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How is "Leica" pronounced? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Atomic Chicken
- Start date
tom mckinney said:
I remember a bloke in an optics shop talking about 'Savorskis'.
Adey Baker
Member
Minolta is (apparently) pronounced Mee-noh-roo-tah
Nikon (camera) is pronounced 'Brick' or 'Tank, built like a...'
A friend of a friend always mispronounced his Swift Audobon binoculars 'Orbydons' - we picked up on this to the extent of always calling them by this name, which can be a bit embarrassing when someone overhears you and doesn't know the 'joke'
Nikon (camera) is pronounced 'Brick' or 'Tank, built like a...'
A friend of a friend always mispronounced his Swift Audobon binoculars 'Orbydons' - we picked up on this to the extent of always calling them by this name, which can be a bit embarrassing when someone overhears you and doesn't know the 'joke'
James Lowther
Well-known member
If it's japanese (is it?) i'd say it's somewhere between nick-on and knee-con, but definitely not nigh-kon
henry link
Well-known member
Could some German speakers give me a hand with Abbe-Koenig and Schmidt-Pechan? Most of the hunters I encounter around here pronounce Swarovski "Savorski".
Curtis Croulet
Well-known member
"Leica" or "Zeiss" pronounced correctly will not arouse funny looks amongst English-speaking birders, but "nee-kon" might, notwithstanding that it is in fact correct. I've never quite understood why the Japanese adopted the romanized spelling "Minolta," since they have no actual "L" sound in their language, although their pronunciation of the syllables "ra," "ri," "ru," "re" and "ro" hint at an "L"-like sound. I always thought the pronunciation of "Swarovski" was fairly obvious, but, like others here, I've heard all kinds of mispronunciations. This is interesting, since the Swarovski name has fame beyond birding optics, but maybe those who covet crystal also mispronounce it.
kmonty1950
Well-known member
O.K then, how does one pronounce "Sabines"? (Says he, wandering off at a bit of a tangent).
Regards
Ken
Regards
Ken
matt green
Norfolkman gone walkabout
Atomic Chicken said:
pronounced 'go buy your own'
"Like ah" sounds better for german ears then other proposed pronunciations. "Ts-ice" is also correct and Swarovski should not be a problem for english speakers.
Abbe-Koenig would be Abbi Königg (ö like ea in learn) and Schmidt-Pechan something like Shmit-Pekhan (the ch is quite difficult for you, best equivalent would be the ch in Loch Ness).
Greetings from the german speaking part of Switzerland
André
Abbe-Koenig would be Abbi Königg (ö like ea in learn) and Schmidt-Pechan something like Shmit-Pekhan (the ch is quite difficult for you, best equivalent would be the ch in Loch Ness).
Greetings from the german speaking part of Switzerland
André
Good page for any pronunciation problems with german:
http://www.ex.ac.uk/german/abinitio/pronounce/
It's from the University of Exeter
http://www.ex.ac.uk/german/abinitio/pronounce/
It's from the University of Exeter
henry link
Well-known member
Andre,
Thank you for the information and the link. Just to be sure, is the "A" in Abbe pronounced like the "a" in cat and the "e" like the "e" in Porsche? Is the "Pech" in Pechan pronounced similar to the English word peck? Is the first syllable in Pechan stressed?
Henry
Thank you for the information and the link. Just to be sure, is the "A" in Abbe pronounced like the "a" in cat and the "e" like the "e" in Porsche? Is the "Pech" in Pechan pronounced similar to the English word peck? Is the first syllable in Pechan stressed?
Henry
Curtis Croulet
Well-known member
wintibird said:
In this case I imagined that maybe "Pechan" was French. Glad to have that one clarified.
Henry: The "A" in "cat" is not a common sound in standard European languages. Unless modified by a diacritical mark like an umlaut, it's usually what we would call a "broad A" sound. In the late 15th & early 16th Centuries, English underwent the "great vowel shift," giving us vowels that are used by nobody else. More recent history has caused vowel sounds in "network American" English and RP (or BBC) English to diverge in some instances.
Last edited:
Adey Baker
Member
What about 'EOS' and 'APO/Apochromatic?'
EOS stands for Electrical Optical System but do you pronounce it as a word or the individual letters and is Apo A-po or Appo?
EOS stands for Electrical Optical System but do you pronounce it as a word or the individual letters and is Apo A-po or Appo?
Adey Baker
Member
Deja-vu said:Sab's Gull
Or 'Kittiwake' as someone replied before to this question!
henry link said:
Henry,
the A in this case is pronounced like the u in but, the e of Abbe like the first e in electricity. I think you are correct with your suggestion for Pech = peck. But I am not sure about which syllable is stressed, I don't think I have ever heared that name pronounced. I have only seen it written. I suppose, however, the second syllable is stressed, with the a again like the u in but, however drawn out. Thus more like in father.
André's suggestion for the ö in König is only an approximation. There is probably no comparable sound in English. I think the u in murder comes closer than the ea in learn. As ö is the same as oe, if you know how to pronounce Goethe, then you have it for König as well!
