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HelpRe: Sigalit
in reply to a message by foxgloves
Any English speaker would ask someone how to pronounce their name if they didn’t know it and would do their best to pronounce it correctly. It’s not that English speakers are ignorant of the fact that there are other languages and accents, it’s that there’s really no need for an English speaker to know every different way of pronouncing things. People just aren’t that uptight about names for the most part. It’s nice to be considerate about how to pronounce other people’s names, but I honestly think you’re being a bit uppity about this. Sorry, but an anglophone’s world doesn’t revolve around foreign name pronunciations anymore than any other person’s does.
“Whatever you are, be a good one.” - Abraham Lincoln
https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/157557
“Whatever you are, be a good one.” - Abraham Lincoln
https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/157557
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Replies
i don't think they should know every way to pronounce something. i literally clarified that i think they should know a few different language rules not so much for the sake of knowing, but for the attitude adjustment that comes from being exposed to different ways of doing things. my best friend doesn't need this- can't speak a second language besides English, and she's been plenty stumbled over my family's names when she first heard them, not to mention our words, but she didn't get hung up over it, like so many others i've met.
in my country, people definitely aren't acquainted with a dozen different languages, but we are AWARE that so much more exists than just ours'. so we ask, and quickly adjust. sometimes, we already know how to say it, but that's not the point.
but after growing up in America, i can't say the same for Americans. nearly half of my Italian class couldn't wrap their heads around how "weird" Italian looks- and if you didn't know, Italian is very similar to English. it's nice that you, being named Morgan, haven't come across such uptight people.
in my country, people definitely aren't acquainted with a dozen different languages, but we are AWARE that so much more exists than just ours'. so we ask, and quickly adjust. sometimes, we already know how to say it, but that's not the point.
but after growing up in America, i can't say the same for Americans. nearly half of my Italian class couldn't wrap their heads around how "weird" Italian looks- and if you didn't know, Italian is very similar to English. it's nice that you, being named Morgan, haven't come across such uptight people.
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Well, having grown up in America, your second paragraph doesn’t seem accurate to most Americans I know. But whatever.
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well-said ..
most people with any home training at all make at least a sincere effort to get people's names right; however, some sounds just don't translate very well.
And it's not just a failing among Anglophones, if it's even a failing. One of the ladies who owns the nail salon where I like to go is Vietnamese (actually all the staff is) and she's never been able to manage my name. She makes an effort but she can't get much closer than something that sounds like Sahlah. Her name is Kim, and I probably don't say it exactly the way she does either. It's just one of those things.
most people with any home training at all make at least a sincere effort to get people's names right; however, some sounds just don't translate very well.
And it's not just a failing among Anglophones, if it's even a failing. One of the ladies who owns the nail salon where I like to go is Vietnamese (actually all the staff is) and she's never been able to manage my name. She makes an effort but she can't get much closer than something that sounds like Sahlah. Her name is Kim, and I probably don't say it exactly the way she does either. It's just one of those things.
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there's a huge, huge difference between someone being literally unable to say a foreign name because they cannot make the sound, and someone being "unable" to say it because they're so baffled by it/make no effort. obviously, i do not blame anybody for their accent. i'm honestly surprised you don't understand that simple difference. and for the record, "Sigalit" does not involve any sounds that don't translate well into English, or that are even strange to English.
i myself had a speech impediment when i was a kid, and couldn't say a few common English sounds (though it's my first language). far more effort was expected of me to say words that were near impossible for me than anyone gave to pronounce my or my family's names. and i had the easiest first name of all my siblings, one that happened to make sense by English rules as well.
yes, most people with home training do make a sincere effort (again, that's my whole point, the matter of effort) but unfortunately, many Americans don't get this kind of training. consideration is not common enough an American value.
i myself had a speech impediment when i was a kid, and couldn't say a few common English sounds (though it's my first language). far more effort was expected of me to say words that were near impossible for me than anyone gave to pronounce my or my family's names. and i had the easiest first name of all my siblings, one that happened to make sense by English rules as well.
yes, most people with home training do make a sincere effort (again, that's my whole point, the matter of effort) but unfortunately, many Americans don't get this kind of training. consideration is not common enough an American value.
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