2009-02-15

Pronunciation: A Mini Rant

I'll concede on "al-u-MINimum" - after all, the British spell it with an extra "i" so really, "a-LUM-i-num" doesn't make sense here.

"HERbs" instead of "'erbs" - extra h, please - fine. After all, as Eddie Izzard sort of says, there's a fornicating "h" in the word.

"Respite" with a long "i" instead of a short "i" - again, that's the way the word is spelled so I'll give them that one as well.

I'm less forgiving of "in-ven-tree" for "inventory" - now Americans get the credit for pronouncing the word as it is spelled. And "left-tenant" for lieutenant - well, at least they don't pronounce the word "lieu" as "left" as well (or do they? Not a word I've heard here often.)

But what I really can't stand is Los Angel-EASE.

ARRRGH!

Makes me grit my teeth every time I hear it, mostly on the Beeb.

It's Los AN-jell-es. Not like the word angel; like the words "an" and "jell." Followed by "es" - short e, soft s. I lived there twenty years. I know.

But then, I don't know why it bothers me. We're talking about a country where Derby is pronounced Darby, Leicester is Lester, and Cholmondeley is Chumley.

So I guess LA - and at least they pronounce the abbreviation like the natives - is getting off lightly.

(Apologies to any linguists who should be appalled by my pronunciation keys!)

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Could be worse. They could be saying Maryland.