guest host, pronouncing Spanish words with a really heavy spanish accent and then speaking the rest in English. "Please pass me the burrrrrrrrrrr ito, Steve." It was hilarious, because it pointed out how stupid it is when someone tries to throw a correct foreign pronunciation into their own language--it sounds weird.

Yeah, that would make sense, except that we aren't pronouncing it the way it is said in our language. I can think of a hundred examples of where the J makes the "Juh" sound, as in Java, Jingle, Jersey, etc...not too many where the J makes the "zhu" sound. Bad argument, sorry.

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Just like the words Iran and Iraq. They are pronounced Eeeran and Eeeraq not I-Ran and I-raq

[Anonymous]

Not sure how related this is but, why do we include "the" when referring to some countries? The Gambia? The Netherlands? We don't say The Canada, The Russia, The South Africa ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure how related this is but, why do we include "the" when referring to some countries? The Gambia? The Netherlands? We don't say The Canada, The Russia, The South Africa ...

Yes and for some reason we used to say "The Ukraine" and "The Sudan" but now I get the sense that it is not just incorrect but improper to say that these days. Anyone know more and care to comment?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just like the words Iran and Iraq. They are pronounced Eeeran and Eeeraq not I-Ran and I-raq

And I-ran, I-ran so far away. . . .

[Anonymous]

Oh, and it's ee-rak, not ee-rock, or i-rock. Actually, I think it's more like ear-ak.

I'm from ee-ron, and it amuses me when people (speaking english) ask me about my farsi. In english, the language is called persian. To talk about "farsi" is like talking about "francais".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, and it's ee-rak, not ee-rock, or i-rock. Actually, I think it's more like ear-ak.

I'm from ee-ron, and it amuses me when people (speaking english) ask me about my farsi. In english, the language is called persian. To talk about "farsi" is like talking about "francais".

Have you read Anne Tyler's Digging to America?