Pronouncing names and words with an accent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I try to pronounce everyone's names the way they pronounce it.

This. Isn't this just common courtesy? Why on earth would you purposely mispronounce someone elses name?

I try to pronounce peoples' names as they do, but there's plenty of ways this could happen without malintent. You could forget, get confused, not hear the name said often, not be good at rolling your Rs or putting the stress on different syllables, know many people who pronounce the same name in different ways, etc.

How do you "forget" how to pronounce someones name? Forgetting a name? Sure. But forgetting how to pronounce it properly? C'mon. Don't be a racist. Just pronounce the name how people want it pronounced. If you CHOOSE - aka if you make the choice - to pronounce it "the american way" and then argue with said person when they try to correct you, you're just a racist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I repeat whatever they say.

My friend's last name is Polish but she goes by the Americanized pronunciation of it. I didn't even know it had a different pronunciation until we had been friends for a decade. It's kind of sad because then you lose the uniqueness of your name, but I do get it.

I studied Polish and if I pronounce peoples last names correctly, more than half the time they correct me that they use an Americanized pronunciation.
My own name is Julie and I work with a lot of Chinese people who cannot say this name. It comes out as Juri-ah always. Doesn't bother me at all.

[Anonymous]

I have an Anglo name that is often mispronounced by non English speakers. They don’t even try. It doesn’t offend me. Why is this ok but we have to work so hard to pronounce French or Spanish or Gaelic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to school with a French guy named Claude and I would cringe when people would pronounce it 'clode'. It came off as pretentious.

French person here. At least they're trying. Better than "clod"

Or Cla- dey

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I try to pronounce everyone's names the way they pronounce it.

This. Isn't this just common courtesy? Why on earth would you purposely mispronounce someone elses name?

I try to pronounce peoples' names as they do, but there's plenty of ways this could happen without malintent. You could forget, get confused, not hear the name said often, not be good at rolling your Rs or putting the stress on different syllables, know many people who pronounce the same name in different ways, etc.

How do you "forget" how to pronounce someones name? Forgetting a name? Sure. But forgetting how to pronounce it properly? C'mon. Don't be a racist. Just pronounce the name how people want it pronounced. If you CHOOSE - aka if you make the choice - to pronounce it "the american way" and then argue with said person when they try to correct you, you're just a racist.

What if you know an Andrea, an Andrea, and an Andrea, pronounced the American way, the Italian way, and the 90210 way and you only see them once every couple of years? Easy to forgot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate when people use the so-called American pronunciation of my surname when they use the authentic pronunciation of certain other ethnic names. My name is like Lewandowski, obviously a Slavic name. Why on earth would people think the w is like it is English? It has a frickin’ English v sound. Don’t get me started on accent marks accepted for French and Spanish, maybe an occasional German umlaut, but not accent marks for other names.

Pronounce the name the way the person pronounces it. I know several families who pronounce their surnames differently.

I do feel bad for people whose first names are mangled regularly. Usually, they are usually polite and resigned to it when they know people are trying. If you insist on mispronouncing a simpler name even after repeated corrections (eg, LEW-an-dow-ski instead of le-VAN-dove-ski), you’re a jerk.

Your first mistake was assuming an american would know an "obviously" slavic name.

An -ski ending is a pretty big clue, and there is a significant number of Polish Americans around. It is especially annoying when in the Chicago area or other places with plenty of Polish Americans like Detroit, Pittsburg, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate when people use the so-called American pronunciation of my surname when they use the authentic pronunciation of certain other ethnic names. My name is like Lewandowski, obviously a Slavic name. Why on earth would people think the w is like it is English? It has a frickin’ English v sound. Don’t get me started on accent marks accepted for French and Spanish, maybe an occasional German umlaut, but not accent marks for other names.

Pronounce the name the way the person pronounces it. I know several families who pronounce their surnames differently.

I do feel bad for people whose first names are mangled regularly. Usually, they are usually polite and resigned to it when they know people are trying. If you insist on mispronouncing a simpler name even after repeated corrections (eg, LEW-an-dow-ski instead of le-VAN-dove-ski), you’re a jerk.

