(Untitled)

[rishikanta]

that is fucking IT.
I've had enough.

If folks on NPR can't get it right, then it's time I doled out some schoolin':

say it with me:
"father"

one more time:
"father"

now, I'm going to spell it like this:
"fAther"

got it?
good.

now take that same "A" sound as in "fAther," and say this:
"stAn"not as in the name "Stanley," but with that "A"

Comments

[asmodai]

So... I do like to pronounce things correctly. I don't ignore phonetics with the excuse of some kind of linguistic entitlement...

But..

It all seems a little selective to me. Nobody gets up in arms when we talk about the Japanese automotive industry. There is no insistence that Nippon is the correct pronunciation. Same with the Germans. Ask the Germans where in Germany they're from and they'll tell you using a map of Deutschland.

Other people with other languages 'mispronounce' American place names left and right, but it's their accent, and it would be 'ethnocentric' for us to correct them.

So.. when I over think it instead of hopping in the shower, I feel a little silly trying my hardest to pronounce a name of a country better, when I'm still completely missing the mark on how the natives say it, and while not worrying at all that Japan and similar have been completely rebranded.

That said, you'll still hear me softening my 'A's more.
And I'm going to go shower.

[rishikanta]

honestly, I don't think these are the same things at all.

Mispronunciations of Afganistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran are completely different than calling the following cities Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras, instead of Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chenai.

We're talking about the mispronunciations of the English names of these places, not what the places call themselves in their own tongues

[jaffapie]

But the outcome of the final pronunciation of Pakistan and Afghanistan all depend on how you pronounce your A in father! ^_^

Some people say "fahther" and some say "fawther", but neither are wrong, surely? It's just accent?

Personally, I like to pronounce things how they are regionally 'correct'. Like how the locals say it.
I have a Pakistani friend who pronounces it "Pakistahn", I'll take his word for it. But then it's all accent again! Because with my Nothern Irish accent, it's really really difficult for me to say it like that without sounding like I'm trying to sound English, haha!

Oh well.

[rishikanta]

Father point taken.
However, either of the above two 'father's is preferable to "Stanley" ;)

[starchy]

Huh. I always pronounce it, "beeteewee."