Help Needed pronouncing Skaters Names | Golden Skate

Help Needed pronouncing Skaters Names

dorispulaski

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Let's face it. All commentators, interviewers and journalists mispronounce names.

Especially long names in a language not their own or which have combinations of letters that don't seem to have enough vowels to be pronounceable.

Like
Ioulia CHTCHETININA

or
Dasa GRM

I wonder whether it would be possible to get files of skaters pronouncing their own names correctly, or failing that, of people who speak the same language and dialect they do pronouncing their names?

If there were clips of names like that on youtube, I would definitely link them into the OPs!

Do any of you have an idea of how that could easily be achieved?

Of course, no aide memoire would keep the Eurosport guys from mispronouncing names, but some of the rest of us would be grateful to know how names should be pronounced.
 

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... I wonder whether it would be possible to get files of skaters pronouncing their own names correctly, or failing that, of people who speak the same language and dialect they do pronouncing their names?

If there were clips of names like that on youtube, I would definitely link them into the OPs!

Do any of you have an idea of how that could easily be achieved? ...

A worthy endeavor, Doris.

I would add that the skaters themselves would be the only absolutely foolproof sources of the correct pronunciations of their own names.

As we have discussed in other threads, even members of the same family sometimes choose different pronunciations of the family name. Nam Nguyen comes to mind as an example of this pitfall.

Of course, building a large collection of video/audio of the skaters saying their own names is much easier said than done.
But sometimes they do introduce themselves in bits of fluff video.
Great idea to start adding such links to OPs.

I agree that although not infallible, video/audio from secondary sources -- such as native speakers other than the skaters themselves -- would be better than nothing at all.

And I do believe in cutting announcers of all bkgds -- Asian, European, North American, etc. -- some slack.
As you say, a few mistakes are inevitable.
 
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dorispulaski

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I was hoping someone skilled in video editing might make some of these little files from interview footage and fluff pieces.

The OPs now have a huge group of videos to work with.

Even relatively simple names are mispronounced.


Ask Eevonne Bates. ;)

And is it Adam RIP´pon or Adam Rip PON´. ??

The rink announcer today at Nepela Trophy made a total mess out of Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier's names.

If any skaters are reading this, I hope they will upload a file!

If they all contain the word Pronounce, Skater, and their name in the title, they will be easy to find (and link).
 
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dorispulaski

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By the way, I am not a skater, but my name is pronounced

Dar' iss in my part of the world, not Door' iss
 

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avatar credit: @miyan5605
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I was hoping someone skilled in video editing might make some of these little files from interview footage and fluff pieces.

The OPs now have a huge group of videos to work with.

Even relatively simple names are mispronounced.


Ask Eevonne Bates. ;)

And is it Adam RIP´pon or Adam Rip PON´. ?? ...

One small drop (which happened to come up months ago in the Stupid Questions thread) in the bucket:



By the way, I am not a skater, but my name is pronounced

Dar' iss in my part of the world, not Door' iss

Wow, I never would have known :hopelessness:.

Perfect example of what the announcers are up against :yes:.

If you were a skater at a competition in China, for instance, and an enterprising announcer had discovered that Dar' iss is the correct pronunciation ... I cringe to imagine how s/he perhaps would have been unfairly mocked here on GS for not saying Door' iss.

Thus my philosophy of being supportive of any and all announcers.
 
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sabinfire

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Dar' iss in my part of the world, not Door' iss

I would have pronounced it: Door-reece. ;)

The video editing would be the easy part. Locating clear, accurate examples of skaters saying their own name (or the next best thing) could be time-consuming, especially tracking down dozens or even hundreds of skaters.
 

Sam-Skwantch

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I would have pronounced it: Door-reece. ;)

The video editing would be the easy part. Locating clear, accurate examples of skaters saying their own name (or the next best thing) could be time-consuming, especially tracking down dozens or even hundreds of skaters.

I started looking for the after Sochi interview at Sambo that they did with Julia where she said her own name sarcastically in response to how everywhere she went people would say "oh look....its Julia Lipnitskaya" and people teased her about it.

