Pronunciation of footballers' names

[horsechoker]

This is to expand on the conversation in the "football phrases that grind your gears" thread.

Is this something that should be improved upon by the public as well as the media. My focus is primarily on the British public and media but this could also be a problem elsewhere.

How important is it that names are pronounced correctly? Does it even matter?

I think that some effort should be put into researching and trying to pronounce the names correctly but where the pronunciation is very difficult commentators should try get as close as possible. Moreover it would help if footballers specified how they wanted their name to be pronounced.

Anyway, how should we pronounce Tuanzebe?

 

[Anustart89]

This is to expand on the conversation in the "football phrases that grind your gears" thread.

Is this something that should be improved upon by the public as well as the media. My focus is primarily on the British public and media but this could also be a problem elsewhere.

How important is it that names are pronounced correctly? Does it even matter?

I think that some effort should be put into researching and trying to pronounce the names correctly but where the pronunciation is very difficult commentators should try get as close as possible. Moreover it would help if footballers specified how they wanted their name to be pronounced.

Anyway, how should we pronounce Tuanzebe?

Somewhat agree with trying to get as close as possible, but I also think it's stupid when someone speaks a full sentence of English to break into an incredibly exaggerated "BARTHELONA". Or "Here comes Cristiano CHONALDJ" with the ball. Or "That is some vision from BCHUNO FENANDSCH to find Rashford with the through ball"

Hope this helps

 

[horsechoker]

Somewhat agree with trying to get as close as possible, but I also think it's stupid when someone speaks a full sentence of English to break into an incredibly exaggerated "BARTHELONA". Or "Here comes Cristiano CHONALDJ" with the ball. Or "That is some vision from BCHUNO FENANDSCH to find Rashford with the through ball"

Hope this helps

 

[Copa Mundial]

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[Pagh Wraith]

Somewhat agree with trying to get as close as possible, but I also think it's stupid when someone speaks a full sentence of English to break into an incredibly exaggerated "BARTHELONA". Or "Here comes Cristiano CHONALDJ" with the ball. Or "That is some vision from BCHUNO FENANDSCH to find Rashford with the through ball"

Hope this helps

On the other hand, imagine commentators pronouncing Rashford as Raceford or Hashford. Because that is the equivalent of some of the mispronunciations we get to hear. I think some effort should be made by professional journalists and commentators and definitely more than they do now. It's not like it requires a lot of research. Everyone would agree that saying Thierry Henry and James Rodriguez like the English names Henry and James is unacceptable. So is saying Coufal with a K or S at the beginning. Doesn't mean you have to perfectly nail Portuguese nasal vowels or the French r which is kind of impossible for non natives anyway. It's just showing the minimum amount of respect.

 

[P-Nut]

Two An Zay Be

 

[Botim]

I always enjoy the many ways English commentators mispronounce Kevin De Bruyne's name

 

[horsechoker]

Two An Zay Be

Some people don't pronounce the be. I can't find a video of Aelxel himself saying his name so I don't know which is correct

 

[horsechoker]

On the other hand, imagine commentators pronouncing Rashford as Gashford or Rashford

 

[Pagh Wraith]

Wanted to leave that joke to someone else!

 

[stevoc]

What about poor old Paulo Wanchope back in the day. Every commentator pronounced it 1 chop, and even when he says he'd told a few it's pronounced Wan-cho-pe they completely ignored him and continued to call him 1 chop.

 

[duffer]

"Drogbar" always annoyed me.

Kovacic will sometimes get mangled into Kovacivic by some commentators.

Nobody knows how to say Pulisic, including the bloke himself.

And I've heard about 3 different ways to say "Tuchel".

 

[Samid]

Kante becoming Konte when he started playing under Conte. Imagine what they'll start calling him if he ever plays under Jose.

 

[Camilo]

I think it's charming, and something we shouldn't worry about. It's something to do with us all speaking different languages I think.

 

[Eugenius]

"Drogbar" always annoyed me.

Kovacic will sometimes get mangled into Kovacivic by some commentators.

Nobody knows how to say Pulisic, including the bloke himself.

And I've heard about 3 different ways to say "Tuchel".

'D-D-A Drogbar' according to John Motson

 

[Pagh Wraith]

Kante becoming Konte when he started playing under Conte. Imagine what they'll start calling him if he ever plays under Jose.

Those two also belong to the list of names I've heard correctly on an English broadcast. Neither has an "ay" sound for starters.

 

[duffer]

'D-D-A Drogbar' according to John Motson

Ha, true!

 

[Oranges038]

Somewhat agree with trying to get as close as possible, but I also think it's stupid when someone speaks a full sentence of English to break into an incredibly exaggerated "BARTHELONA". Or "Here comes Cristiano CHONALDJ" with the ball. Or "That is some vision from BCHUNO FENANDSCH to find Rashford with the through ball"

Hope this helps

.


I remember George Hamilton on RTE doing this.

Yup Shtum always annoyed me.

 

[NinjaFletch]

The football ramble/BT Sport presenter man that pronounces 'Milan' as 'Meelan' makes me want to scream.

If you're going to be a pretentious cnut you might as well stick the 'o' on the end of it too.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Wish they would have pronounced Thierry Henry as Terry Henry (as in Henry VIII). No va va voom, ba ba boom.

 

[duffer]

Do people say "Juventus" or "Youventus"?

 

[Dwight Corke]

I don't think it is all that important to get the pronunciation of every player's name 100 percent correct. We cannot expect commentators and pundits to get every single name right, and I wouldn't imagine people of certain nation being terribly offended by a Yorkshireman or a Geordie mispronouncing their compatriot's surname. It was kind of amusing hearing EPL commentators say "Lucas Radibee" and "Dirk Kite/Koit/Kweech".

As for Tuanzebe, I heard it pronounced "TWAN-ZEB" in DR Congo.

 

[Pagh Wraith]

The football ramble/BT Sport presenter man that pronounces 'Milan' as 'Meelan' makes me want to scream.

If you're going to be a pretentious cnut you might as well stick the 'o' on the end of it too.

The club is called Milan (Meelan) in Italian though. Milano is only the name of the city.

 

[duffer]

When covering Leicester games do Spanish commentators call then "Hames Maddison" or "Hamie Vardy"?

 

[stevoc]

When covering Leicester games do Spanish commentators call then "Hames Maddison" or "Hamie Vardy"?

I can remember back in the day they used to say Da-Veed Beckham. Don't know if they make an effort these days though.

 

[NinjaFletch]

The club is called Milan (Meelan) in Italian though. Milano is only the name of the city.

Well that's their own fault. If they want to use the English name for the city as their team's name to reflect its English origins then they should pronounce it right.

At any rate, though, it's an English word being said by an English person in an over affected Italian accent as some sort of proof of credentials. I suspect he's not talking about Venezia or Firenze when speaking in English.

Does it come across as similarly try hard when people refer to Milan rather than Mailand in German?

 

[Shane88]

I'm well aware that Bailly is pronounced Buy-e but I still say Bay-lee.

 

[renandstimpyfan83]

It really annoys me that seemingly every commentator in England pronounces Reguilón “Reggion”. It’s not a double L, you pronounce it as it’s written. They used to do the same with Capdevila.

Jiménez as “Jimeneth”. Nobody in Latin America pronounces a Z that way. It’s just Jiméness.

Martínez as “Martin-ez” seems to be really common for some reason. It’s such a basic and common name to screw up. Bizarre.

“Matt Dockerty”. Guys, Ireland is literally a short ferry away. How do you have so much trouble with their names?

 

[Dwight Corke]

Do people say "Juventus" or "Youventus"?

People generally say "Youventus". The commentators on the FIFA video game series and those covering Champions League action use the correct pronunciation.

 

[Martial'sEmergingSmile]

I think it's charming, and something we shouldn't worry about. It's something to do with us all speaking different languages I think.

Yeah, I like it.

Shoretire for example...I know the 'correct' pronunciation, but Shola Shore-tire just rolls off the tongue so nicely.

As an Ethiopian with a really unusual surname, I've grown to appreciate the sheer variety of different attempts I get. I usually just say 'yep, you got it' because the mangled version quite often sounds better than the actual pronunciation.

