Singapore Expats

NG - Pronounciation ?

Discuss about the latest news & interesting topics, real life experience or other out of topic discussions with locals & expatriates in Singapore.
Post Reply
Travailes
Chatter
Chatter
Posts: 227
Joined: Wed, 04 May 2011 7:47 pm

NG - Pronounciation ?

Post by Travailes » Thu, 17 May 2012 3:15 pm

Is it 'ing' or 'emg' ?
Don't want to insult a new contact I'm meeting next week !
You can be a king or a street sweeper, but everyone gets to dance with the grim reaper.

User avatar
nakatago
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 8364
Joined: Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:23 pm
Location: Thunderbolts* HQ

Post by nakatago » Thu, 17 May 2012 3:17 pm

"Nang" but shorter. Some pronounce it as "ing"

If Vietnamese...http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/154922
"A quokka is what would happen if there was an anime about kangaroos."

User avatar
Vaucluse
Director
Director
Posts: 3292
Joined: Sun, 10 Jul 2005 2:47 pm

Post by Vaucluse » Thu, 17 May 2012 3:37 pm

One of my favourite jokes is asking Chinese how they would shout out the name Ng across a street . . .


Yes, I know . . . too much time on my hands
......................................................

'nuff said Image

User avatar
Strong Eagle
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 11772
Joined: Sat, 10 Jul 2004 12:13 am
Answers: 11
Location: Off The Red Dot
Contact:

Post by Strong Eagle » Thu, 17 May 2012 6:34 pm

Say the word 'Young'. Feel the position of your tongue... hey that word will work as well... then keep only the 'ng' as in 'ung'.

User avatar
Strong Eagle
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 11772
Joined: Sat, 10 Jul 2004 12:13 am
Answers: 11
Location: Off The Red Dot
Contact:

Post by Strong Eagle » Thu, 17 May 2012 6:38 pm

nakatago wrote:"Nang" but shorter. Some pronounce it as "ing"

If Vietnamese...http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/154922
-1 - Definitely 'ung' as in pronouncing 'young' if you are Chinese... and for that matter, Vietnamese.

User avatar
ecureilx
Immortal
Immortal
Posts: 9817
Joined: Fri, 20 Aug 2010 5:18 pm

Post by ecureilx » Thu, 17 May 2012 7:47 pm

Vaucluse wrote:One of my favourite jokes is asking Chinese how they would shout out the name Ng across a street . . .


Yes, I know . . . too much time on my hands
it it was a guy, it would have been 'ah ng' .. the ah loud to get the attention ..

female ? forgot leh .. Souchiye ?? (or something like that ?? )


Edited: for male or female, ah applies .. so "AH Ng .. " ..

User avatar
the lynx
Governor
Governor
Posts: 5281
Joined: Thu, 09 Dec 2010 6:29 pm
Location: Location: Location: Location: Location: Location: Location: Location: Location: Location: Location:

Post by the lynx » Thu, 17 May 2012 7:55 pm

Yup, SE is right. Depress the back of your tongue to your throat. What happens when you try to call it out loud is that you will tend to stress the U part of the 'ung', like a grunt.

And yes, I will resort to Ah Ng if I really have shout across the street.

User avatar
BigSis
Chatter
Chatter
Posts: 401
Joined: Sat, 17 Apr 2010 8:30 pm

Post by BigSis » Thu, 17 May 2012 9:11 pm

Yup - what Strong Eagle said. It's kind of like a quiet 'u' sound so more emphasis is given on the 'n' and the 'g'.

Instead of Ung - it's more uNG............if you know what I'm trying to say :D

User avatar
Splatted
Reporter
Reporter
Posts: 919
Joined: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 2:59 am

Post by Splatted » Thu, 17 May 2012 11:39 pm

Well, I had a friend who's surname was "Ng", and it was pronounced "nnn" (g was silent)

Like saying "mmmmmm" when you find something yummy, but with an "n" instead, and shorter.