My question is about Adelina. I pronounce it Sot-NEE-kova. Is this correct because I hear a lot of Sotni-KOVA :confused:
 
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Snow63

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My question is about Adelina. I pronounce it Sot-NEE-kova. Is this correct because I hear a lot of Sotni-KOVA :confused:

About Adelina: the emphasis should be on the first syllable - SOT-nee-kova.
While in Lipnitskaia the emphasis should be on the second syllable.

Russian language is so Russian. :)
 

CaroLiza_fan

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Don't worry Golden, I'm not going to re-open any of our old debates about pronouncing certain names! ;) :laugh:

I just wanted to say thank you for raising this issue as a separate thread. Because it is a topic that you would think would be pretty straightforward, but actually is not.

And the skaters that have already been mentioned are excellent examples.

As I mentioned in the Ondrej Nepela thread earlier, I have no idea how you would pronounce Ioulia CHTCHETININA's surname! (Her first name is easy enough - she's another Yulia!)

And as for Dasa Grm, I always pronounced it "Grim". But, I have no idea if that is correct or not.

But, Adam Rippon is one that I have been intrigued by for a long time. I would naturally place the emphasis on the first syllable. I would never have imagined it being pronounced any other way. But when I heard somebody place the emphasis on the second syllable, it started me wondering if this is how Adam's family pronounces it.

Piper Gilles is another good example. I don't know why (well, it's probably because Paul has a French surname), but I always feel inclined to pronounce "Gilles" the French way. But, I have never heard anybody else pronounce it like that; it is always "Gill-is". So I assume that is the way Piper and Alexe's family pronounce it. (Come on, you can't talk about one twin without mentioning the other! ;) )

Although he didn't word it very well, I think Ted Barton had the right idea at the Riga Cup when, at the start of an interview with Icelandic skater Thuridur Bjorg BJORGVINSDOTTIR, he actually asked her how to say her name (Video).

Perhaps if more interviewers would do that it would be helpful. It could even be done in a way that the interviewee wouldn't even realise that finding out how to say their name was the intention. For example, a simple "So, could you introduce yourself to the viewers at home" would do the trick!

As Golden has often said, this is the only difinitive way of getting a "correct" answer.

CaroLiza_fan
 
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Snow63

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As I mentioned in the Ondrej Nepela thread earlier, I have no idea how you would pronounce Ioulia CHTCHETININA's surname! (Her first name is easy enough - she's another Yulia!)

The funny thing with Ioulia CHTCHETININA's name is that this whole construction 'CHTCH' is Russian means just one letter 'Щ' (almost like 'sh').
 

CaroLiza_fan

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Wow! This thread has really moved on in the time it took to write my previous comment!

Firstly, thank you to Golden for letting us hear Adam saying his own name.

And thank you to Snow63 for sorting out Adelina and Julia (I am never sure where to place the emphasis in Russian surnames!)

And thank you to sabinfire for reminding me about the fun I used to have putting foreign names into the voice tool in Windows when I was young! ("Walter Tortoroglio" was my favourite!)

(Well, that male voice link was the exact same voice that Windows used!)

And finally, thank you to Doris for doing a demonstration of what we say needs to be done, and shocking us all in the process! You just proved the point perfectly!

CaroLiza_fan
 
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Alex D

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As a host of several events myself, I can definitely say that pronouncing names is really tough and I would never say I make it 100% right either. DOORIS ;) Which reminds me, at Oberstdorf I pronounced the "Lutz" "wrong", haha but Alaine understood me just fine, ah lovely girl, but in the inside she was surely like "ok who is that fool" haha!

There is also the national and international pronunciation, like my name Alex or Lutz for that matter, that can be said so or so.

That said, during World Cup I heard so many names spelled wrong during official conferences or shoutout´s in the venue, that I was honestly frustrated, frustrated as I feel its disrespectful to not research this as a commentator. But this is the thing, most commentators only do the events once their life / year, they just get the job and do it, they don't follow the skaters, football player or tennis cracks every week. That's why I always say, the ISU needs professionals there. A professional music guru or a few and professional announcers, its not fair to let the home OC´s do all of it. (sorry ISU, but ya my opinion) Its not about degree´s here, its about dedication and actual traveling with the "family" so to speak. Be there and learn, as I always say :)

I can edit videos and sound, that's not a big problem, but its too much work for a single person - especially as its not just about that final work process, but also about speaking to the athletes themselves which you can only do at an event, FB does not have voice and I think it will be hard to really bother them with this, they are quite busy ;) Don't trust the videos you find I would say, its really the athlete that has to make the call there I would say.

