# chile (pronunciation)



## John Norton

What is the genuine pronuncitation

Whats the correct way to say it?


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## Mynosevitch

You mean the chilli pepper?  You've got the correct pronuntiation here:chili

So 'chilli' is pronounced as in 'chilly'. 

In spanish this seed is called 'chile'.  The ending /-e/ is pronounced like the /e/ in 'men', only that more closed.  

Spanish vowels have one-sound, so chil-ey* or chil-ay* are not correct.  

I now remember Nat King Cole singing in spanish with all those extra-vowels... _"Ansiedad de tenertein mis brazous suspirandou palabras de amour.."_..


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## Delirium

I assume you are talking about the country, CHILE?  In that case, the pronunciation is Che-lay.  

~*Tess*~


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## Mynosevitch

Delirium said:
			
		

> I assume you are talking about the country, CHILE?  In that case, the pronunciation is Che-lay.
> 
> ~*Tess*~



'-lay' pronounced as in 'play'??   

In Spain we pronounce it 'Chi-le'  (last vowel is a closed spanish /e/) Jaja.. looks like we need some sound device in this Dictionary.

The correct english phonetic transcription is here:
http://www.wordreference.com/de/Translation.asp?ende=chile&v=b


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## Mary Solari

According to wordreference.com, the pronunciation is chilly


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## Mary Solari

In Spanish we say "Chee  leh", the "e" sound being pronounced not "ay" but "e" as in "bed". 
It is important for English speakers not to pronounce "ay" the final "e" in words like dile, puede, dame, etc. 
The final "e" sounds like the strong "e" sound in bed, pen, ten, etc

Something similar happens to the final "o" sound, which is not "ow" but "o" like in "modern". Therefore, we shouldn't say "lou sientou", but "lo siento"


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## mjscott

If it's the country, it's CHEE-lay.


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## el_novato

This is my first attempt with a sound file.

I hope that it can help you.



			
				mjscott said:
			
		

> If it's the country, it's CHEE-lay.


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## temujin

mjscott said:
			
		

> If it's the country, it's CHEE-lay.


not exactly... that depends on the language you´re speaking...


t.


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## Chaucer

John Norton said:
			
		

> Whats the correct way to say it?



I've been seeing this post for awhile, now and then someone bringing it to the fore; and since it has gotten very little response for having been posted so long, I will respond. Other forum members may frown at this for various reasons.

But:
I believe that 99.999 of Spanish speakers would say, in English fonetic terms, "cheeleh" with the _e_ after the _l_ pronounced like the first _e_ in elephant.

If I have held off responding myself, it is because it recalls the image of English speakers saying the name José like "hoe-zay"; and, because being a re-nativized Spanish speaker and also having free access to elementary school Spanish-English immersion program classrooms, sometimes I like to be humorous about language matters to the tone down students' impression of my authority in the classroom.

Not long ago, right about when your post first appeared, there was a student I didn't know very well, and asking the teacher for the seating chart, when I called on him I said, "Ah, and your name is "Hoe-zay" (it was the English-instruction half of the school day, so I was speaking in English) in exaggerated beginning-Spanish style. I wanted to see his reaction (to check for his sense of pride, actually). He looked at me puzzled if not annoyed, surprised that someone whom he would assume to say his name correctly would say his name that way.

He answered, "No. It's _José_,"-- saying it with that perfect Spanish pronunciation of a native speaker-- "'not _Hos-ay_."
*
"Didn't I say Hos-ay? I'm sorry, what is your name again?" I replied.

After a few more back and forths, feigning ignorance on my part about what he was trying to make me understand, I said his name correctly, with no zee sound and the -e at the end of his name pronounced eh     (like the English e in elephant).
*
My point is to help you out by suggesting you remember the sound of the first _e_ in _elephant_. It will help you with all _e's_ in Spanish.

