Around the world, Americans can be found modifying the spelling, sound, or appearance of a country’s name. Perhaps I am being a little overstated. The practice of changing names began long before the United States of America was even conceived.
China gained its name based on one family’s rise to power (The Qin) and their succesful marketing efforts. They are still the Middle Country in their own language.
And what about Japan. Nippon is the local way to call the country.
Germany? Deustchland?
The US government doesn’t recognize Myanmar. We still call it Burma. (I’m convinced this is a dialect issue…the original country name probably sounded like something in-between Burma and Myanmar…we just can’t spell that way….)
And then there are city names…. Is it KEY-YO-to or KYO-to when referring to the Kyto protocol?
How about Yokosuka. I hear YO-KUHS-KA all the time from folks but rarely the more correct YO-KOHS-KA.
Is it KA-DEH-NA or KA-DEE-NA when referring to the Okinawan US Air Base?
And closer to home, are we “America” or “USA”? I think there are some other countries in America besides the U.S. I don’t want to be presumptious and assume we own them all.
And I have never gotten the England explanation. Is it U.K.? Or do I have to say “United Kingdom”? Is England an acceptable phrase? Or should I add the ironic “Jolly Old”? Perhaps that is a connotation that I should avoid.
Is it Hawaii or HAVAII? Should I make it clear that there is a little “i” at the end? HA-VAI-I as in Hawai’i? (BTW, I discovered that in Hawaiian, a “w” that follows the vowel “a” can be either a “V” or “W” sound.)
What about the conflict in Georgia (the one next to Russia)…Is it Gruuzia or GEORgia?
So who’s right? The peple from there or the people who are on TV telling everyone how it should sound?
If you go to Worcester Massachussetts, you will find they say “WOOH-STAH”. And if you go to Wooster, New York, you might find they say “WUH-STER”. And those who know nothing about disappearing “r’s” in Boston, might add a “ch” to call it WOR-CHESTER. There is a Worchester, but it is not in Massachussetts.
By the way, all the “r’s” that have gone missing in Boston “PAHK DA CAH” have appeared unscathed in Pennsylvania where they ”WARSH the CARR”.
And are Canadians considered Americans? I mean, they are from North America, but if you call them American, they get very offended and remind you that Canada is a whole separate country. And all this time I thought the US was an island with Alaska south of Texas and Hawaii East of that. Now they tell me Canada is next to us and is a whole country that is on a separate continent known as Canada…I’m all confused…
Dylan
***********************
UPDATE Septebmer 20, 2008 I’ve been told that U.K. or United Kingdom applies to Britain, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the Faukland Islands. Britain applies to England only. Great Britain applies to the samer land mass as U.K. but does not include the Faukland Islands. A Scotsman is a Brit, but he is not English. An Englishman can be both a Brit and English, but not necessarily Scottish. Ireland is not in the U.K., but Northern Ireland is. And while the English speak English, it is debatable whether the English agree that Americans also speak English. Apparently Americans speak American. Yet it seems to me that an Irishman, Scotsman, Welshman and Englishman would have better chances of comprehending the spoken phrases of an American before they could comprehend what each was saying to the other….
Popularity: 2%
[...] What’s in (the pronunciation of) a name?The US government doesn’t recognize Myanmar. We still call it Burma. (I’m convinced this is a dialect issue…the original country name probably sounded like something in-between Burma and Myanmar…we just can’t spell that way….) … [...]