But some people who are generations removed from their ancestral language use an Americanized pronunciation, and others choose to switch between an Americanized pronunciation and a "correct" pronunciation. It's not up to you to decide how they should pronounce their own name. What is correct is however a person says their own name and your feelings about that choice are irrelevant.

You missed that I said pronounce it the way someone wants it pronounced. If you insist on your pronunciation instead of the name’s owner, you’re a jerk. I grew up in a multigenerational family, in an ethnic neighborhood. Some people gave up on trying to get people to say their name properly, but even their great-grandchildren know how to pronounce their name properly.

Generally, if your name isn’t Western European in origin or monosyllabic, people feel it’s ok to continuously butcher it.Those who try and fail to pronounce it correctly are fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate when people use the so-called American pronunciation of my surname when they use the authentic pronunciation of certain other ethnic names. My name is like Lewandowski, obviously a Slavic name. Why on earth would people think the w is like it is English? It has a frickin’ English v sound. Don’t get me started on accent marks accepted for French and Spanish, maybe an occasional German umlaut, but not accent marks for other names.

Pronounce the name the way the person pronounces it. I know several families who pronounce their surnames differently.

I do feel bad for people whose first names are mangled regularly. Usually, they are usually polite and resigned to it when they know people are trying. If you insist on mispronouncing a simpler name even after repeated corrections (eg, LEW-an-dow-ski instead of le-VAN-dove-ski), you’re a jerk.

But some people who are generations removed from their ancestral language use an Americanized pronunciation, and others choose to switch between an Americanized pronunciation and a "correct" pronunciation. It's not up to you to decide how they should pronounce their own name. What is correct is however a person says their own name and your feelings about that choice are irrelevant.

You missed that I said pronounce it the way someone wants it pronounced. If you insist on your pronunciation instead of the name’s owner, you’re a jerk. I grew up in a multigenerational family, in an ethnic neighborhood. Some people gave up on trying to get people to say their name properly, but even their great-grandchildren know how to pronounce their name properly.

Generally, if your name isn’t Western European in origin or monosyllabic, people feel it’s ok to continuously butcher it.Those who try and fail to pronounce it correctly are fine.

It's clear you have an opinion about how other people pronounce their own names since you describe a "proper" way to pronounce them. You are judging people who choose to use the Americanized pronunciation, whether you want to admit it or not.

[Anonymous]

I know Annas who are Ahhnas or just Annas. Sometimes I stumble remembering if I see them rarely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate when people use the so-called American pronunciation of my surname when they use the authentic pronunciation of certain other ethnic names. My name is like Lewandowski, obviously a Slavic name. Why on earth would people think the w is like it is English? It has a frickin’ English v sound. Don’t get me started on accent marks accepted for French and Spanish, maybe an occasional German umlaut, but not accent marks for other names.

Pronounce the name the way the person pronounces it. I know several families who pronounce their surnames differently.

I do feel bad for people whose first names are mangled regularly. Usually, they are usually polite and resigned to it when they know people are trying. If you insist on mispronouncing a simpler name even after repeated corrections (eg, LEW-an-dow-ski instead of le-VAN-dove-ski), you’re a jerk.

I didn’t know this about Slavic names and did not grow up around a lot of Slavic names. This is the first time I’m reading this explanation and appreciate how you typed it out. I wouldn’t recognize it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I try to pronounce everyone's names the way they pronounce it.

This. Isn't this just common courtesy? Why on earth would you purposely mispronounce someone elses name?

I try to pronounce peoples' names as they do, but there's plenty of ways this could happen without malintent. You could forget, get confused, not hear the name said often, not be good at rolling your Rs or putting the stress on different syllables, know many people who pronounce the same name in different ways, etc.

How do you "forget" how to pronounce someones name? Forgetting a name? Sure. But forgetting how to pronounce it properly? C'mon. Don't be a racist. Just pronounce the name how people want it pronounced. If you CHOOSE - aka if you make the choice - to pronounce it "the american way" and then argue with said person when they try to correct you, you're just a racist.

What if you know an Andrea, an Andrea, and an Andrea, pronounced the American way, the Italian way, and the 90210 way and you only see them once every couple of years? Easy to forgot.

This. I know like 4 Hannahs and one “Hahnah” and I slip up sometimes on her name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I try to pronounce everyone's names the way they pronounce it.

This. Isn't this just common courtesy? Why on earth would you purposely mispronounce someone elses name?

I try to pronounce peoples' names as they do, but there's plenty of ways this could happen without malintent. You could forget, get confused, not hear the name said often, not be good at rolling your Rs or putting the stress on different syllables, know many people who pronounce the same name in different ways, etc.

How do you "forget" how to pronounce someones name? Forgetting a name? Sure. But forgetting how to pronounce it properly? C'mon. Don't be a racist. Just pronounce the name how people want it pronounced. If you CHOOSE - aka if you make the choice - to pronounce it "the american way" and then argue with said person when they try to correct you, you're just a racist.

What if you know an Andrea, an Andrea, and an Andrea, pronounced the American way, the Italian way, and the 90210 way and you only see them once every couple of years? Easy to forgot.

Not really.

[Anonymous]

I pronounce names they way people say them to me. Even if they are from another country and the give me the American pronunciation. I assume they have their reasons and it's up to them. I think it's rude to insist on using the "correct" pronunciation.

Also, I've noticed that a lot of people who insist on always using the native pronunciation for things often get it wrong. They overemphasize or get the intonation wrong. It's like they are trying so hard to get it right that they overdo it and it sounds almost mocking or comical.

My mom is like this. We were talking to her about going to this tiny town in New Mexico called Chimayo. We pronounced it the way people there do -- "shim-aye-o". Which is sort of a hybrid between an American and Spanish accent, you hear that a lot in the Southwest. Most people in Chimayo are hispanic so I'm going to defer to them.

But my mom kept insisting on saying "chee-MY-oh" and really overemphasizing the second syllable. And she'd really isolate each syllable so it was almost like "Chee. MY. Oh." It was so obnoxious and unnecessary, and it felt like she was correcting us on how we said it but also this town of native Spanish speakers don't say it that way so she was wrong, which made the whole thing so obnoxious and weird.

So, yeah. I just say names the way the people the names belong to say them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate when people use the so-called American pronunciation of my surname when they use the authentic pronunciation of certain other ethnic names. My name is like Lewandowski, obviously a Slavic name. Why on earth would people think the w is like it is English? It has a frickin’ English v sound. Don’t get me started on accent marks accepted for French and Spanish, maybe an occasional German umlaut, but not accent marks for other names.

Pronounce the name the way the person pronounces it. I know several families who pronounce their surnames differently.

I do feel bad for people whose first names are mangled regularly. Usually, they are usually polite and resigned to it when they know people are trying. If you insist on mispronouncing a simpler name even after repeated corrections (eg, LEW-an-dow-ski instead of le-VAN-dove-ski), you’re a jerk.

But some people who are generations removed from their ancestral language use an Americanized pronunciation, and others choose to switch between an Americanized pronunciation and a "correct" pronunciation. It's not up to you to decide how they should pronounce their own name. What is correct is however a person says their own name and your feelings about that choice are irrelevant.

You missed that I said pronounce it the way someone wants it pronounced. If you insist on your pronunciation instead of the name’s owner, you’re a jerk. I grew up in a multigenerational family, in an ethnic neighborhood. Some people gave up on trying to get people to say their name properly, but even their great-grandchildren know how to pronounce their name properly.

Generally, if your name isn’t Western European in origin or monosyllabic, people feel it’s ok to continuously butcher it.Those who try and fail to pronounce it correctly are fine.

It's clear you have an opinion about how other people pronounce their own names since you describe a "proper" way to pronounce them. You are judging people who choose to use the Americanized pronunciation, whether you want to admit it or not.

I definitely ask how they pronounce their name and pronounce it that way. Rarely does anyone respect the pronunciation of my name unless I’m overseas or in the Midwest. DC people can’t seem to handle it.

[Anonymous]

If you’re picky about your name being pronounced correctly, you should have stayed in your own country.

—Slav with troublesome last name who couldn’t care less about his name being butchered