Nailah
Regular
Regular
Posts: 106
Joined: Thu, 29 May 2008 3:36 pm
Location: Raffles Place

Post by Nailah » Fri, 18 May 2012 10:37 am

...just say "mmm" without mumming your mouth....


.

User avatar
zzm9980
Governor
Governor
Posts: 6869
Joined: Wed, 06 Jul 2011 1:35 pm
Location: Once more unto the breach

Post by zzm9980 » Fri, 18 May 2012 10:38 am

Splatted wrote:Well, I had a friend who's surname was "Ng", and it was pronounced "nnn" (g was silent)

Like saying "mmmmmm" when you find something yummy, but with an "n" instead, and shorter.
You probably mis-heard, or he anglicized the pronunciation for his western friends.

My wife's name (one of the most common Vietnamese female names) has an Ng for both her surname (Nguyen - pronounced NG-ween, not "win" for you Americans!) and her given name. I've had pronunciation practice by fire :D

User avatar
ecureilx
Immortal
Immortal
Posts: 9817
Joined: Fri, 20 Aug 2010 5:18 pm

Post by ecureilx » Fri, 18 May 2012 12:24 pm

zzm9980 wrote: You probably mis-heard, or he anglicized the pronunciation for his western friends.

My wife's name (one of the most common Vietnamese female names) has an Ng for both her surname (Nguyen - pronounced NG-ween, not "win" for you Americans!) and her given name. I've had pronunciation practice by fire :D
But .. t Viet people comfortable if you call Nguyen as NUYEN ?? Atleast my colleague here introduce themselves as Nuyen !!!! The NG morphing into N !

User avatar
zzm9980
Governor
Governor
Posts: 6869
Joined: Wed, 06 Jul 2011 1:35 pm
Location: Once more unto the breach

Post by zzm9980 » Fri, 18 May 2012 12:34 pm

Same as before:
"You probably mis-heard, or he anglicized the pronunciation for his western friends. "

If you go to Vietnam, you will only hear 'NG-ween'. Maybe a bit more 'NG-wen' in the south (or a cross between the two, the primary difference being the vowel's pronunciation, not the 'NG' part.)

User avatar
ecureilx
Immortal
Immortal
Posts: 9817
Joined: Fri, 20 Aug 2010 5:18 pm

Post by ecureilx » Fri, 18 May 2012 2:37 pm

zzm9980 wrote:Same as before:
"You probably mis-heard, or he anglicized the pronunciation for his western friends. "

If you go to Vietnam, you will only hear 'NG-ween'. Maybe a bit more 'NG-wen' in the south (or a cross between the two, the primary difference being the vowel's pronunciation, not the 'NG' part.)
Quite possible .. as I bumped into another Vietnam Guy, Phuong - he says "Call me FONG" :) is that so ?? hah .. Maybe living in US, he may have been converted :)

User avatar
Splatted
Reporter
Reporter
Posts: 919
Joined: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 2:59 am

Post by Splatted » Fri, 18 May 2012 3:44 pm

zzm9980 wrote:
Splatted wrote:Well, I had a friend who's surname was "Ng", and it was pronounced "nnn" (g was silent)

Like saying "mmmmmm" when you find something yummy, but with an "n" instead, and shorter.
You probably mis-heard, or he anglicized the pronunciation for his western friends.

My wife's name (one of the most common Vietnamese female names) has an Ng for both her surname (Nguyen - pronounced NG-ween, not "win" for you Americans!) and her given name. I've had pronunciation practice by fire :D
No, I didn't mishear.. he was of Chinese background by the way. Also, I used to attend a mostly Asian church, where we actually had several others also with the same surname. They also pronounced it the same way.

I'm aware Vietnamese pronounce 'ng' in nguyen differently. Is the person actually Vietnamese?

Post Reply

Return to “General Discussions”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests