Pronouncing a name in someone’s own language

[Brightun]

There’s an issue in my team. One member’s name is the same spelling as an English name but the pronunciation in their language is markedly different. Some team members are struggling with this and say they feel stupid/pretentious putting on an accent to say the name. I think they should make the effort and get over it. They are refusing. Team member is saying they feel discriminated. Who is BU?

It's incredibly rude not to at least try to pronounce (and spell!) names correctly. If I'm not sure I ask as well, literally just 'I'm sorry, I'm not sure how you pronounce your name', they tell me, 99% of the time it's been fine and I've been able to pronounce it, occasionally it takes a few attempts to get it right. Hopefully if I ever come across a name that I can't pronounce the person won't take offence as it won't be because of lack of effort.

One of our team members said his name was Hesus, all fine until he signed in. The spelling was Jesus.
I informed my team, but no, they used to yell Jesus hurry up with that coffee, customer waiting!

Yes it's prob the mangled half version that's neither the correct version or the full English version 😂
How DO you pronounce Itzhak? My ignorance would probably go it-zak or ith-zak

That was my instinct 😂😂

OK Brian (Bree-Anne) can you work with John (Joe-hun) because Steve (ste-vie) is ill

It's not remotely the same thing, and your team members are rude and obnoxious.

I have a colleague called Jan. His name in his home country is pronounced 'Yahn'. We don't pronounced it 'Jan' or even 'Yan' when we speak to him because that would be absolutely rude as fuck. I also didn't call my Italian housemate Andrea 'AN-dree-a' because in Italian it's a man's name and pronounced 'An-DRAY-a'. Your team members need to get over themselves and learn some basic bloody manners.

Exactly this.

it is just good manners to make the effort to get it right.

Most anglophones say itz-hak, but the h should be a gutteral kh. (The hebrew name is with a Y at the start, Yitzchak, but in Perlman's case he doesn't use that in English)

I think it depends on the name. One of my friends when I lived in Spain was a Scottish woman called Morag. That "ag" sound at the end of a word does not exist in Spanish, they would try to say Mor-accchhhhh or Morakk or just totally mangle the pronunciation. They weren't being rude, it was just difficult/impossible for them to get their tongues around her name. (She ended up dropping the G altogether and introduced herself as Mora). Similar problems to someone called Hannah or Heather in France where they would say Anna or Eather.

But not at least trying to learn, or pronouncing Jose as Josie just to be an arse isn't on.

I have a name with the letter R in the middle. In my rhotic accent, the R is pronounced, whereas many English people speak in non-rhotic dialects. Technically, they mispronounce my name because they don't say it as I do. But I don't ever correct them. It's a matter of dialect rather than willful refusal to say my name "properly."

However, my situation is different to your colleague's. Everyone at work should pronounce his name as he does or at least approximate the pronunciation to the best of their ability, rather than attempt to turn his name into an English one.

There's a massive difference between someone calling someone the correct pronunciation with an English accent and using a totally different name.

So for example Alejandro, in Spanish the j would have a gutteral extended "h" sound but with an English accent would just be Alehandro. Saying "I can't do the Spanish "J" sound so I will say Alehandro" is fine; saying "Oh I can't say Alejandro properly so I'll just call you Alex/Alexander" is not.

My DD was born in Spain and has a name that is used both in English and Spanish, spelt the same but pronounced differently much like the Laura Lor-ra/Low-ra or Gemma Gem-ma/Hema examples others have used. As we livr in England now people automatically it is the English name but DD just automatically corrects them with "My name is XxX. It's Spanish so it's pronounced XxX not xXx"

As someone who frequently gets called the wrong name (think Rebecca constantly being called Rachel) it is utterly frustrating. I only correct people if I’ll see them again. I had a work colleague called Evy with the E pronounced like the E at the start of Egg. Most people initially pronounced it Eeveey but managed the correct pronunciation when told.

Your team are being ignorant and rude to not at least make an attempt at the correct pronunciation.

A bit of leeway and reasonableness would sort this out. Does the individual concerned pronounce every other individual's name in a perfect accent? Is she the only non-native speaker? It seems the team want to be difficult - for some reason - and she also wants to be difficult - for some reason. May be both sides have reason to be upset - and that's what needs to be sorted out , not how perfectly someone pronounces Katherin or Angelica

Your team mates are horrible and disrespectful. Of .course they should pronounce her name properly.

I think the key is to make a reasonable attempt at pronouncing the name the way its owner says - not some kind of straight English reading of the spelling.
As an aside, some other countries and languages do translate names into their own equivalents - for instance I have seen “Jean Sebastien Bach” in France
on record sleeves and concert posters and, in Spain, I read about the York’s wedding (dates me) with Andres and Ana and little Guillermo!

@Clarinet1, what about names where none of the sounds have equivalents in English? A name like Llŷr, perhaps. It's not an unusual name.

A name like Llŷr, perhaps. It's not an unusual name.

It’s unusual enough for me to have never seen it before, despite spending a good deal of my over sixty years in Wales.

Llŷr

www.welshboysnames.co.uk/llyr/

“Popularity of the Name

The popularity of Llŷr is extremely low making this an uncommon name.”

I know several. Have you heard of the film Twin Town?

senedd.wales/people/llyr-gruffydd-ms/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ll%C5%B7r_Williams
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ll%C5%B7r_Ifans
...

You (I) learn something new every day.

I did deliberately pick a name where all the letters have no english equivalents, Oakbeam, but it definitely is not an unusual name for a Welsh speaker. Lleu and Llew only just register on dargreener and they don't have any equivalent sounds in English either.

The figures for Llyr are higher.

I could have used different Welsh names (like Huw, Rhys, Pwyll, Lleucu, Ynyr, Eifion or Gwawr) but they one letter that has an equivalent sound in english.

My name has a th in it. Londoners change it to an f sound, my Irish colleague to a t sound and my French colleague to an s sound, they can't pronounce it at all. I'm not offended it's just their accent.

Depends on the name. I work with quite a few people from Africa, most of which seem to be unable to pronounce my English name. They are close but unfortunately their “close” is a completely different English name. I’m not bothered, I guess it’s their accent. Though I’m now at the stage where English people who have joined call me by my second name and they think that’s my name! I answer to both. 😁. Obviously nobody should be laughing, and they should try their best. But if they can’t pronounce it so it sounds like it would if a native speaker says it but they’re trying I couldn’t get upset. However if they could pronounce it and are refusing tk that’s different.

I have a goddaughter Naomi and this drives her mad.

Your team members sound so petty. Jeez.