How To Say my name! Pronunciation thread

[tobydawq]

Movistar has in each rider profile an audio file with each rider pronouncing his or her own name.

Yes and in that recording, Mathias Norsgaard has chosen to pronounce it wrong (because he didn't think an international audience would be able to pronounce his name anyway). I guess the point of the exercise flew over him...

 

[RedheadDane]

Yes and in that recording, Mathias Norsgaard has chosen to pronounce it wrong (because he didn't think an international audience would be able to pronounce his name anyway). I guess the point of the exercise flew over him...

They even ask him to do it correctly in the Movistar Team Talk video with him from last year.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Yes and in that recording, Mathias Norsgaard has chosen to pronounce it wrong (because he didn't think an international audience would be able to pronounce his name anyway). I guess the point of the exercise flew over him...

His sister has done it correctly, but that hasn't stopped people from mispronouncing it, like the guy who does the commentary during the highlights from the ongoing Thüringen Ladies Tour for instance. But he also decided that Deignan's name was Dej-nan and added an l to Clara Koppenburg's surname, so he could have done his research better. I think he might also have pronounced Majerus in French.

 

[46&twoWheels]

let's all be thankful there are no abkazh, circassians, georgians and other caucasian consonant clusters-rich names in the peloton......Unfortunately all this phonetical relief is wasted by still having...you know.. danish riders around

 

[RedheadDane]

let's all be thankful there are no abkazh, circassians, georgians and other caucasian consonant clusters-rich names in the peloton......Unfortunately all this phonetical relief is wasted by still having...you know.. danish riders around

What are you talking about? Danish names make perfect sense!
But then of course there is the fact that a significant number of Danes go by their middle names, just to mess with people's minds. For example; I think a significant number of people would find it somewhat easier to pronounce 'Rasmussen' than 'Vingegaard'.

 

[VO2 Max]

My throat dies trying to say Greg Van Avermaet.

Presume being named after Lemond he would just be like English but perhaps a shorter vowel than an American would use?

I'm joking, there's no Dutch version we say it the same as Sammy Dumoulins last name.

I went a long time self-consciously saying De-Mow-Leen so glad to hear that :-D

There aren't a great number of top riders with specifically Welsh names, but
Geraint Thomas is with the emphasis on the Ger (ie not how Wiggins says it) with a hard G and to rhyme with English 'care'; the 'aint' rhymes with 'pint' not 'paint'. Thomas is as English not French ofc.
Owain Doull is 'O wine' again with emphasis on first syllable. I presume Doull is an Anglicization of Dwyl meaning 'quiet', rhymes with 'fool' anyway.
and if you come across Gruffudd Lewis of CT team Ribble-Weldtite that first name is Griffið to rhyme with 'with', or just Griff like the comedian Griff Rhys Jones.

 

[Red Rick]

Presume being named after Lemond he would just be like English but perhaps a shorter vowel than an American would use?

I went a long time self-consciously saying De-Mow-Leen so glad to hear that :-D

Yes, and the r rolls a bit in the Flemish pronounciation. In Dutch the r is almost never an American r save for some very poche environments IIRC.

 

[RedheadDane]

Just don't ask Matt White how to say "Greg Van Avermaet"...

 

[46&twoWheels]

What are you talking about? Danish names make perfect sense!
But then of course there is the fact that a significant number of Danes go by their middle names, just to mess with people's minds. For example; I think a significant number of people would find it somewhat easier to pronounce 'Rasmussen' than 'Vingegaard'.

good to know. Often I can't tell when you eat up your consonants and when you leave them on the table. Maybe Rasmussen is more swedish/german sounding.? Riis doesn't look bad but only because it's only a single syllable. Fuglsang is already in the "danish weirdness realm". I feel like commentators are doing their best.... but only when somebody tells them exactly how to say names.
For example: we italians have a tendency to pronounce EVERY SINGLE letter in the word and every letter of the alphabet has only one sound. Danish and italian are like the extreme opposites.
For months I've been trying to sing along Anne Linnet songs.....with laughable results

 

[tobydawq]

Yeah, I don't know if RhD is serious when she says Danish names make perfect sense. We are definitely not consistent in our pronunciation versus spelling like most other languages are.

What about Tanel Kangert? Mute G or not?

 

[SafeBet]

The trickiest thing with Italian names is knowing where the accent goes, which is sometimes hard even for an Italian person.

Then of course you have sounds like gl which can be troublesome for foreigners (and again for some Italians too) but it's not that common in names.

Z can be pronounced in different ways. The double z in Nizzolo sounds like ts in cats. The initial z in Zana or Zoccarato on the other hand is softer (IPA dz).

 

[Breezy1985]

Elizabeth Deignan is pronounced
Lizzy
Deig (like died, but hard g rather than second d) nən

Boels 2017 team try to say each others' names, with the owner providing an authentic version, here:

https://twitter.com/x/status/857289019612422147

View: https://twitter.com/lizziedeignan/status/857289019612422147?lang=en

She gets the pronunciation right but Deignan would be a foreign name for Lizzie.

Some Irish names can be very hard for people due to many of our names being pronounced using Irish language rules despite most of us being primarily English speakers. I don't think we have ever had a good example in the peleton though

 

[tobydawq]

The trickiest thing with Italian names is knowing where the accent goes, which is sometimes hard even for an Italian person.

