For example, an English person called Bob might introduce themselves as “Bob”, whereas an American person called Bob might introduce themselves as “Bahb”. (Sorry, don’t know the phonetic alphabet but hopefully you get my gist)
Should you pronounce those two people’s names the same, with your own natural accent, or should you copy how the person says their own name?
Edit: I specifically picked a generic English name with different pronunciation across different accents. I know my wording wasn’t great, sorry! Hopefully the edit is a bit clearer.
Context and other languages
When pronouncing a name from a different language, I firmly believe you should copy the pronunciation of the owner of that name, and not Anglicise the name unless asked to. I say this as a speaker of a language that English people regularly mispronounce and even insist to me that they know the correct pronunciation of my language.
No. Even if it’s foreign, I don’t put on an accent. I Anglicise the name.
I have also a sinicised version of my name for the Chinese. I even introduce myself with it. I don’t expect any foreigner to use my English name.
For some names/languages, it does kinda help me pronounce them correctly. Japanese and French names are some examples I can think of where it could be useful.
Personally, I would attempt to pronounce their name to the best of my ability. On the other hand, my own name is particularly difficult for native English speakers to a point where I readily accepted ‘hey you’ as a mode of address.
I work with a lot of people around the world and I feel like I mangle my foreign coworkers names so badly, despite my best efforts, especially if I’ve never heard anyone else call them by name before. Sometimes if it looks too intimidating I’ll just ask how to pronounce it and do my best to mimic what they say. Most people are super understanding and helpful and sometimes even amused, but I have to imagine it must get a bit tiresome. I can totally understand why some of them choose to use “western” names instead, and I respect their choice if that’s what they want me to call them. I probably would too if I were in their position.
Still, I wish I was better at it and could easily speak their native name, I feel like it’s more respectful when I can finally get it right.
The name owner is the only authority that counts about how to pronounce their own name. Asking them is always the best place to start, even if it seems obvious. Especially if you say you often mangle names and appreciate being corrected whenever you get it wrong. That’s helpful when you haven’t interacted in awhile and forget, because you can just do your best guess, with a questioning tone, and they will correct you if it’s bad enough to bother them.
To add to this, accept when people tell you it’s fine to pronounce their name wrong. My name is very hard to pronounce if you don’t speak my native language, and I prefer that people mispronounce it the “obvious” way, instead of trying to approximate it because then I have people calling me by 20 different variations, and sometimes I’ve no idea they are referring to me.
If I was the one on the other end of the equation, that you would be willing to make the attempt would invite immediate respect, and I wouldn’t hold it against you if you never got it right. Like I said, ‘hey you’, or - failing that - ‘oi cunt’ will do. Mind you, I’ve worked abroad in… fairly special places, namely the games development industry.
We don’t stand on ceremony much.
For something like the example you shared, I don’t think so. For a name in a significantly different language that doesn’t have a direct equivalent in my own, I’ll do me best to use the appropriate phonemes - but not an “accent” per se.
I think a better example to convey what you mean is rolling Rs. Like for most native english speakers, they would pronounce “Roberto” with soft Rs, while the hispanic pronunciation would use a hard R. That said, I pronounce it depending on who I’m talking to and mirror how they say it.
From experience speaking with Americans, Bahb would get really confused because he probably can’t hear the difference between his name and Bob.
I thought this post would be about calling a French guy Pierre vs. pee-Air, even when speaking English, lol
What’s the other pronunciation besides pee-air?
Pierre
if the name is from a language you both speak (like the bob example) and the difference is only how you enunciate then dont worry about it. People dont care if its just a regional thing. Otherwise you should copy the pronunciation not the accent. idk if that’s what you mean but for example don’t do an italian accent in your english voice to “sound more italian” you’d get weird looks. Enunciate (the name only) the way they do.
Perfect answer, thank you. I was specifically asking about names from a shared language.
I think the risk of that approach is that if you attempt to copy their accent too literally it can sound like mockery, especially if you are clumsy in your imitation. Like you’re breaking out of your own accent on purpose because you think their name spoken in their accent sounds silly, and by repeating it in an exaggerated way you’re demonstrating how silly it sounds to you, and that kind of response can be interpreted as mocking or sarcastic.
I think it’s safer if you try to strike at most a middle-ground between your own accent and their pronunciation, use it as guidance for the sounds but still keep it clearly in your own voice. When somebody has an accent I expect my name to be spoken at least to some degree in that same accent, so it’s not going to need to be an exact facsimile of the sounds I made.
That’s my thoughts anyway, as a native English speaker.
Pronounce their name as best as you can. Im sure both of you can be native and non-native speaker to each and own tongue.
There are some people will upfront dislike you or gives negative impression for saying their name in not a proper way. (Dont worry you’ll encounter them less)
Well i know two Ralph, one american and one south African. I call them differently, South African Ralph doesn’t mind I call him Rolf, he thinks I got it bang on.
If you get the chance, don’t be afraid to ask. People are usually pretty clear on what they will respond to, if asked. If the accent or name is too hard, you can work with them on a compromise nickname that’s easier for you and that they agree to.
I mean I’ll.try but I am not confident in myself here
If there’s a common way of pronouncing it in your accent/dialect use that one unless asked to use a different one.
Otherwise it might come off as you making fun of either their name or accent.
So in the example you gave maybe use “Baub” instead of “Bahb”.
Yes because accents are funny
IMO, yes. Proper nouns should be pronounced properly. I recognize that this has implications, such as:
MazdaMatsuda! But that’s what i believe.When i had a French friend named Marion, i didn’t call them “Mare-ee-uhn”.
