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Tag Archives: journalists

October 31, 2018
by Graham
1 Comment

Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha

The tragic events of last Saturday in Leicester, when the owner of Leicester City FC was killed in his helicopter shortly after taking off from the centre of the pitch following the match with West Ham United, have also highlighted … Continue reading →

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

October 16, 2018
by Graham
15 Comments

Khashoggi

Until ten days or so ago, the only person with the name Khashoggi who was well-known was the rather dodgy Saudi Arabian businessman, Adnan Khashoggi, who according to Wikipedia was the brother of Mohamed Al-Fayed’s wife, and so uncle to … Continue reading →

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

July 14, 2018
by Graham
0 comments

Thai cave rescue – some language notes

My regular correspondent in Thailand has sent me the following, which includes IPA script. I hope that it doesn’t suffer the same fate as other of my posts, where the IPA has become corrupted over time. “Good old BBC. No … Continue reading →

Categories: General, Language, Names | Tags: bbc, culture, journalists, meaning, place names, pronunciation, speech | Permalink

May 9, 2018
by Graham
4 Comments

Ambiguity

We’re all used to the confusion between the words ‘diffuse’ and ‘defuse’ as verbs, caused by the pronunciation of the latter with the KIT vowel rather than the more etymologically correct FLEECE. If we were to introduce a hyphen into … Continue reading →

Categories: Language | Tags: english, journalists, pronunciation, reporters, spelling | Permalink

February 3, 2018
by Graham
0 comments

BBC Today programme

On the Today programme this morning on BBC Radio 4, Nick Robinson interviewed my successor in the Pronunciation Unit, Catherine Sangster (who is now in charge of pronunciation for the Oxford Dictionaries) about the problems of pronunciation. This piece arose … Continue reading →

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

February 2, 2017
by gpointon
6 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

August 9, 2016
by gpointon
5 Comments

Athletics

With the Olympics taking place in Rio, we are hearing the words athlete, athletic(s) and to a lesser extent athleticism all around us. This group of words seems to be unusual among those containing the sequence /θl/ in that it … Continue reading →

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

March 28, 2016
by gpointon
9 Comments

Palmyra

All three of the current standard pronouncing dictionaries of English give only one pronunciation for this historic Syrian place name – /pælˈmaɪrə/. I assume that this is still the recommendation of the Pronunciation Unit, and yet today, almost every commentator, … Continue reading →

Categories: Language | Tags: bbc, english, journalists, place names, pronunciation, radio 4, reporters | 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

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Recent Comments

  • Slivers or Slithers (4)
    • Graham: Sidney – Pre-2nd World War BBC Radio talks, especially those given during the 1920s, will not have been...
    • Sidney Wood: He was born in 1880, so he seems to be an early example of the sound change in RP. But without other...
    • Graham: Sidney – Thank you for digging this out (if you’ll excuse the pun). “Slither” is what...
  • Khashoggi (15)
    • Athel Cornish-Bowden: Late to the party, I know, but there was a time when Mrs Khashoggi (mistress of various...
    • Graham: Albert – I can’t speak for the BBC’s intentions in the pronunciation they are using, but...
    • Albert: Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi (/kəˈʃoʊɡʒi, kəˈʃoʊɡi/; Arabic: جمال أحمد خاشقجي‎ jamāl ʾaḥmad ḵāšuqjī, Hejazi...
  • Snow terms (9)
    • Graham: Anna – Thank you for extending the range reported!
    • Anna: Snow pitches down here in Devon too!!
  • About (9)
    • Graham: Thanks Paul – any examples of any of the points I raise are always welcome.
    • Paul Hopkins: Sorry, make that 3 minutes from the end.
    • Paul Hopkins: In the latest edition of Thinking Allowed on Radio 4, Laurie Taylor gets so confused about what I think...
  • Diocese (19)
    • Graham: Mary – This is a new one on me, but I suppose it’s a back formation exactly like the one which...
    • Mary: I know someone who is in the position of teaching the Catholic faith to a lot of people who seems to work...
  • Bellerophon (2)
    • Graham: Yesterday I was talking to the grandson of a sailor who served on the World War I version of HMS Bellerophon,...
    • Sidney Wood: The Wikipedia page for the Greek hero has your pronunciation. The page for the battleship has no...

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