But ya, I am always open to help - tennis season is almost over and world cups are not before March I think, so I have more time :)
 
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CaroLiza_fan

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The funny thing with Ioulia CHTCHETININA's name is that this whole construction 'CHTCH' is Russian means just one letter 'Щ' (almost like 'sh').

ONE LETTER???!!! That's deadly how the transliteration into Latin characters worked out then!

So, it's just a simple "Shetinina".

I would never have worked that one out! :shocked:

(And thank you for letting us know that she has a Russian background. I did wonder...)

CaroLiza_fan
 

Snow63

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ONE LETTER???!!! That's deadly how the transliteration into Latin characters worked out then!

So, it's just a simple "Shetinina".

I would never have worked that one out! :shocked:

(And thank you for letting us know that she has a Russian background. I did wonder...)

CaroLiza_fan

Well, not exactly 'Shetinina', but I bet this version is much closer than any other you tried to pronounce before :biggrin: Sorry, didn't mean to sound rude :)

And I'm not sure about Russian background but her last name is 100% Russian.


ANYWAY, for those who want to hear correct pronunciation of Yulia Lipnitskaia name here you can find one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba7WF_Dwuo8 (at 13:07, at 18:31 and later). Very clear. It's not her who pronounces it, but she's there and it's 100% correct.
 
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CaroLiza_fan

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As a host of several events myself, I can definitely say that pronouncing names is really tough and I would never say I make it 100% right either. DOORIS ;) Which reminds me, at Oberstdorf I pronounced the "Lutz" wrong, haha but Alaine understood me just fine, ah lovely girl, but in the inside she was surely like "ok who is that fool" haha!

Right, Alex. You are a native German speaker (aren't you?)

What IS the correct way of pronouncing "Lutz"?

I am used to hearing the British commentators saying "loots". But, watching these livestreams recently, I have heard the Canadian commentators saying something like "lutch".

So, which way is right? (If any!)

Or, given that Mr Lutz was Austrian, does this open up another can of worms with regards differences between how Germans and Austrians pronounce things...? :eek:

Sorry for taking us away from the names of current skaters, but this was too good an opportunity to miss!

CaroLiza_fan
 
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sabinfire

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And thank you to sabinfire for reminding me about the fun I used to have putting foreign names into the voice tool in Windows when I was young! ("Walter Tortoroglio" was my favourite!)

(Well, that male voice link was the exact same voice that Windows used!)

You had a far more advanced Windows that I did as a child!

All I had was Dr. Sbaitso: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV3pYZZ2jEw
 

dorispulaski

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I was hoping that fans/OP owners in fan fests, when they hear a skater pronouncing their own name, might post the link here, and some kind video editor could extract the phrase and upload it, and I could post it to the appropriate OP. After a while we would have a reasonable collection.

By the way, my middle name is also oddly pronounced.

It is Paulina, pronounced Paul line´ ah, not Paul leen´ ah. It was my grandmother's name, and that is how she pronounced it. Dar´ iss was my mom's name.
 

CaroLiza_fan

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Well, not exactly 'Shetinina', but I bet this version is much closer than any other you tried to pronounce before :biggrin: Sorry, didn't mean to sound rude :)

And I'm not sure about Russian background but her last name is 100% Russian.

Oh, don't worry! You did not sound rude. In fact, you were quite amusing! And it is not easy to be amusing in a foreign language. Or (as is often the case with me) even your own... :slink:

CaroLiza_fan
 

CaroLiza_fan

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You had a far more advanced Windows that I did as a child!

All I had was Dr. Sbaitso: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV3pYZZ2jEw

Just remember, I'm younger than you!!! :biggrin:

That video was very funny! :laugh: A sarcastic computer? That is one of the main ingredients in these films where computers try to take over the world. :eek: So, how come Dr. Sbaitso didn't manage to do it?!

I couldn't remember the name of the Windows tool. But, the video suggestions on that page reminded me. It was Microsoft Sam!

CaroLiza_fan
 
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