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February 29, 2004
Pronunciation
I thought I was pretty knowledgeable about my own language. Moving to Uzbekistan forced me to remember the old grammar rules, I've always read voraciously, and I can bullshit my way through most topics of conversation. I felt like the Safire of Texas.
Living in NYC has exposed me to how little I know about my own language. The weak points of my intelligence bubble began to appear with words like Goethe (I pronounced Geethe), erudite (air-uh-dite), and other rarefied words. I had read books by them or with the words included, but never had them discussed orally until I moved here.
This week witnessed the final blows. How could I have been felled by OFTEN? I say ofTen, apparently it is ofFen. I can't pronounce awrange, hawror, or anything ending with ING. I remember practicing how to speak by watching the national newscasters, and I've always been proud of my relative absence of Texan drawl.
Dana and I have been looking up words all weekend, but I finally found one that I say correctly. Coitus. Everyone else said it was coytus, but the primary pronunciation is co uh tus. Ha! I'm right about sex words!
Posted by G at February 29, 2004 09:44 PM
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Comments
Congratulations on your coitus, but I don't know whose advising you on pronouncing German poet's names. I think a proper pronouncing of Goethe's name would Guhrta.
Posted by: Stephen at March 1, 2004 06:48 AM
Yes, I now know you say Guhrta. When I first moved here, I brought up his work, and said Geethe. A more literate person stared me down and said "I think you mean Guhrta." I melted. It was embarassing.
Posted by: Glennorama Brooklyn at March 1, 2004 10:37 AM
I just checked my own dictionary, and "often" may be pronounced either way: "of' fen" or "of' ten." It's all a matter of preference.
Posted by: Greg at March 1, 2004 02:43 PM
Just remember: Nietsche is pietsche!
Posted by: Lee at March 2, 2004 12:45 AM
Mispronunciation is often (ofTen or ofFen, depending on which side of the Atlantic you live on) humbling, as when, in an NYU journalism class, I declared that something was a-NEC-do-tal, which elicited a condescending chuckle from my professor, who thundered, "Excuse me? Do you mean a-nec-DO-tal?" A dictionary is my constant companion.
Posted by: kayo at March 3, 2004 01:39 AM
Perhaps y'all would find this guide book interesting.
It's a pronunciation guide used by many actors working to master the technique of "Standard Speech."
...that is to say, pursuing a goal of pronouncing everything exactly the way it's 'supposed' to be pronounced.
Posted by: the Regent at March 4, 2004 03:13 AM