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Category Archives: Names

History, pronunciation of individual names, whether place or personal.

May 9, 2017
by gpointon
3 Comments

Emmanuel Macron

Thank you Alec for alerting me to the number of mispronunciations American broadcasters have come up with for the new French president’s name. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGgHy3BLloY Has anybody come up yet with any jokes about the meaning of his name? Perhaps a … Continue reading →

Categories: French, Language, Names | Tags: pronunciation, speech | Permalink

April 12, 2017
by gpointon
0 comments

A sad time

I had started to think that someone in the BBC hierarchy had issued an edict that the Syrian president’s name should be pronounced by all journalists in accordance with the Pronunciation Unit’s recommendation, with stress on the first syllable of … Continue reading →

Categories: Language, Names | Tags: bbc, english, john humphrys, pronunciation, radio 4, reporters, speech | Permalink

February 2, 2017
by gpointon
7 Comments

Mistakes or Neologisms?

Whenever I hear a word that is new to me, or is used in a new way, I now take the precaution of looking in the OED before claiming in these posts that it is either a mistake or a … Continue reading →

Categories: Language, Names | Tags: bbc, english, family name, journalists, pronunciation, radio 4, speech | Permalink

September 12, 2016
by gpointon
8 Comments

How many ways to skin a cat?

I don’t usually watch the BBC’s science programme “The Sky at Night”, but last night I accidentally caught the beginning, and was hooked for the full half hour. What struck me, apart from the science, was the number of ways … Continue reading →

Categories: Language, Latin, Names | Tags: bbc, english, Latin, place names, pronunciation, speech | Permalink

May 11, 2016
by gpointon
0 comments

A Little Learning

Until the end of the 19th Century, when, in Britain at least, we began to have universal education, most people, however intelligent they were, didn’t have access to as much knowledge as we have today. The ‘educated’ classes tended still … Continue reading →

Categories: Greek, Language, Latin, Names | Tags: english, place names, pronunciation, spelling | Permalink

March 24, 2016
by gpointon
0 comments

Return to Bosnia

The wheels of international justice grind exceeding slow, and eight years after his arrest, Radovan Karadzić is eventually being sentenced today. I commented in 2008 (here) on the confusion between at least two pronunciations of his family name, and it … Continue reading →

Categories: Language, Names | Tags: bbc, family name, journalists, pronunciation, radio 4, reporters | Permalink

March 3, 2016
by gpointon
2 Comments

Amiens

A Franco-British summit is being held in Amiens today. The name is pronounced in French /amjɛ̃/, which is often misinterpreted in English as /ˈæmiɑ̃ː/. The BBC’s recommendation is the closer /æmˈjæ̃/. Chris Aldridge, Radio 4’s Chief Announcer, had obviously not … Continue reading →

Categories: French, Language, Names | Tags: bbc, journalists, place names, pronunciation, radio 4, reporters | Permalink

January 3, 2016
by gpointon
6 Comments

Diplodocus

My friend and co-author Stewart Clark has drawn my attention to this BBC blog, which discusses the ‘correct’ pronunciation of the dinosaur’s name. Apparently the Natural History Museum, which is moving its model, stresses the third syllable: /ËŒdɪpləʊˈdÉ’kÉ™s/ on the … Continue reading →

Categories: Greek, Language, Latin, Names | Tags: bbc, english, pronunciation, speech | Permalink

April 19, 2015
by gpointon
1 Comment

Lewis Carroll and Walt Disney

It gets worse! Walt Disney couldn’t even spell his nom-de-plume. This is a still from the beginning of the cartoon version of the book.

Categories: Language, Names | Tags: english, family name, spelling | Permalink

December 18, 2014
by gpointon
4 Comments

Aaron and Maria

When did the name Aaron start to be pronounced /ˈarÉ™n/? John Wells has included it as a pronunciation for the modern personal name since the first edition of the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (1990), and the 15th edition of the English … Continue reading →

Categories: Language, Names | Tags: english, pronunciation, speech | Permalink

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