Cheel*e[lephant]*


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## el_novato

Hello Chaucer. I put a sound file with Chile pronunciation, does it work properly_




			
				Chaucer said:
			
		

> I've been seeing this post for awhile, now and then someone bringing it to the fore; and since it has gotten very little response for having been posted so long, I will respond. Other forum members may frown at this for various reasons.
> 
> But:
> I believe that 99.999 of Spanish speakers would say, in English fonetic terms, "cheeleh" with the _e_ after the _l_ pronounced like the first _e_ in elephant.
> 
> If I have held off responding myself, it is because it recalls the image of English speakers saying the name José like "hoe-zay"; and, because being a re-nativized Spanish speaker and also having free access to elementary school Spanish-English immersion program classrooms, sometimes I like to be humorous about language matters to the tone down students' impression of my authority in the classroom.
> 
> Not long ago, right about when your post first appeared, there was a student I didn't know very well, and asking the teacher for the seating chart, when I called on him I said, "Ah, and your name is "Hoe-zay" (it was the English-instruction half of the school day, so I was speaking in English) in exaggerated beginning-Spanish style. I wanted to see his reaction (to check for his sense of pride, actually). He looked at me puzzled if not annoyed, surprised that someone whom he would assume to say his name correctly would say his name that way.
> 
> He answered, "No. It's _José_,"-- saying it with that perfect Spanish pronunciation of a native speaker-- "'not _Hos-ay_."
> *
> "Didn't I say Hos-ay? I'm sorry, what is your name again?" I replied.
> 
> After a few more back and forths, feigning ignorance on my part about what he was trying to make me understand, I said his name correctly, with no zee sound and the -e at the end of his name pronounced eh     (like the English e in elephant).
> *
> My point is to help you out by suggesting you remember the sound of the first _e_ in _elephant_. It will help you with all _e's_ in Spanish.
> 
> Cheel*e[lephant]*


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## Chaucer

el_novato said:
			
		

> Hello Chaucer. I put a sound file with Chile pronunciation, does it work properly_



Yea, it does.

Did you make it? I think creating sound files is a good idea. All of us could do that with microphones, go to the folder we filed it in and send it (if there is a mechanism for that here). Think of the possibilities. Could be some abuses, I guess.


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## el_novato

Yes, I did it.

It is my first "sound file", but that reason I want feedback about itsoperation, is because when I listen it in the "sound recorder", it souds good, but when I open the file in the post, it sound with interference.






			
				Chaucer said:
			
		

> Yea, it does.
> 
> Did you make it? I think creating sound files is a good idea. All of us could do that with microphones, go to the folder we filed it in and send it (if there is a mechanism for that here). Think of the possibilities. Could be some abuses, I guess.


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## Philippa

el_novato said:
			
		

> Yes, I did it.
> 
> It is my first "sound file", but that reason I want feedback about itsoperation, is because when I listen it in the "sound recorder", it souds good, but when I open the file in the post, it sound with interference.



I can hear the interference a bit, but I can hear you loud and clear!   
It's kind of funny to hear someone speak after reading so many written words here!!   

Philippa


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## Stoichkov8

Mary Solari said:
			
		

> In Spanish we say "Chee leh", the "e" sound being pronounced not "ay" but "e" as in "bed".
> It is important for English speakers not to pronounce "ay" the final "e" in words like dile, puede, dame, etc.
> The final "e" sounds like the strong "e" sound in bed, pen, ten, etc
> 
> Something similar happens to the final "o" sound, which is not "ow" but "o" like in "modern". Therefore, we shouldn't say "lou sientou", but "lo siento"


 
Mary eres muy buena


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## bhcesl

Americans whose primary language is English but that speak Spanish tend to say it as it is said in Spanish.  Most Americans, however, default to "chilly".


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## fenixpollo

John Norton said:
			
		

> What is the genuine pronuncitation


Whether the country or the spicy fruit, the Spanish pronun*cia*tion is something like /chee-lay/, as Mynosevitch and Mary Solari have indicated... although WR _does_ indicate that the English pronunciation is /tsi-li/ (source).

Perhaps WR and "most Americans" (as _bhcesl_ mentions) default to "chilly" because they don't know any better.  In the Southwestern US, /chee-lay/ is more and more common as the Spanish-speaking population grows.

If you pronounce it "chilly", you will confuse people who will think you are talking about the spicy bean-and-meat dish called _chili_.