 

[renandstimpyfan83]

The football ramble/BT Sport presenter man that pronounces 'Milan' as 'Meelan' makes me want to scream.

If you're going to be a pretentious cnut you might as well stick the 'o' on the end of it too.

Much better than having Yank commentary where they pronounce it as Milahn which is both more pretentious and less similar to the actual pronounciation.

When covering Leicester games do Spanish commentators call then "Hames Maddison" or "Hamie Vardy"?

James isn’t even a real Spanish name. James Rodríguez’s parents are just oddballs. We pronounce James the regular way in other contexts.

The Spanish equivalent of Jamie would be Jaime which is pronounced sort of like “hi May”. Again, when talking about Jamie Vardy we’d just pronounce it Jamie because we’re not idiots.

 

[renandstimpyfan83]

Those two also belong to the list of names I've heard correctly on an English broadcast. Neither has an "ay" sound for starters.

Monolingual English speakers just can’t get their heads around ending a word with a short E. I don’t blame them, that’s their approximation of the sound.

 

[Pagh Wraith]

Someone send this to Paul Merson:

 

[duffer]

James isn’t even a real Spanish name. James Rodríguez’s parents are just oddballs. We pronounce James the regular way in other contexts.

The Spanish equivalent of Jamie would be Jaime which is pronounced sort of like “hi May”. Again, when talking about Jamie Vardy we’d just pronounce it Jamie because we’re not idiots.

I used to play footy with a few Spanish guys and they did struggle with "James" (it's my name, they didn't go full "Hames" but you could tell the J sound didn't come naturally). Oddly, they were better with "Jim"!

 

[Jack-C20]

I was pulling my hair out listening to a game on MUTV when the commentator was pronouncing ‘Fred’ as ‘Fredge’. Googled it and apparently that’s how it’s said but I refuse to believe that.

Also the commentator on FIFA 20 said Fernandes really weird.

 

[Pagh Wraith]

Monolingual English speakers just can’t get their heads around ending a word with a short E. I don’t blame them, that’s their approximation of the sound.

I've noticed. It's interesting as the sounds we struggle to reproduce are always the ones not native to our own language. But the short e absolutely exists in English. I guess the problem is, it doesn't occur in open syllables in English (e.g. at the end of words) or gets reduced to a schwa (as in category). The é sound in Kanté does not exist in English, so ay is fair enough.

 

[Sparky_Hughes]

It really annoys me that seemingly every commentator in England pronounces Reguilón “Reggion”. It’s not a double L, you pronounce it as it’s written. They used to do the same with Capdevila.

Jiménez as “Jimeneth”. Nobody in Latin America pronounces a Z that way. It’s just Jiméness.

Martínez as “Martin-ez” seems to be really common for some reason. It’s such a basic and common name to screw up. Bizarre.

“Matt Dockerty”. Guys, Ireland is literally a short ferry away. How do you have so much trouble with their names?

Because Irish spelling is so insane we have given up trying, its literally the only language in the world where something spelled dog would be pronounced hippopotamus

Niamh is pronounced NEE-av or NEEV. Saoirse is pronounced SEER-sha or SAIR-sha for example

 

[WakeAndBeek]

When covering Leicester games do Spanish commentators call then "Hames Maddison" or "Hamie Vardy"?

I remember thousands of Real fans chanting “Gareth Bal-ey” at Bale’s stadium unveiling.

 

[Red00012]

I was pulling my hair out listening to a game on MUTV when the commentator was pronouncing ‘Fred’ as ‘Fredge’. Googled it and apparently that’s how it’s said but I refuse to believe that.

Also the commentator on FIFA 20 said Fernandes really weird.

Fernange

 

[sugar_kane]

The ones that piss me off are the really simple ones like when Rio and Scholes insist on saying "Day-vid De Gaya", it's hardly difficult to pronounce it the proper way.

The best however, are the ones that the commentator has decided to pronounce a completely unnatural way just for his own amusement

Two that stick out from the 90s are 'Paul Shoals" and "Solskjaer-eh". Might have even been the same commentator.