Text 20254, 34 rader
Skriven 2011-06-29 10:59:24 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
  Kommentar till text 20233 av Björn Felten (2:203/2)
Ärende: Foreign misconceptions of the USA
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Björn Felten wrote to Michiel van der Vlist on Tuesday June 28 2011 at 17:31:

MV>> So without the dots, even the native English speakers can not agree
MV>> how to pronounce it. Great! .;-)

If it were true. As I already noted, David set a trap and Michiel walked into
it, smiling broadly.

BF> Without the trema, and given the Germanic influence, it probably
BF> should be pronounced like the umlaut it looks like: like 'nöl' in
BF> Germanic languages. :)

Just like your name looks like Bee-jorn or Buh-jorn (like the "j" in "just") to
an English speaker (who isn't used to pronouncing two consonants together). I
don't guess you pronounce it that way yourself, but like they say, "other
places, other customs".

Did I ever tell you why I call myself Ba-sche (long "a" as in "amen", final "e"
pronounced) instead of "Bashe" (short, dipthong "a" as in "as", final "e"
silent) in Germany and don't insist, as you do, on proper pronunciation? It was
because I got sick and tired of having to spell my name on the phone, and
realized that the name was essentially unpronounceable in Germany - so I
adapted. And have never had to spell the name again, although I sometimes get
wierd variations in print.

Does that make me mad? Does that insult my oh-so-tender soul? Do I hate Germans
because they won't (or can't) pronounce my name properly?

Like hell it does. You could use a little of the same kind of realism.

Cheers, Bob

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