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## Outsider

John Norton said:
			
		

> What is the genuine pronuncitation


Welcome to the forum, John.

In Spanish, the correct pronunciation of the word "Chile" is "chee-le", with the last "e" prononounced as in the English word "let".

Even though you did post your question in the Spanish language forums, it would be better if in future you included in your posts:

1) The word whose pronunciation you want to know.
2) The language in which you want to know how to pronounce it.


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## Eugens

> Whether the country or the spicy fruit, the Spanish pronuncitation is something like /chee-lay/


 I've noticed that English speakers sometimes represent the "e" sound (as it sounds in "bed" or "let" or as it sounds in Spanish) as "ay". Doesn't that create confusion? The actual sound of the words "day", "lay" etc. is like /dei/, /lei/ not /de/, /le/.


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## duder

Eugens said:
			
		

> I've noticed that English speakers sometimes represent the "e" sound (as it sounds in "bed" or "let" or as it sounds in Spanish) as "ay". Doesn't that create confusion? The actual sound of the words "day", "lay" etc. is like /dei/, /lei/ not /de/, /le/.



Some (bad) phrasebooks even go so far as to use these sounds as (incorrect) approximations in their pronunciation guides. Sometimes I like to fake my best gringo accent  and that is one of the first characteristics that comes out. 

As for the pronunciation in English of *Chile*, I will agree that most people who don't speak Spanish say it like _chilly_, but others who do speak Spanish (myself included) mostly say something more closely approximating the Spanish pronunciation. For me it's not a question of propriety but rather what comes most natural. One could draw parallels to the typical AE pronunciation of Colombia (mostly said with the schwa sound, like _Col*u*mbia_), which becomes awkward for speakers of Spanish who tend not to anglicize the "o" sound.


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## Outsider

Pronouncing the _e_ as "ay" (and the _o_ as "ow") is one of those things that immediately denounce an English accent in Romance languages.
English-speakers seem to have a lot of trouble even realising that they do that, perhaps because they perceive the "ay" sound as a vowel instead of a diphthong.

P.S. And, in sum, the reply to the thread's title and original question is "neither".


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## bluejazzshark

I'm curious now...

When I learnt how to pronounce Spanish from a very trustable source (a  venezuelan linguist) I was told that the spanish "e" sound varies between:

e = /e/ -> /ai/

And that pronunciation depends on the person speaking. I've heard Spanish people from Spain say:

tener ->   /tai.nair/

The problem for Spanish speakers is that they have a wide phonetic tolerance of the "e" sound, so as far as "ai" is often acceptable.

The Anglicized version, as I understand it, is:

/tai:.tai:r/

And yes! This is OBVIOUSLY A north american person speaking Spanish.

Incidentally, my wife is from Chile, and she pronounces Chile as:

/shi:.le/

Presumably, so do all other chileans, so we'd better change our pronunciation pretty sharipish!

Just my opinion!

-Blue


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## Outsider

bluejazzshark said:
			
		

> Presumably, so do all other chileans, so we'd better change our pronunciation pretty sharipish!
> 
> Just my opinion!
> 
> -Blue


IMHO, you don't have to. Different languages will pronounce the same word differently -- that's normal. Either way, there was a recent thread around here which you may find interesting: Pronunciation of foreign city names. (I place city names and country names on a different level, myself. I always try to translate the latter, but often prefer to leave the former in the original. However, the issues raised in that thread are similar.)



			
				bluejazzshark said:
			
		

> The Anglicized version, as I understand it, is:
> 
> /tai:.tai:r/
> 
> And yes! This is OBVIOUSLY A north american person speaking Spanish.


I would transcribe the typical pronunciation of Americans and other English speakers as /tei ner/ ("tay-near"), not /tai nair/ ("tie-nire")...


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## Mariño

John Norton said:
			
		

> Whats the correct way to say it?



Chaucer is the only one who is right. I can tell, since I am chilean myself.


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## Christian

For a long time in the USA, Chile, the nation, was generally pronounced "Chilly," even by radio announcers. Although Che-lay is still wrong, it is  progress!


