How do you pronounce proper names in a foreign language?

[Drake Tungsten]

"Bor-ess" is clearly on the good end of the scale with "Ehraq".

[Boris Godunov]

Calling George Bush "Joruju Bushu" is the equivalent of approaching a Japanese man who's waiting to shake your hand and then suddenly bowing down ninety degrees like a jackass because you want to "show respect for Japanese culture".

I really don't get your obsession with this one, Drake. Nobody here has been arguing it was the correct thing to do, but it seems to be a pretty shrug-worthy incident, since there's no indication the Emperor or any significant number of Japanese people were offended. It's not like Obama molested the German Chancellor or anything...

[Boris Godunov]

There are some exceptions, e.g. when I meet somebody named Boris then it is mandatory that I pronounce it "Bor-ees" with a rolled 'r'. I also need to ask him if he is strong like bull.

Russians don't roll the R in Boris, though, it's just flipped.

[Felch]

I try to be an inconsistent as possible. That really annoys people.

[loinburger]

Russians don't roll the R in Boris, though, it's just flipped.

I wasn't sure that "rolled r" was the description I was looking for, but the only other description I could think of was "that 'r' thing that the Russians do."

[Drake Tungsten]

I really don't get your obsession with this one, Drake.

Obsession? I didn't even deem it worthy of a thread. I'm merely taking advantage of a teachable moment to help increase cultural understanding.

[Boris Godunov]

I wasn't sure that "rolled r" was the description I was looking for, but the only other description I could think of was "that 'r' thing that the Russians do."

This brings me back to hours of voice lessons and having it drilled into me the difference between rolling and flipping Rs. Basically, the roll is where it's longer, "r-r-r" (like Eartha Kitt's schtick), and the flip is the a single instance, where the r is almost made to sound like a soft d instead.

Anyway, another common name with different pronunciation is "Ivan," which in Russian of course would be "ee-VAHN" instead of "EYE-van." I went to college with a guy who was an American-born Russian Jew and bristled at the latter pronunciation, which just means he will constantly have to correct people here in the U.S for the rest of his life.

[-Jrabbit]

Tell him to go with "Vanya."

People will probably think he's gay, but at least they'll pronounce it correctly.

[onodera]

And how do you pronounce Vanya?

[Kitschum]

If it's a commonly known foreign language, like English, then I pronounce it in English. It would sound retarded if I tried to say George Bush using purely Swedish phonemes - JÃ¥rsj Bosj - when even my grandmother knows how it's said.

But it can be taxing when someone has an easy English name. Those situations usually result in inconsistency, like this girl I know Nicole, when I'm careful I say Nicole in the English way ("Nuh-coal"), but after a while, if I were talking about her for some reason, you get tired of 'switching' languages mid-sentence and tend to fall back on Swedicisms ("Nikåll").

For most languages I wouldn't bother, because chances are nobody would understand what I said. The "Paree" example is atrocious, like "Barthelona", "Balenthia", "Eebeetha"...

Russians don't roll the R in Boris, though, it's just flipped.

flip-flopped?

[ShaneWalter]

I ****ing hate when my university profs pronounce cities or names of people from other countries with a foreign accent. For Christ's sake, just say Hugo, not ew-GO. Jesus Christ, you teach at the ****ing University of Regina, get over yourself, you're barely qualified to call yourself an academic.

This criticism doesn't apply to the profs that actually speak a second language and have spent time in another country. My World Politics prof spent a few years in Bolivia, so I guess if he takes on a Spanish accent thats okay. My econ prof on the other hand, is so annoying with all the pretend accents she uses when she describes foreign places.

[Dauphin]

I hate it when Americans mispronounce my proper name. The bastards.

[onodera]

I ****ing hate when my university profs pronounce cities or names of people from other countries with a foreign accent. For Christ's sake, just say Hugo, not ew-GO. Jesus Christ, you teach at the ****ing University of Regina, get over yourself, you're barely qualified to call yourself an academic.

That's the opposite of what I'm asking about. Imagine if the prof is actually a Frenchman. Should he say, "a prominent French writer VIK-tor HEW-go", or "a prominent French writer Vic-TOR Ew-GO"?

[loinburger]

It's always creepy listening to foreign newscasts. "[rapid-fire foreign-speak] George Bush [pronounced like a Midwesterner] [rapid-fire foreign-speak] Washington DC [pronounced like a Midwesterner]"

[Ben Kenobi]

It depends on who I'm talking to. I used to go to a Russian church, so I would use Ee-van there. With English folks, it's Eye-van.

As for Victor EwGo, the man was French. Ewgo is correct. I try to use the 'correct' version of the name, if I know it and can pronounce it with a reasonable degree of accuracy. In this example, it would be George Bush, simply because that's his name.

Same with Do-fan's name. I can't stand people who use english pronounciations for very, very good sounding french words!