Mispronounced names

[Caruut]

How exactly is Mo/rko/v pronounced?

 

[T-Nielsen]

Voigt is pronounced Voeet by the French. In Italy they get it right.

According to Jens, sometimes when danes pronounces Voigt it sounds like ****ed.

 

[cineteq]

Ryder Highjedal or something like that (Harmon)

 

[Magnus]

There is a site that showed native speakers reading these names out, in some ancient thread here.

The ones that really get to me are Euskatel and Kreuzinger.

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=12764

 

[rickshaw]

The Moose

Phil also used to say "ras MOO son", for Rasmussen.

More to the point, as an English speaker I pronounce words, including names, as English. German speakers pronounce words as German. Tagalog speakers pronounce words as Tagalog... etc

Likewise, since English does not differentiate between say dental and retroflex consonants, or aspirates and non-aspirates, Non-Indian language speakers will never pronounce names like "Ranindranath" correctly. Ditto on certain consonant clusters , dr, and nearly all final consonant clusters. Indian language speakers can't get their tongues around an initial "sk", adding an initial vowel to make it "sound right". Non-Arabic speakers don't understand the rules for when al-nasir, becomes "an-nasir", but "al-jabr does not change.

inshort

relax, try to speak your OWN language correctly, don't worry too much.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

While some mispronunciations are either chilling or laughable, there is little merit in commentators making uncomfortable sounds in an attempt to replicate phonemes absent from the native languages of not only the commentators but also their listeners.

We needs to be able to identify the rider as the guy whose name is spelled (for example) M-O-R-K-O-V, not to receive a uninformed lesson in the pronunciation of Danish.

It is wholly appropriate for English language commentators to use anglicised versions of names: it is not appropriate to add or remove consonants (Euskatel, Kreuzinger) to make it trip off the anglophone tongue.

 

[saganftw]

sean kelly gets every name wrong

still love him

 

[asdfgh101]

Morkov

I'm still not getting it from the audio, can somone type it phonetically please.

 

[hrotha]

I agree we shouldn't expect 100% faithful pronunciation of foreign names from anyone (hell, in Spanish that would sound completely pedantic). But people should make an effort to pronounce foreign names adapted to their own phonology. In Spanish, that means saying [ˈxesiŋk] for Gesink. No one should be expected to say [ˈxeːzɪŋk], but things like [ˈgesiŋk] or [geˈsiŋk] are inexcusable. In the case of Knees, [kn] is a pretty difficult cluster for Spanish speakers. Fine, say [nes], but for the love of God, don't call him [nis] (which is the Spanishicized pronunciation of English knees).

 

[RedheadDane]

Jacob (as in the English name) Fool's Gang is another one that irritates me.

LoL!
They really have some issues with that name.

 

[SetonHallPirate]

I've heard Kruijswijk pronounced every single way under the sun, from Crouch-vik to Kru-check to Chris(t)-veik...which is it?

 

[SafeBet]

http://www.forvo.com/word/steven_kruijswijk/#nl

 

[airstream]

There is a site that showed native speakers reading these names out, in some ancient thread here.

The ones that really get to me are Euskatel and Kreuzinger.

Sorry is it true that you pronounce alverde and uelta?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Sorry is it true that you pronounce alverde and uelta?

Ya alerde and uelta. But a soft b.

 

[ElChingon]

Ya alerde and uelta. But a soft b.

What! There's a difference between a V and a B, subtle as it may be but no way do you outright replace a V for a B!

 

[LaFlorecita]

What! There's a difference between a V and a B, subtle as it may be but no way do you outright replace a V for a B!

Yes that's why I say a soft b. I know there is a difference but for many people outside Spain the b sound is the closest you can get to the Spanish v sound.

Edit: And the Spanish b and v sound are very similar.

 

[cineteq]

What! There's a difference between a V and a B, subtle as it may be but no way do you outright replace a V for a B!

Where are you from?

 

[ElChingon]

Where are you from?

Hummm... its complicated

 

[cineteq]

Hummm... its complicated

Most native people from Spain or Latin America make no distinction between the b or v sound. Poeple like me do since I need to use it in French and English

PS: I have the feeling you're Chicano

 

[phanatic]

It is wholly appropriate for English language commentators to use anglicised versions of names: it is not appropriate to add or remove consonants (Euskatel, Kreuzinger) to make it trip off the anglophone tongue.

Those types of omissions and additions you mention occur within languages constantly (as an American example, ask locals how to say Manhattan, Baltimore, or New Orleans). It shouldn't be thought odd if it occurs with foreign names. But sometimes I wish we could all just use nicknames, eg, Birdsong, when they are so inspired and beautiful.

 

[VeloGirl]

http://www.forvo.com/tag/cyclist

LOL... Fabian Cancellara's is the funniest. Give it a listen

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

LOL... Fabian Cancellara's is the funniest. Give it a listen

I didn't know Barry White was Schweizerdeutsch

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Apparently Stijn Devolder's name can only be pronounced is you have a cat on your lap, and have trained it to purr at the end of the word.

That site shows some of the inherent problems in suggesting that commentators should attempt "native" pronunciations. Why should a Swede be expert on the pronunciation of the (presumably) Russian name Kessiakoff, or a Canadian on the (Norwegian?) Hesjedal? My cousins in Letterkenny (Philip Deignan's home town) certainly wouldn't pronounce his name the same way as the East London man who recorded it for Forvo, and if any commentator who is not from California had pronounced Lance Armstrong's forename the way that woman does, we would all have been in hysterics of giggles through 7 years worth of Tours.

 

[King Of The Wolds]

The ones that really get to me are Euskatel and Kreuzinger.

Harmon and Kelly have hours of fun with Kreuziger.

Not only do they slip an n into the second syllable, but the first one also sometimes..."kreunziger". Or throw it into both, what the hell. And sometimes "Kroy" and sometimes "Kroo". The possibilities are endless.

 

[King Of The Wolds]

Apparently Stijn Devolder's name can only be pronounced is you have a cat on your lap, and have trained it to purr at the end of the word.

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