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Thursday, May 12, 2005

Proper Pronunciation Of Foreign Words

John Derbyshire is exactly correct. If you are from an English-speaking nation, you speak English. If you speak English, you pronounce foreign words as standard English pronunciation would dictate. Therefore, the correct pronunciation of ‘latino’ is LAT-in-oh, not La-TEEN-oh. This issue was particularly irritating for me when I was in high school, and I would listen to WNYC (NPR in New York) every morning. The regional news, anchored by good speaker Soterios Johnson (who is from Jersey), features New York beat reporter Cindy Rodriguez. This girl, who grew up in Texas, should not be on the radio. She signed off every report saying, “For WNYC, I’m Cindy Rrrrod-RRRRigeZZ.” I instinctively stopped short whenever I heard that sign-off; thinking that a rabid raccoon- possibly possessed- had somehow entered my truck’s otherwise mild mannered Bose sound system. But no. It is Cindy Rodriguez, Texan. An English-speaker. Doing a report in English. In New York. About New York.

Except for that last clink of unfettered idiotry. Stop it, Cindy Rodriguez, or you shall be forced to change your last name to Smith.

UPDATE: Another bad one is ‘croissant’. I have five years of French training under my belt and can affect a very good French accent. But in America, one orders a cro-SANT.

Posted on May 12, 2005 09:25 AM. Permalink