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## Venusia

Sorry to bump this old thread, but I'd like to know the correct pronunciation of Chilean (as in Chilean Sea Bass).  My friends pronounce it CHI-li-an, I don't speak Spanish but pronounce it as  CHI-leh-an.  I have no idea if either are correct.


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## Soliloquy

Venusia said:


> Sorry to bump this old thread, but I'd like to know the correct pronunciation of Chilean (as in Chilean Sea Bass).  My friends pronounce it CHI-li-an, I don't speak Spanish but pronounce it as  CHI-leh-an.  I have no idea if either are correct.


Hello,
The correct pronunciation of "Chilean" is chih-lee-in, as it not a Spanish word and has long been established as an English word. If you want to say it in Spanish, you would say Chileno. Hope this helps.
Soliloquy


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## caballoschica

I heard in my Spanish linguistics class that Chile was pronounced by Chileans, "She-lay" in English pronunciation, because their Ch's are more like Sh's (at least in English).  Otherwise it's Chee-lay.  

And the anglicized Chile is like Chilly.  I once said "Chee-lay" to someone and they were like you mean "Chilly"?  I wish I remembered my phonetics for the Chilean "Chile" 

ʃtile or ʃile is what I'm debating with...I'm thinking the second...Not sure which one it is instead of the normal "ch" sound.  The rest of the word is in Spanish phonetics which are according to the Spanish pronunciation, not the anglicized pronunciation.

I only pronounce it as Chi-leh-an because of all the years of my Spanish classes.


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## obz

> Doesn't that create confusion?



It sure does. English is a language of borrowed or modified words. Some preserve the original spellings and pronunciations, others are modified for convenience or laziness. 

There is no (well) standardized pronunciation or spelling rules like in Spanish. It all depends on the word's history.


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## riayala

I think we can't expect words to be pronounced the same way in different languages. Just think how people around the world pronounce one of the most internationally used words – pizza.
And this is not just a question of ignorance and laziness, but also of *phonetic habits*. Most English speakers will be able to say Chea-lay and chea-lay-ans without even thinking about it because it's more similar to word endings that make up the phonetic system of the English language. Phonetic habits keep the typical melody of a language and region.
But this is, of curse, much more complex than that – when switching languages one needs to switch the set of muscles being used to produce the proper sounds. And often times there's one or several transitional words involved that sound somewhere between the two languages.

So for the sake of fluency, you can say Chea-leh or Chea-lay, either way is fine by me


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## Ricardo Cézar

According to Cambridge Dictionary, Chile is pronounced as "chilly" /tʃɪli/. And according to Merriam Webster Dictionary, Chilean can be pronounced as /'tʃɪliən/ or /tʃɪ'leɪən/

chile Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary
Definition of CHILEAN


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## Aviador

Ricardo Cézar said:


> According to Cambridge Dictionary, Chile is pronounced as "chilly" /tʃɪli/. And according to Merriam Webster Dictionary, Chilean can be pronounced as /'tʃɪliən/ or /tʃɪ'leɪən/
> 
> chile Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary
> Definition of CHILEAN


Yes, that is correct for the *English words* _chilly_ and _Chile_, but the pronunciation of the *Spanish words* _chile_ (hot pepper) and _Chile_ (the country) greatly differs from the English equivalent words.
Several years after the question posted by John Norton to open this thread, now we have audio samples in Word Reference's dictionary . Listen to the normal pronunciation of these *Spanish words* in the *Spanish dictionary*: _chile_; _Chile_. As expected, the pronunciation of both words is exactly the same.
Now, listen to the *English words* _chile_, _chilly_ and _Chile_ in the *English dictionary*: _chile_; _chilly_; _Chile_.
One cannot expect words in two different languages to be pronounced in exactly the same manner, even if they look alike.


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## riayala

Ricardo Cézar said:


> According to Cambridge Dictionary, Chile is pronounced as "chilly" /tʃɪli/. And according to Merriam Webster Dictionary, Chilean can be pronounced as /'tʃɪliən/ or /tʃɪ'leɪən/
> 
> chile Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary
> Definition of CHILEAN



Yeah but, as said, pragmatics will also affect how a word is pronounced around the world. And often times dictionaries can do little about phonology – I'm glad audio samples are now available though.


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