Positive Presidential Election Results
The teacher in me can't pass up the pronunciation-rule-teaching opportunity in this presidential election. Most of the world knows by now that the president-elect is "Buh-ROCK Oh-BAH-muh.
The pronunciation of the four "A's" in the name is what I plan to belabor here.
Obviously, it is not BAY-rack, as is usually associated with the Balaam story. But why is it not spelled Buhrock Ohbahmah? As I understand it, Barack Obama's name is spelled the way it is because it follows what Hiromi refers to as International Pronunciation Rules (I have no idea whether this is an official term.), in use when sounds from another language are transliterated into English text.
As Hiromi learned it, what this means is simply that when a foreign word written in English contains an "a" you can be assured that it should be pronounced "ah" or something very close to it. It should not be "ay" or "a as in at." That is why I persist in saying "Ih-ROCK" and "Ih-RAHN" for those two Middle-Eastern countries. I don't read Arabic, the script I presume that is in use in Iraq and Iran, but when they have read aloud their country's name in the Arabic script in the past, some transliterator who heard it knew exactly how it should be written in English when he heard the Arabic sounds. "Ah" is spelled with an "a." These rules are much more standardized than pronunciation of English vowel sounds in general.
Believe me, the Japanese, as well as the Arabs, know something about this. With a script so very different from English, if it were not for the tool of transliteration, it would be far more difficult for a native speaker of English to get even the foggiest idea of correct pronunciation without actually hearing a written word pronounced in association with its written form. I can, for example, see Hiromi's mother's name, Kimiko, and know exactly how to say it, even though I could not read it if she signed her name in Japanese characters. Over time, I could perhaps, memorize the shape of the Japanese characters that spell Kimiko, but I don't have to wait to learn to say her name till that happens--because it can easily be transliterated. (This is different from simple translation, when the meaning is expressed. Kimiko is "beautiful woman" in translation.)
Like "A," the other vowels have similarly fixed pronunciations: "E" is "eh." "I" is "ih" or "ee." "O" is "oh." "U" is "oo." Think of any foreign name you know as it is pronounced by native speakers of that language. Does it follow these rules? Likely.
It isn't quite as simple as I've made it sound, however. Some names have simply been pronounced for so long in English in an "Englishified" way that the proper foreign pronunciation has been lost. Think of "patio," for example. Maybe English speakers who first encountered this word just couldn't quite bring themselves to say "potty-0." So they said "patty-o," which of course was suitably respectable. And so the word has ever since allowed us to visualize a happy toddler clapping his hands.
How foreign words are pronounced is finally a judgement call that takes various factors into account. My personal standard is that I will apply International Pronunciation Rules whenever I attempt to pronounce a word that I have encountered only in print. I will probably not go against decades of tradition in adopting a properly transliterated English pronunciation of words like "patio" when I am talking to speakers of English. Words like Iraq are pronounced with enough variation that I don't feel compelled to use what I suspect is the most common English pronunciation: "Eye-RACK." Quite honestly, that pronunciation grates on my ears, just as mine may grate on others' ears.
Knowing the International Pronunciation Rules can be a help to understanding anyone who has first learned English in adulthood. When they see any English written vowel, they will probably try first to pronounce it according to the International system. It may be non-standard English, but it will be more understandable for you if you keep their pronunciation perspective in mind.
In the immediate future, Americans can't avoid hearing Barack Obama's name pronounced repeatedly according to the International Pronunciation Rules. If they remember the relationship between the pronunciation and the spelling, they will know something they can apply in many other situations. So that is why I think of this presidential election as having been positive in promoting proper pronunciation. (Say that fast ten times.)
The pronunciation of the four "A's" in the name is what I plan to belabor here.
Obviously, it is not BAY-rack, as is usually associated with the Balaam story. But why is it not spelled Buhrock Ohbahmah? As I understand it, Barack Obama's name is spelled the way it is because it follows what Hiromi refers to as International Pronunciation Rules (I have no idea whether this is an official term.), in use when sounds from another language are transliterated into English text.
As Hiromi learned it, what this means is simply that when a foreign word written in English contains an "a" you can be assured that it should be pronounced "ah" or something very close to it. It should not be "ay" or "a as in at." That is why I persist in saying "Ih-ROCK" and "Ih-RAHN" for those two Middle-Eastern countries. I don't read Arabic, the script I presume that is in use in Iraq and Iran, but when they have read aloud their country's name in the Arabic script in the past, some transliterator who heard it knew exactly how it should be written in English when he heard the Arabic sounds. "Ah" is spelled with an "a." These rules are much more standardized than pronunciation of English vowel sounds in general.
Believe me, the Japanese, as well as the Arabs, know something about this. With a script so very different from English, if it were not for the tool of transliteration, it would be far more difficult for a native speaker of English to get even the foggiest idea of correct pronunciation without actually hearing a written word pronounced in association with its written form. I can, for example, see Hiromi's mother's name, Kimiko, and know exactly how to say it, even though I could not read it if she signed her name in Japanese characters. Over time, I could perhaps, memorize the shape of the Japanese characters that spell Kimiko, but I don't have to wait to learn to say her name till that happens--because it can easily be transliterated. (This is different from simple translation, when the meaning is expressed. Kimiko is "beautiful woman" in translation.)
Like "A," the other vowels have similarly fixed pronunciations: "E" is "eh." "I" is "ih" or "ee." "O" is "oh." "U" is "oo." Think of any foreign name you know as it is pronounced by native speakers of that language. Does it follow these rules? Likely.
It isn't quite as simple as I've made it sound, however. Some names have simply been pronounced for so long in English in an "Englishified" way that the proper foreign pronunciation has been lost. Think of "patio," for example. Maybe English speakers who first encountered this word just couldn't quite bring themselves to say "potty-0." So they said "patty-o," which of course was suitably respectable. And so the word has ever since allowed us to visualize a happy toddler clapping his hands.
How foreign words are pronounced is finally a judgement call that takes various factors into account. My personal standard is that I will apply International Pronunciation Rules whenever I attempt to pronounce a word that I have encountered only in print. I will probably not go against decades of tradition in adopting a properly transliterated English pronunciation of words like "patio" when I am talking to speakers of English. Words like Iraq are pronounced with enough variation that I don't feel compelled to use what I suspect is the most common English pronunciation: "Eye-RACK." Quite honestly, that pronunciation grates on my ears, just as mine may grate on others' ears.
Knowing the International Pronunciation Rules can be a help to understanding anyone who has first learned English in adulthood. When they see any English written vowel, they will probably try first to pronounce it according to the International system. It may be non-standard English, but it will be more understandable for you if you keep their pronunciation perspective in mind.
In the immediate future, Americans can't avoid hearing Barack Obama's name pronounced repeatedly according to the International Pronunciation Rules. If they remember the relationship between the pronunciation and the spelling, they will know something they can apply in many other situations. So that is why I think of this presidential election as having been positive in promoting proper pronunciation. (Say that fast ten times.)
posted by Mrs. I at
9:33 AM
2 Comments:
Very interesting. Thanks for the lesson. I enjoy your blog.
Ann
By
Anonymous, at 11/06/2008
I've found your international pronunciation rule to be true in Africa. In fact, when many of the oral languages were transcribed onto paper, that is the rule they used. Makes it very easy to pick up a language.
We launched a site www.howtosaythatname.com with audio clips of people's names. This way you can hear how a native speaker would say the name.
Great article.
By
Unknown, at 11/06/2008
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