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ArchivesRe: Pronunciation of Nike in English
in reply to a message by Lumia
"Was ['najki] the American pronunciation of the name Nike and ['najk] the British and Canadian one and the commercials and success of the brand have extended ['najki] to all the English dialects?"
I'm English and I don't think most people have heard of the mythological Nike (I certainly don't know who he/she is) - I think the majority of people only know the name through the shoes. I suppose that is why we tend to pronounce it as it's written, "nyke". Although you're right, I think this is changing as a result of hearing it said "Nykee" on American TV. Even so, I'm used to hearing both pronunciations and although I now would say "Nykee", I always feel just slightly silly doing so, as if I'd said "tomayto" instead of "tomahto"...
I'm English and I don't think most people have heard of the mythological Nike (I certainly don't know who he/she is) - I think the majority of people only know the name through the shoes. I suppose that is why we tend to pronounce it as it's written, "nyke". Although you're right, I think this is changing as a result of hearing it said "Nykee" on American TV. Even so, I'm used to hearing both pronunciations and although I now would say "Nykee", I always feel just slightly silly doing so, as if I'd said "tomayto" instead of "tomahto"...
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Thank you very much
The fact that Nike was a unknown name for most of the English speakers could explain the duplicity in pronunciations: some dialects treated it as other names and words ending in -ike and some other dialects as other Greek names ending in -e.
The fact that Nike was a unknown name for most of the English speakers could explain the duplicity in pronunciations: some dialects treated it as other names and words ending in -ike and some other dialects as other Greek names ending in -e.
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