Words you just can't pronounce!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

It's probably 'kœyken. Or something like that.

I am Dutch. The mp3 contains the 'ui' in all its native majesty.

[Gurn Blanston]

Perhaps I can help... The uij in Kuijken sounds the same as the oei in French l'oeil. And the en at the end is just as muffled as in wrong 'un.
I found this! Here is a native speaker saying the words: ui, huis, vuil, ui, fluiten, tuin, gebruiken, kruis, besluiten, stuiten, uit, vuist...

http://www.learndutch.nu/language-courses/les1ui.mp3

Thanks, Johann. In the event, my odd Texas Mental Dutch version would have served the purpose then. It's just a bit off, at least.

[karlhenning]

"Havergal"

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

"Havergal"

You poor thing! Still, why don't you Haveago?

[vandermolen]

I have trouble with 'pianist' and 'mountain'; my daughter likes me to say 'jiffy bag' as the way I say it evidently amuses her.

[karlhenning]

You poor thing! Still, why don't you Haveago?

Can I just call him "Bruce"?

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

 

Can I just call him "Bruce"?

If you insist. 

[Sylph]

I am Dutch. The mp3 contains the 'ui' in all its native majesty.

How posh are you? I.e. how correct is your Dutch? Because some pronounce the k as [g].

I think I've transcribed it OK.

The one name I sometimes stumble over is: Per Nørgård.

http://www.forvo.com/word/per_n%C3%B8rg%C3%A5rd/

Here is Kuijken, one of them, that is:

http://www.forvo.com/word/sigiswald_kuijken/

[MishaK]

The one name I sometimes stumble over is: Per Nørgård.

http://www.forvo.com/word/per_n%C3%B8rg%C3%A5rd/

Man, they really do swallow that last syllable.

[Sylph]

Man, they really do swallow that last syllable.

Yup. It should be [paɐ̯ ˈnɶɐ̯ɡɒːɐ̯].

Apparently, Danish pronunciation is changing so fast, in 2030 it will be unrecognizable.

Thanks for confirming that my hunch in pronouncing that name was correct. 

Did you voice your hunch here? I can't find it.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

How posh are you? I.e. how correct is your Dutch? Because some pronounce the k as [g].

I think I've transcribed it OK.

Haha! I was born in Amsterdam, and the Amsterdam accent can still be heard, though I speak Dutch in a reasonably standard way. But poshness is in the vowels, not the consonants. You can pronounce the ui in a 'vulgar' way, flattening it, but the two ks in Kuijken are hard. In a word like 'zakdoek' (handkerchief) the first k can sound slightly softer under the influence of the d that follows it...

[MishaK]

Did you voice your hunch here? I can't find it.

I did not. But I grew up 40 minutes from the Dutch border and visited countless times, so I have a basic working understanding of Dutch. Also, my sister-in-law once dated a Dutchman whom I questioned extensively on the peculiarities of Dutch pronunciation.

[MishaK]

Since we're talking about languages other than English as well, I can't make any sense of the English/international transliterations of Chinese names. Granted that these transliterations can't reflect the tonal nature of the language, would anyone be so kind as to provide a little guide as to how the various Q (especially without U), ZH, CH, J, X, etc. should be pronounced? How is Q to be treated differently from CH for example? How is J different from Zh? Example:

Assistant concertmaster of CSO is named Yuan Qing Yu. How do you pronounce the middle name?

Also interesting is how transliteration has changed. E.g. Guangzhou used to be called Kwangchow. Do I conclude from this that the ou is supposed to sound like ow?

[Florestan]

Since we're talking about languages other than English as well, I can't make any sense of the English/international transliterations of Chinese names.

I repeat myself here, but the same is true for Korean. The various English transliterations are completely absurd. Why on earth does a sound which is clearly "b" have to be transliterated as "m", or a "d" as "n", or a "r" as "l"? 

[MishaK]

I repeat myself here, but the same is true for Korean. The various English transliterations are completely absurd. Why on earth does a sound which is clearly "b" have to be transliterated as "m", or a "d" as "n", or a "r" as "l"? 

Well, my question is whether the same is indeed true. In the case of Korean, as I mentioned, the exact transliteration for some of the consonants doesn't exist because the sound is somewhere in between.

[Florestan]

Well, my question is whether the same is indeed true. In the case of Korean, as I mentioned, the exact transliteration for some of the consonants doesn't exist because the sound is somewhere in between.

This is absolutely true in the case of "k" and "g", "p" and "b" or "d" and "t". But can you pronuonce a sound which is in between "m" and "b"? or "n" and "d"? If yes, kudos to you --- I tried and failed miserably.

[MishaK]

This is absolutely true in the case of "k" and "g", "p" and "b" or "d" and "t". But can you pronuonce a sound which is in between "m" and "b"? or "n" and "d"? If yes, kudos to you --- I tried and failed miserably.

I can hear the m-b ambiguity in native Korean speakers. I'm working on the pronunciation. 

[Florestan]

I can hear the m-b ambiguity in native Korean speakers. I'm working on the pronunciation. 

This m-b and n-d ambiguity is actually interesting if you consider modern Greek ortography, where a strong b is marked graphically as μπ (mp) and a strong d is marked graphically as ντ (nt). So there must be something to it, if so different languages make use of it. 

BTW, in the Korean historical TV series from where I derive my modest Korean knowldege they pronounce something like "Dowry", which is translated "Sir" --- but when using the online translation for the English term I get nothing even remotely like "Dowry". Could you please help me with that?

[snyprrr]

I bet they don't say 'kwEE-kin' though...

ku-gee-ken!

[Gurn Blanston]

ku-gee-ken!

  Well, 15 years ago that was my first thought on the matter. Now I see that if one were to just say 'Quakin'' like "I'm quakin' in my boots her, Snips" then one isn't far off the mark. Although with those funny letters that the smart guys use, who knows what they're really sayin'?