> -----Original Message----- > From: Steve Simmons [mailto:scs at di.org] > Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 8:57 AM > To: MedCat7 at aol.com > Cc: dragaera at dragaera.info > Subject: Re: evolution in language: OT.now on topic > > On Fri, Feb 18, 2005 at 11:22:45AM -0500, MedCat7 at aol.com wrote: > > > My Brazillian friend's name is Bruno. He asked me why everyone says > > his name wrong. He pronounces it as brunu with more > emphasis (sp) on > > the first "u" and almost inaudiable on the second "u". I > told him that > > that's just how we say things in English. The "o" to us is > pronounced > > as a long "o" like in dog. . . > > (Alert! The following is a joke! Alert, the following is a joke!) > > His problem is that he's spelling it in Brazilian, not English. > > (The joke is now complete. Please re-engage your serious discussion.) > > I've said as much to one of the Brazilians here, Goncalo > (which he pronounces roughly 'con-SAH-lo'). > > It's a good point. Every language that uses this alphabet > has the same problem -- we don't use exactly the same > consonants and vowels for each letter, and sometimes use > wildly different ones. A Texan and a Mexican are both > equally accurate when they say that Amarillo should be > pronounced the way it's spelled. Its just that sometimes > it's spelled in english and sometimes in spanish. God only > knows what it would sound like if spelled in French. :-) > > And for the couple of folks who asked how Amarillo is pronounced: > > Texas: am-uh-RILL-o (that an English LL) > Mexico: ah-mah-REE-yo (that's an Enlish y, ie, a Spanish j) It was really hard to think of that word in French, but here's an attempt: Ah-ma-REE-lo