President Eleven

[ecureilx]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/19/indian-tv-news-anchor-chinese-president-xi-jinping-eleven

the chap was a guy pulling the dreaded night shift ...'

then again he may have had problem pronouncing XI in the first place ...

Ex-ee?



I know how it is pronounced, btw,

[zzm9980]

sssssh(soft sh)-eee

[GSM8]

I recently saw the article on Economist: Xi who must be obeyed

[Wd40]

I think it was a bit harsh to sack the news reader.

On a different note regarding the original pronounciation, I dont think we need to care. In English we adapt a different more friendly pronounciation.

I see the news reader in CNA prounounce Chinese names perfect mandrin style though, for example I have seen news readers here pronounce Shanghai as "Shan - Hai" which may be perfect in mandarin, but they must remember they are reading news in English and not mandarin. For example even though Paris is pronounced as Pah-ree, but an English news reader should still pronounce it at "Paris"

I firmly believe that when you are speaking in English you must not care about the original pronounciation, you must use the anglicised version. For example, Francois is Francis and Marie is Mary.

[zzm9980]

I think it was a bit harsh to sack the news reader. I have seen the Chinese newsreaders on CNA can hardly pronounce Indian names properly. They prounounce Chinese names perfect mandrin style though, for example I have seen news readers here pronounce Shanghai as "Shan - Hai" which may be perfect in mandarin, but they must remember they are reading news in English and not mandarin. For example even though Paris is pronounced as Pah-ree, but an English news reader should still pronounce it at "Paris"

The lady said Eleven. That's not mispronouncing, that's the sign of being an idiot.

"Shan - hai" is how you're supposed to say it. What do you want them to do, intentionally mispronounce it? Your stance is this is quite amusing given your fervent patriotism and your own country's penchant for renaming all of its cities too. Bengaluru? Dilli? (Bangalore and Delhi for everyone who isn't Indian) I won't even *try* to spell whatever the freak you've renamed Trivandrum to.

[Wd40]

I think it was a bit harsh to sack the news reader. I have seen the Chinese newsreaders on CNA can hardly pronounce Indian names properly. They prounounce Chinese names perfect mandrin style though, for example I have seen news readers here pronounce Shanghai as "Shan - Hai" which may be perfect in mandarin, but they must remember they are reading news in English and not mandarin. For example even though Paris is pronounced as Pah-ree, but an English news reader should still pronounce it at "Paris"

The lady said Eleven. That's not mispronouncing, that's the sign of being an idiot.

"Shan - hai" is how you're supposed to say it. What do you want them to do, intentionally mispronounce it? Your stance is this is quite amusing given your fervent patriotism and your own country's penchant for renaming all of its cities too. Bengaluru? Dilli? (Bangalore and Delhi for everyone who isn't Indian) I won't even *try* to spell whatever the freak you've renamed Trivandrum to.

Yes, I am not so patriotic to say that everything done is correct. I still prounounce it as Bangalore and Singapore when I speak in English. In my native language though the pronounciation is "Bengaluru" and "Singapura" and thats how I prounounce it when I speak in my native language.

My stance is still the same, when you speak in English use the Anglicised prounounciation.

[Wd40]

The French write it and pronounce it as Singapour and the Malay as Singapura, so its not mispronunciation you see. So an English newsreader must be neutral and prounounce it like it looks in English i.e. "Shanghai" and "Guangzhou" or else they must learn the original pronounciation of all places and not garble the Indian, Thai names etc

[JR8]

I recently saw the article on Economist: Xi who must be obeyed

In case any non-Brits don't get the play on words...

'She who must be obeyed', is a term of resigned endearment for one's wife.

Example:

'According to she who must be obeyed, if I not home from the pub by 9, my dinner will be in the dog!'

[JR8]

"Shan - hai" is how you're supposed to say it. What do you want them to do, intentionally mispronounce it?

So you refer to Paris Hilton as Pah-ree Hilton then?

[the lynx]

On a separate topic from the unfortunate Eleven case, I agree with Wd40. Use the English version on the names when speaking in English.