Then of course you have sounds like gl which can be troublesome for foreigners (and again for some Italians too) but it's not that common in names.

Z can be pronounced in different ways. The double z in Nizzolo sounds like ts in cats. The initial z in Zana or Zoccarato on the other hand is softer (IPA dz).

Yep, that is a bit annoying in Italian. Especially because French and Spanish have very set rules in that regard, whereas Italian is just a guessing game.

 

[SafeBet]

Yep, that is a bit annoying in Italian. Especially because French and Spanish have very set rules in that regard, whereas Italian is just a guessing game.

Yeah I know, but then again it's not really an issue considering it's sometimes a guessing game for Italians too.

Of course I'm bit annoyed if someone says Nibáli. He's been a prominent figure of the sport for such a long time that anybody has heard his name pronounced correctly at least once. But I won't mock foreign journalists or fans if they say Canòla instead of Cánola.

Anyway I checked the top 100 Italian riders in the PCS ranking and the overwhelming majority of names have the accent on the penultimate syllable. General exception is for riders coming from Veneto / Trentino / South Tyrol / FVG (with names ending with a consonant and accent on the last syllable, example Moscon - Trentin).

There's at least a rider in that top100 I had no idea how to pronounce until I heard it on TV).

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Yeah, I don't know if RhD is serious when she says Danish names make perfect sense. We are definitely not consistent in our pronunciation versus spelling like most other languages are.

What about Tanel Kangert? Mute G or not?

Not mute, it seems

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEY4YERH2MA&ab_channel=EFProCycling

 

[ciranda]

good to know. Often I can't tell when you eat up your consonants and when you leave them on the table. Maybe Rasmussen is more swedish/german sounding.? Riis doesn't look bad but only because it's only a single syllable. Fuglsang is already in the "danish weirdness realm". I feel like commentators are doing their best.... but only when somebody tells them exactly how to say names.
For example: we italians have a tendency to pronounce EVERY SINGLE letter in the word and every letter of the alphabet has only one sound. Danish and italian are like the extreme opposites.
For months I've been trying to sing along Anne Linnet songs.....with laughable results

My experience is that all the sounds in Italian are easy to say, except r in some combinations like with ue in front. The opposite goes as well, I've noticed when Italians speak Danish they get the sounds right even if it's someone with a heavy accent. If that makes sense. It's different from English where my jaw start to hurt a little if I've talked to someone for twenty minutes or something because I'm not used to the unusual sounds in that language.

 

[46&twoWheels]

i find it interesting that english speakers have more trouble pronouncing Zdeněk than Štybar, i often hear Zednek even in other sports (biathlon), anyway iirc commentators get Štybar almost right, but Š is pronounced as german sch, so its Sch - ti (as in tip or tin) - bar like iron bar for example

the problem is of course "ně", i guess the closest thing is how you pronounce "new" but without "w" and you add "e" like in "red" on top of that

I guess the Czech "ně" is pronounced like the the serbo-croatian "nje" or the italian "gne". I had to look up how it's called......"voiced palatal nasal" and the symbol is [ɳ], similar to an "n".

and by the way, where do you put the accent/emphasis in Sagan? Sàgan or Sagàn ?? (Even though he's Slovak )

 

[RedheadDane]

Maybe Rasmussen is more swedish/german sounding.?

It's the same way Michael and Alex pronounce it.

 

[tobydawq]

I guess the Czech "ně" is pronounced like the the serbo-croatian "nje" or the italian "gne". I had to look up how it's called......"voiced palatal nasal" and the symbol is [ɳ], similar to an "n".

and by the way, where do you put the accent/emphasis in Sagan? Sàgan or Sagàn ?? (Even though he's Slovak )

Ságan.

 

[railxmig]

She gets the pronunciation right but Deignan would be a foreign name for Lizzie.

Some Irish names can be very hard for people due to many of our names being pronounced using Irish language rules despite most of us being primarily English speakers. I don't think we have ever had a good example in the peleton though

Maybe Tao Hart's middle name? But that might be Welsh.

 

[RedheadDane]

Maybe Tao Hart's middle name? But that might be Welsh.

According to Wikipedia his surname is Geoghegan Hart, rather than Geoghegan being a middle name:

Tao Geoghegan Hart - Wikipedia

This British surname is barrelled, being made up of multiple names. It should be written as Geoghegan Hart, not Hart.

 

[railxmig]

According to Wikipedia his surname is Geoghegan Hart, rather than Geoghegan being a middle name:

Tao Geoghegan Hart - Wikipedia

Did he divorced his husband or what?

 

[RedheadDane]

Did he divorced his husband or what?

Yeah, I... missed the joke. I'm just very particular about riders being called by their right names, regardless of pronunciation.

 

[railxmig]

Yeah, I... missed the joke. I'm just very particular about riders being called by their right names, regardless of pronunciation.

Let's say that i'll stay with just Tao Hart as i don't need to go copypaste his full name from PCS everytime i want to mention him. TGH is also ok with me but i have a chronic case of not remembering shortenings so Tao Hart is just easier for me.

 

[RedheadDane]

Let's say that i'll stay with just Tao Hart as i don't need to go copypaste his full name from PCS everytime i want to mention him. TGH is also ok with me but i have a chronic case of not remembering shortenings so Tao Hart is just easier for me.

If you write it frequently enough, you'll be able to remembe it.