How to pronounce the names of Gujarat's districts

Elections are scheduled to be held in two more states in 2012. Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. We will do a listing of the pronunciation advice for the entire list of districts and assembly constituencies in both states. Starting with the 26 districts of Gujarat. The district name is given first and the name of the main city/town in that district is given after that. For example in Banaas KaanThaa district, Paalanpur is the main town. 

AH  Ahmedabad Ahmedabad अमदावाद 

AM Amreli District Amreli अमरेली 

AN Anand Anand आणन्द 

BK Banaskantha Palanpur बनास कांठा पालनपुर 

BR Bharuch Bharuch भरुच 

BV Bhavnagar Bhavnagar भावनगर 

DA Dahod Dahod दाहोद 

DG The Dangs Ahwa डांग अहवा

GA Gandhinagar Gandhinagar गान्धी नगर 

JA Jamnagar Jamnagar जामनगर 

JU Junagadh Junagadh जुनागढ 

KA Kutch Bhuj कच्छ भुज 

KH Kheda Kheda खेडा

MA Mehsana Mehsana महेसाणा

NR Narmada Rajpipla नर्मदा राजपीपळा 

NV Navsari Navsari नवसारी

PA Patan Patan पाटण 

PM Panchmahal Godhra पंचमहाल गोधरा

PO Porbandar Porbandar पोरबन्दर 

RA Rajkot Rajkot राजकोट 

SK Sabarkantha Himmatnagar साबर कांठा हिम्मत नगर 

SN Surendranagar Surendranagar सुरेन्द्र नगर

ST Surat Surat सुरत 

TA Tapi Vyara तापी व्यारा

VD Vadodara Vadodara  वडोदरा

VL Valsad Valsad वलसाड 

How to pronounce Naypyitaw

Rangoon or Yangon is no longer the capital of Burma (oops sorry Myanmar). The new capital is a place called Naypyitaw. It is pronounced as nay-pee-daw (soft d). In Hindi it reads as नेपीदौ 

How to pronounce Anaka Alankamony (Anaka Alakamony)

The Indian squash player who has reached the quarter finals of the Chennai Open Squash championship is called Anaka Alankamony. The press is mis printing her name as Anaka Alakamony. Her name is pronounced as -

un-a-cah uh-lunk-ah-money 

अनका अलंकामणि 

அனகா அலன்காமணி

How to pronounce H D Devegowda - pronunciation advice - Indian Prime Ministers

The eleventh prime minister of India has probably the most difficult full name - from a pronunciation perspective. Hence most people go for the shortened name (with initials). But if you wish to pronounce the name fully, here is how you would do it

her-a-thun (rhymes with bun)-a-hull-lee though-day-gow-duh they-whey-gow-duh

The consonant sound in 'thun' is the same as that in 'then', though it is closer to the French 'd'. You can shorten the vowel sound in 'though' to get it absolutely right.

In Hindi it would read as हरअदनअहळ्ळि दोड्डेगौडअ देवेगौडअ

In Kannada it would read as ಹರದನಹಳ್ಳಿ ದೊಡ್ಡೇಗೌಡ ದೇವೇಗೌಡ

How to pronounce P V Narasimha Rao - pronunciation advice - Indian Prime Ministers

The almost forgotten ninth prime minister of India probably lorded over the most far reaching changes in India. His full name is Paamulaparti VenkaTa Narasimha Rao. It is pronounced as

pa-mull (rhymes with bull)-a-purr-tea (Soft t) when-cut-a nuh-ruh-sim-huh row. 

In Hindi this would read as पामुलअपर्ति वेंकटअ नरअसिम्हअ रावु. 

In Telugu it is written పాములపర్తి వెంకట నరసింహా రావు. 

How to pronounce Bologna - pronunciation advice

The deadly earthquake in Northern Italy happened in a region called Bologna. It is not pronounced Bolo-nah as most channels are doing. The correct pronunciation is bow-low-near. In Hindi this reads like बोलोन्या.

How to pronounce Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone - pronunciation advice

The two Italian marines who are facing a murder charge in India have been denied bail. Their names are pronounced as follows

Ma-see-milly-ah-no lah-toe (soft t)-ray मास्सिमिलियानो लातोरे
sahl-vuh-toe (soft t)-ray ji-row-nay साल्वतोरे जिरोने

How to pronounce Basavraj Bommai - Pronunciation advice

The Karnataka Government's water resources minister has rejected J Jayalalitha's demand for a Cauvery Rivery Authority Meet. His name is Basavraj Bommai. It is pronounced as bus-of-rahj bom (rhymes with Tom)-ma-yi. In Hindi it would read as बसवराज बोम्मायि. 

How to pronounce Luke Pomersbach and Siddhartha Mallya

Luke Pomersbach is pronounced as loo-k pommer's back लूक पॉमर्सबॅक
Siddhartha Mallya is pronounced as sid-hearth-uh mull-yeah सिद्धार्थअ मल्या 

How to pronounce Veerapandi Arumugam and Shimoga

Lots of raids and arrests happening. Yesterday it was the case of B.S Yeddyurappa. See his pronunciation advice here.

Shimoga is actually pronounced as shivmoggaa (o sound as in got) शिवमोग्गा
we-ruh-pahn-D are-uh-moo-gum वीरपांडी आरुमुगम 

How to pronounce Julian Assange - Pronunciation advice

This man is probably the most well known person in the world. But yet his name continues to be mauled. I myself was confused for quite a while, thanks largely to our I-know-it-all anchor Mr Arnab Goswami who did an exclusive interview with Julian Assange. He spoke to him for almost an hour and repeatedly referred to him as Mr. us-ahn-jay. God! Mr us-ahn-jay must have thought Indians to be imbeciles. I mean, the man is sitting before you. Why don't you check his name? You can see this blunder here http://www.timesnow.tv/The-Julian-Assange-Interview-1/videoshow/4371560.cms. Note how the voiceover guy gets the pronunciation right, but the interviewer doesn't!!

The international media (thanks to wikipedia) has got a different (slightly French) take of his name. us-onzh is how they pronounce it. 

However, thankfully Julian Assange has started his own show. And he pronounces his name as joo-li-un us-ahnj (जूलियन असांज). Hear him say his own name here. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMIDuLA57Kg

My common bloopers 9 - cineaste

The word cineaste comes from French and basically means someone who is a cinema enthusiast or a fan and guru of movies. The word is alternatively spelt as cineast. But in India the most common spelling is cineaste. I have always pronounced this word as c-nee (h)aste (without the 'h' sound). Recently while speaking to someone, I realised that I had been mispronouncing this word all along. The correct pronunciation is c-nee ast (rhymes with enthusiast). c-nee ust (with the schwa sound) is also acceptable, but the former is preferred.