Commonly Mispronounced Words 22 - Anshumaan

All of us would have at least one friend called Anshuman (that is how they normally spell their name). However, the word which means radiant or luminous or the Sun, is correctly written and pronounced as Anshumaan or अंशुमान. I bet some of the Anshumans themselves don't know this. They have been weaned for too long on a diet of 'anshuman'.

Another word which gets mispronounced is Aditi. The word means boundless, unlimited or free. It is also a name for the Gods. However it does not derive from the word for solar i.e. Aaditya. On the contrary Aaditya is the son of Aditi, hence the difference is important. However most Indians pronounce the name as if Aditi is the wife of Aaditya. So you will hear Aaditii most often. However that is incorrect. The correct form is Aditi - all vowels are short. In Hindi this would read as अदिति.

In summary, अंशुमान not अंशुमन

and

अदिति not आदिती or अदिती.

Pronunciation advice - Yoshihiko Noda

So Japan gets its 6th Prime Minister in 5 years. His name is Yoshihiko Noda. Japanese names are easy to pronounce, especially for Indians. In any case, here is the pronunciation of the Japanese PM's name.

yo-she-he-coe no-Dah (Yo is the rappers' yo; she and he are like the pronouns, Coe is like the famous runner Sebastian Coe, no is like the opposite of yes, Dah is pronounced as the first syllable of darn). In Hindi this would read as योशीहीको नोडा.

Pronunciation advice - Ban Ki Moon

Well this was the man who defeated Shashi Tharoor to become the UN Secretary General. His name appears so commonly on the news, but very few get it right. Most pronounce it as bahn kee moon (बान की मून) - that makes it sound very much like a Punjabi swear word, and you couldn't have done much with that (like with some Nordic names), if it was the correct pronunciation. But in this case, it is not. Hence best avoided. The right pronunciation is

pun - gi - mun (the gi sounds like the first part of the word 'give', the 'u' has the same vowel sound as in 'book' and the p is aspirated).

In Hindi it would read as फन गि मुन.

Update : A lot of my colleagues and friends have questioned this advice. However this is the correct pronunciation. Watch this hilarious sequence when he takes the oath as UN Secretary General. The lady pronounces his name like the Punjabi swear word (of course she doesn't know that). He repeats the name correctly as pun gi mun (p is aspirated and the 'u' sound is the same vowel sound as in book). Watch at 00 12 seconds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbhV6gUy7wc

Every 'Doug' has his day

This is the story of the CEO of a multinational company - who ended up really making a fool of himself in front of his guests from the US parent office.

A lot of people believe that Indian CEOs of MNCs are very suave, well read and well-spoken. But well, there are notable exceptions too.

Now American top corporate executives are not stuffy like Indian ones. So Mr Sharma or Sharma sir or Sharma boss is rarely used there. If they are William they become Bill, if they are Richard they become Dick, if they are Robert they become Bob. And that's how they expect even junior staff to address them as. Which is quite uncomfortable for some Indian staff, because they have spent a lifetime celebrating servility. But as part of that very servility, they learn this too.

Anyways just as Williams become Bills, Douglases become Dougs. Now you would expect CEOs to know that wouldn't you. Listen to this story now.

So here is this CEO sitting in the board room. The top management of the Indian subsidiary is sitting, rapt in attention. The foreign parent's top executives including 'Doug' ji are also sitting there. So after the initial corporate bullshit about how great the India story is and how strong the American parent is, the CEO gets down to introducing Doug ji. And what does he say,

"We are very happy to have with us from our head office - Dog. Dog is the international Vice president of blah blah blah. Dog will help us with blah blah blah. I hope Dog has a great time here blah blah blah. I request each one of you to assist Dog to help make his visit a great success. Over to you Dog"

Poor 'Dog'. He did not know what to say or do. But he had the grace to continue. The management team was divided into people who knew a major gaffe had been committed and those who did not. The ones who did not had no problem. They continued listening rapt in attention. But the ones who did, they could not laugh. They had to avoid each others eyes. Because if the eyes of two such knowing individuals met, they would burst out laughing. That would not be too good, would it?

For those of you wondering what's so funny, well Douglas is pronounced as dug-luhs or डगलस. The short form is written as Doug but pronounced as 'dug' or डग. However the 'o' in Doug can be confusing for some leading to it being pronounced as dowg. However some people add some stylised way of speaking to their ignorance which adds to the fun. So you want to say dowg but want to sound American and stylish. So what do you do. Pronounce it as dawg - with the American drawl on the vowel sound.

I am sure if you search the blogosphere, you will find some Doug somewhere would have written this on his blog too.

So much for suave Indian CEOs.

Commonly Mispronounced Words 21 - dais, tricolour

On 26th January and 15th August, these 2 words are heard throughout the country. 

