• merc@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    i like it when people pronounce names correctly

    How do you define “correctly”? Is “Munich” a correct way to pronounce that city in Germany, or is only Munchen acceptable? Or should it be “Minga” because that’s how it’s said in Bavarian?

    • AItoothbrush@lemmy.zip
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      23 hours ago

      You could say the same thing in english in english because of the many dialects. I usually say place names in the local dialect except if its a language i speak and then you see how language is flexible becuase people who speak the same language as me say stuff differently.

      • merc@sh.itjust.works
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        22 hours ago

        I usually say place names in the local dialect

        That seems like the best way to communicate.

        except if its a language i speak

        So, if you speak a language, you don’t care what the people you’re speaking to understand?

        Oh, this is German, I speak German, I’ll tell Dave it happened in Agram

        “So, I the guy went to Agram”

        “Wait, what’s Agram”

        “Agram, that’s the German name for Zagreb, Croatia. I speak German!”

        • AItoothbrush@lemmy.zip
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          20 hours ago

          No i mean i say swedish place names with my dialect not the one where the place is. If you speak a language well enough its hard to adjust you dialect. Same with english. I have a very strange mix of american and irish english so if i say the name of a south african place it wont come out the same way a south african would. But you should know this because you also speak english and this happens when a lot of people speak the same language. Hungarians in hungary say almost everything the same but when you go to romania or slovakia for example, the pronounciation changes but my accent stays the same. Of course there is code switching but thats usually only 2 dialects.

          • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world
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            18 hours ago

            Damn, the other commenter seems hellbent on making you sound like a snob, despite every one of your comments being chill and relatable.

    • Fushuan [he/him]@lemm.ee
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      1 day ago

      Trilingual here, if it’s clear that someone is trying to say it correctly (as would be said by anyone of the native language) even if they mispronounce it they get a pass.

      If you come to my city and call it Saint Sebastien you are going to get very weird looks. If you call it San Sebastian or even better, Donostia, even mispronounced most local will smile because you are fucking trying.

      Yes there are some phonemes that don’t exist in other languages but it’s clear when outsiders say them wrong while trying vs wrong and they don’t bother to make a similar sound. It’s about respect.

      I would say Munchen since its how my German friends told me that should be said.

      • merc@sh.itjust.works
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        1 day ago

        if it’s clear that someone is trying to say it correctly (as would be said by anyone of the native language) even if they mispronounce it they get a pass

        It’s not about “getting a pass”, it’s about what’s the best way to say it for a given audience. In most cases, that’s how the language you’re currently speaking says the thing. If you’re a Brit, in London, talking to another Brit about Zaragoza, you shouldn’t pronounce it the way Castilian Spanish speakers would say it because the person you’re talking to is not likely to recognize the name when spoken like that.