For example, Penang (English) is Pulau Pinang in Malay (the official language of Malaysia), and BÄ«n chéng 槟城 in Mandarin. Can't remember what it is called in Tamil, though. They all sound different and only makes sense when each is used in own language.

[zzm9980]

"Shan - hai" is how you're supposed to say it. What do you want them to do, intentionally mispronounce it?

So you refer to Paris Hilton as Pah-ree Hilton then?

No, but I think "Shan hai" (the right way) and "SHANE-hai" (what wd40 says) are close enough together that I dont see the big deal to just say it the right way since I know it.

Enough native English speakers I know pronounce a lot of these things the right way anyway. I don't think what WD40 is saying about Shanghai's pronunciation is nearly as pervasive as he thinks. Perhaps that is just the circles of people I keep though.

[JR8]

So you refer to Paris Hilton as Pah-ree Hilton then?

No, but I think "Shan hai" (the right way) and "SHANE-hai" (what wd40 says) are close enough together that I dont see the big deal to just say it the right way since I know it. ...

That raises an interesting question (well for me, in terms of linguistics). In England Paris is pronounced Paris (think 'Paris Jackson'), to the French said in French it is Par-ee, but if a Frenchman were talking to me in English he would refer to it as Paris.

If I started earnestly referring to Paris as Par-ee whilst speaking English people would think I was a pretentious fool. Maybe that's it? Would you say "Shan hai" whilst speaking their native language, but, er, "Shanghigh" when speaking English?

Next episode: Roma and Milano

[ecureilx]

For example, Penang (English) is Pulau Pinang in Malay (the official language of Malaysia), and BÄ«n chéng 槟城 in Mandarin. Can't remember what it is called in Tamil, though. They all sound different and only makes sense when each is used in own language.

pinangu, in tamil .. though rarely used ..

Hanyu Pinyin is a killer if you don't know the pronunciation

like a colleague, who is german, told me a girl called cui cui is meeting us (and he was wondering what a funny name it was .. )

the girl's name was Cui Cui !!! pronounced Chui Chui !!

Then another, who said Mr CHCHYE is meeting

the guy's name was Jie !! pronounced Chiye

yah, life is tough when some insist on their way of pronouncing .

zzm9980: Trivandrum's original name was Thiruvanthapuram, Did you also forget Chennai, formerly Madras ?? same, they didn't rename it, like Trivandrum, they just stopped using the British name

Another one, Trichy, originally Thiruchirapalli, British made it Trichy, as a short of Trichinopoly as they couldn't bother with Thiruchirapalli and shortened to Trichy

there are a lot of Indian cities that got their name changed by the brits, and the Indians are just putting them back to their original name, or how it was all the while called in the native language. Except a few cities in the north that have been fashionably 'localised' ...

[zzm9980]

So you refer to Paris Hilton as Pah-ree Hilton then?

No, but I think "Shan hai" (the right way) and "SHANE-hai" (what wd40 says) are close enough together that I dont see the big deal to just say it the right way since I know it. ...

That raises an interesting question (well for me, in terms of linguistics). In England Paris is pronounced Paris (think 'Paris Jackson'), to the French said in French it is Par-ee, but if a Frenchman were talking to me in English he would refer to it as Paris.

If I started earnestly referring to Paris as Par-ee whilst speaking English people would think I was a pretentious fool. Maybe that's it? Would you say "Shan hai" whilst speaking their native language, but, er, "Shanghigh" when speaking English?

Next episode: Roma and Milano

I guess for me "shane high" always just sounded like a mispronunciation. Nearly everyone around the office (ang moh, Singapore, California, or wherever) and other people I socialize with say it the proper way. I considered people pronouncing it the 'former' way the same as those who mis-pronounce Illinois (no S), Chicago, (chi-cau-go), or dozens of other place names around the world. I never realized it was a 'thing'.

I agree

[Wd40]

Ok, Shan-hai and Shanghai are not too different, its just that I have a curious ear for accents and linguistics, which is how I picked it up, I guess most non Chinese wouldnt even notice

How about Guangzhou? I heard the English reporters pronouncing it as "Guang Chu". If Singapore wasn't a Chinese majority country, there is no way the reporter would know the right pronounciation

An intereresting and related article:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/ ... rack_obama