The first is 'dais' which refers to a raised platform. The correct pronunciation of this word is 'day-us'. Most people pronounce this word as die-us. Now it is interesting to note that this pronunciation is acceptable in American English. But if you follow the British English pronunciation for most words, you suddenly cannot switch to American. And Indians do follow the British style of pronunciation. So if you want to be true to form stick to 'day-us'. In any case, even in American English the preferred form is 'day-us'. डेअस.

The second word is 'tricolour' which refers to the Indian National Flag. The correct pronunciation is 'trick-uh-luh'. Most people pronounce this word as 'try-cull-uh'. Again the latter pronunciation is the American pronunciation of the word. But again if you want to be true to form, stick to trick-uh-luh or ट्रिक अ लर. Though be prepared to get some strange looks if you choose this option. Even people who barely know English will walk up and correct you. But then the right path was never strewn with flowers. 

Commonly Mispronounced Words 20 - Ramon Magsaysay

I rarely hear this word pronounced properly. And when someone does, it warms the cockles of my heart. But I rarely get that pleasure. The ex president of Philipines on whose name an international award has existed for over 5 decades. Some call it the Asian Nobel prize. A lot of eminent Indians have got it (Vinoba Bhave, CD Deshmukh, Baba Amte, Kiran Bedi, Verghese Kurien, Mother Teresa, Satyajit Ray, Ravi Shankar and TN Seshan to name a few) and this name is often quoted in the media. But nobody bothers to get it right. 

Ramon Magsaysay is his name. rum-own mug-sigh-sigh is the correct way to pronounce it. If you can read Hindi, it would read as रमोन मगसईसई. 

But even the guys who get this award say they have got the mag-suh-say award. Well the name of a Rs 25 lac award deserves more respect. 

Pronunciation advice - Jwala Gutta

This attractive left handed badminton player is currently in the news because she (along with Ashwini Ponappa) have got a bronze at the World Badminton Championship in London. How ironic! Here are Indian sportspersons doing well in England and yet, all the focus is on the losing Indian cricket team. Her name is getting mauled all over the place on the news channels. So here goes

Jwah-lah Goot-tah (the t sound is the soft French sound and the 'oo' is like the sound in book)

In Hindi, it would read as ज्वाला गुत्ता. If you can read Telugu, it would read as జ్వాలా గుత్తా.

Pronunciation advice - Rajiv Gandhi's assassins

I do feel odd writing a post about Rajiv Gandhi's assassins. But then the names are being mauled every which way. And I believe even assassins do not deserve this treatment (though ironically they might be dead in two months time). So here goes

Murugan is pronounced as mu-ru-gun or मुरुगन. If you can read Tamil, it reads as முருகன்.

His wife Nalini Sriharan is pronounced as null-in-ee sree-har-un or नळिनी श्रीहरन. நளினி ஸ்ரீகரன்.

His other associates are Santhan and PerarivaaLan, pronounced as sahn-tuhn (the t is soft French sound) and pair-a-riv(er)-all-un. In Hindi they would read as सांतन and पेररिवाळन. In Tamil it would read as சாந்தன் and பேரறிவாளன்.

Commonly Mispronounced Words 19 - tortoise

This is another commonly mispronounced word in India. In fact, I too am guilty of mispronouncing this initially. You might wonder why is this not being featured under the blooper series. Well under that series, I try to feature words which I mispronounce, but others generally get right. Whereas this series has words which others (which could include me at some time in the past) get wrong. 

So this word is pronounced in India as tor-toys or टॉरटॉइज़. The correct pronunciation is tor-tiss or टॉरटिस. 

My common bloopers 7

A decade ago, I was introduced to a person who went on to become a dear friend. Before we met each other, we spoke on the phone. And at the end of the first conversation, what she found most droll was the way I pronounced 'absolutely'. I used to pronounce it as 'ab-zuh-loot-ly' (exactly the way K Srikanth pronounces it). ऍब्ज़लूटली. 

I was intrigued. I thought that was the right way to pronounce it. She however corrected me and told me that the right pronunciation is with an 's' and not a 'z'. So the correct pronunciation is ab-suh-loot-ly or ऍब्सलूटली. 

All of us have such blind spots in our speech, something only others can correct. You can never do that yourself. I am thankful to all my friends who corrected me. And I hope at least some of my friends are thankful that I corrected them. 

Commonly Mispronounced Words 18 - smother

How often have you heard this line during a cricket match - the batsman went forward and smothered the spin. It is a pet phrase of many commentators especially Suresh Saraiyya, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri. And these three are guilty of making millions of Indians mispronounce this word. That is why I always say that people in the media have a responsibility for making a greater effort. I mean, how do you explain the fact that even yesterday (after 25 years as a commentator) Sunny Gavaskar  mispronounced this word. This by the way, is the same man who translated bread and butter shot as 'chapaati shot', which lead many westerners to believe that it was some kind of special shot (like the doosra). 

The word is pronounced as s-mother (it rhymes with mother). The commentators (some of them) pronounce it as smaw-ther (स्मॉदर). 

The right pronunciation is s-mother (स्मदर).