Pronunciation
I was reading someone else's blog this morning and they were writing about pronunciation. Unfortunately I have now lost the link to the blog, but it rang very true with me and made me want to write about this topic myself.
As an avid reader I often stumble across new words, or names. As I'm happily reading to myself I come up with how I think the word, or name, should be said. It is always a complete shock to me when I discover that I have been reading it wrong all this time. It is also usually really hard to start reading it correctly in my head.
I've always had this problem, I guess most people do. I remember when I was a kid I would obsessively read Babysitter Club books. The sister of one of the babysitters, Claudia, was named Janine. Instead of reading Janine's name as Janine (jan-ine I used to read it (for reasons I cannot understand as Jane-inny. This is despite knowing someone named Janine!! I was eventually corrected but still continued to read it as Jane-inny for a long time in my head. However, I was always careful to make sure I said it correctly if I was talking about her or reading out loud.
A more recent example of me getting a name completely wrong (or names actually) is in Harry Potter. Hermione's name gave me a huge amount of problems and I still, very occasionally, say it wrong in my head when I read it. I was convinced that it was said herm-own. Thankfully this is a name most people had quite a bit of trouble with. Oddly enough I also got confused by Lucius Malfoy's name. I thought it was Lucas. I blame that one on reading too quickly though.
Then there are actual words. I was watching the Office recently (as I am wont to do) and Jim said the word apropos. He said it COMPLETELY differently to how I always say it in my head. It wasn't just the accent either - I've been getting it completely wrong for a long time. Thankfully I don't think it's a word I've ever used out loud, I hope not anyway! Unfortunately I can't remember how Jim said it and I can't remember what episode it was in to go back and check. So, if I am forced in the near future to use the word apropos in conversation then I am going to be in trouble! (Luckily it's unlikely that I will be required to say it.)
Another word I had trouble with for years, reading it completely differently in my head, was the word Aryan. (As in the Aryan race) I can't think exactly how I used to say it, something like are-yan. Heh, to be honest, I'm not one hundred percent sure I actually say it right now!
Okay that's all I've got in terms of examples right now. It is a dangerous thing though, when you consider yourself well-educated and then you go and mis-pronounce a word in conversation! So embarrassing. share this: facebook
As an avid reader I often stumble across new words, or names. As I'm happily reading to myself I come up with how I think the word, or name, should be said. It is always a complete shock to me when I discover that I have been reading it wrong all this time. It is also usually really hard to start reading it correctly in my head.
I've always had this problem, I guess most people do. I remember when I was a kid I would obsessively read Babysitter Club books. The sister of one of the babysitters, Claudia, was named Janine. Instead of reading Janine's name as Janine (jan-ine I used to read it (for reasons I cannot understand as Jane-inny. This is despite knowing someone named Janine!! I was eventually corrected but still continued to read it as Jane-inny for a long time in my head. However, I was always careful to make sure I said it correctly if I was talking about her or reading out loud.
A more recent example of me getting a name completely wrong (or names actually) is in Harry Potter. Hermione's name gave me a huge amount of problems and I still, very occasionally, say it wrong in my head when I read it. I was convinced that it was said herm-own. Thankfully this is a name most people had quite a bit of trouble with. Oddly enough I also got confused by Lucius Malfoy's name. I thought it was Lucas. I blame that one on reading too quickly though.
Then there are actual words. I was watching the Office recently (as I am wont to do) and Jim said the word apropos. He said it COMPLETELY differently to how I always say it in my head. It wasn't just the accent either - I've been getting it completely wrong for a long time. Thankfully I don't think it's a word I've ever used out loud, I hope not anyway! Unfortunately I can't remember how Jim said it and I can't remember what episode it was in to go back and check. So, if I am forced in the near future to use the word apropos in conversation then I am going to be in trouble! (Luckily it's unlikely that I will be required to say it.)
Another word I had trouble with for years, reading it completely differently in my head, was the word Aryan. (As in the Aryan race) I can't think exactly how I used to say it, something like are-yan. Heh, to be honest, I'm not one hundred percent sure I actually say it right now!
Okay that's all I've got in terms of examples right now. It is a dangerous thing though, when you consider yourself well-educated and then you go and mis-pronounce a word in conversation! So embarrassing. share this: facebook
This entry was posted
on Saturday, January 05, 2008 at 3:09 PM.
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2 Comments:
I did the 'jane-inne' thing too!!
Oh really? Wow that's cool, I thought I was the only one silly enough to do that!!! :)
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