# Pronunciation of anglicisms



## Dymn

How do you pronounce the following anglicisms (if you use them), in your country and language?

*Spain Spanish, Catalan*
_wifi _- /ˈɣwifi/, /ˈwifi/
_iceberg _- /iθeˈβeɾx/, /isəˈβɛɾk/
_hockey _- /ˈxokei̯/, /ˈxokei̯/
_rugby _- /ˈruxbi/, /ˈrugbi/
_laser_ - /ˈlaseɾ/, /ˈlazeɾ/
_radar _- /raˈðaɾ/, /rəˈðaɾ/
_watt - _/bat/, /bat/
_backhand_ - we don't use it
_smoothie _- /esˈmuθi/, /əzˈmuθi/

There is no need to be accurate about IPA, the main idea is if you pronounce after the spelling or the real English pronunciation. Feel free to add more anglicisms if you may.

Thanks!


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## TheCrociato91

Hi there.

Unlike Spanish, Italian has a tendency to reflect the original pronunciation, however utilizing sounds which are typical of the Italian language.

*Italian* (there may be regional variations, though)
_wifi _- /ˈwai̯fai/ or /wai̯'fai/
_iceberg _- /ˈaisbɛrg/ (that's how I personally say it, although Wikipedia suggests that it should be pronounced as /ˈaizberɡ/ or /ˈaizbɛrɡ/)
_hockey _- /ˈɔkei̯/
_rugby _- /ˈragbi/ or /ˈrɛgbi/
_laser_ - /ˈlazer/

To avoid bumping, I'm going to be adding on more terms as other users suggest them
_radar_ - /ˈradar/
_watt_ - /ˈvat/
_backhand_ - I think it is much more common to use the Italian equivalent when talking about tennis; but if we were to pronounce it, I imagine we would say /ˈbɛkend/
_smoothie_ - Same as above, although it has become more common recently. /ˈzmudi/, /ˈzmuti/, or possibly /ˈzmuði/ if the speaker is familiar with its English pronunciation.


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## apmoy70

*Greek:*
_wifi_ - γουάι φάι - /ɣuˈai̯ ˈfai̯/
_iceberg_ - άισμπεργκ - /ˈa.is.ɱberg/ or /ˈai̯s.ɱberg/
_hockey_ - χόκεϊ - /ˈxo.ce.i/
_rugby_ - ράγκμπι - /ˈɾaŋg.ɱbi/ or /ˈɾaŋg.bi/
_laser_ - λέιζερ - /ˈlei̯.zeɾ/


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## DearPrudence

In *French from France*, I have the feeling we don't make much effort to pronounce it the proper English way.
For example, all words ending with "-ey" (like "poney") are pronunced the French way \ɛ\.

_wifi: \wi.fi\
iceberg: \ajs.bɛʁɡ\  \is.bɛʁɡ\ (the former pronunciation seems more common to me)
hockey: \ɔ.kɛ\
rugby: \ʁyɡ.bi\ 
laser: \la.zɛʁ\ _
(in the same way: \ʁa.daʁ\
Words like "wifi", "laser", "radar" or "hockey" would hardly be recognized by English speakers when pronounced the French way. At least, we French people would not recognize them in speech)


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## bibax

In Czech we generally make no effort to pronounce the foreign words correctly.

_wifi_ - wifi - /ˈvɪ.fɪ/ (btw, a common mistake of Czech speakers to pronounce w as v: what /vot/)
_watt -_ watt - /ˈvat/
_iceberg_ - ?
_hockey_ - hokej - /ˈɦo.kei̯/ (Czech h is voiced!, nearly nobody is able to pronounce the voiceless h, in Czech the voiceless counterpart of /ɦ/ is /x/)
_rugby_ - rugby or ragby - /ˈrag.bɪ/
_laser_ - laser - /ˈlei̯.zr/ (syllabic r)
_backhand_ - bekhend /ˈbɛg.hɛnt/ (before voiced h, k is pronounced as voiced g; d at the end is devoiced)
etc.

the most difficult is th:
_smoothie_ - smoothie - /ˈsmuːtɪ/ or /ˈsmuːtiː/


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## Encolpius

Dymn said:


> *Spain Spanish *_iceberg _- /iθeˈβeɾx/



What is iceberg?


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## TheCrociato91

Encolpius said:


> What is iceberg?



A *jéghegy *


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## bibax

In Spanish?  With the strange pronunciation /iθeˈβeɾx/.

I thought glaciar < Fr. glacier < Lat. glaciārium.


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## TheCrociato91

Well, I may have messed up in the attempt of looking cool 

An iceberg and a glacier are not exactly the same thing, and both in Italian and in Spanish we distinguish between the two words. In Italian it is "ghiacciaio" and "iceberg", the latter being pronounced as I've indicated above.

The "strange" Spanish pronunciation stems from the tendency of Spanish to pronounce foreign words as if they were normal Spanish words, according to Spanish phonetic rules; hence <i> remaning /i/; <ce> becoming <θe>; etc.


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## bibax

Now I have found that in Czech the scientists distinguish between *iceberg* (from English, or *eisberg* from German) and *ledovec* (from Slavic led = ice).
For common people it is "ganz egal" (e.g. Titanic narazil do _ledovce_ = ... hit a _glacier_).

So I add:
_iceberg _- iceberg or eisberg /ˈai̯s.bɛrk/ (g is devoiced at the end);


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## apmoy70

Dymn said:


> How do you pronounce the following anglicisms (if you use them), in your country and language?
> Spain Spanish, Catalan
> ...
> iceberg - /iθeˈβeɾx/, /isəˈβɛɾk/
> ..


&


TheCrociato91 said:


> Well, I may have messed up in the attempt of looking cool
> An iceberg and a glacier are not exactly the same thing, and both in Italian and in Spanish we distinguish between the two words. In Italian it is "ghiacciaio" and "iceberg", the latter being pronounced as I've indicated above.
> The "strange" Spanish pronunciation stems from the tendency of Spanish to pronounce foreign words as if they were normal Spanish words, according to Spanish phonetic rules; hence <i> remaning /i/; <ce> becoming <θe>; etc.


I thought Dymn was interested in the pronunciation of the lettuce _iceberg_ and not the literal iceberg, the pronunciation I gave is for the lettuce, for the iceberg we use the native Greek word *«παγό**βουνο* [paˈɣovuno] (neut.)


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## TheCrociato91

Quite interesting.


bibax said:


> Titanic narazil do ledovce = ... hit glacier



Whereas Italian speakers (and Spanish and English too, I think) would never say that the Titanic hit a glacier, but an iceberg.

From the Italian, English and Spanish Wikipedia about "Titanic" (emphasis added), respectively:

- "Il RMS Titanic è stato un transatlantico britannico della classe Olympic, diventato famoso per la collisione con un *iceberg*" 

- "RMS Titanic (/taɪˈtænɪk/) was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early hours of 15 April 1912, after colliding with an *iceberg*"

- "A las 23:40 del 14 de abril, cuatro días después de partir y a unos 600 km al sur de Terranova, el Titanic chocó contra un *iceberg*."


apmoy70 said:


> I thought Dymn was interested in the pronunciation of the lettuce _iceberg_ and not the literal iceberg,



Maybe you're right, I'm not sure. We'll have to wait for the OP to chime in. Either way, the pronunciation of "iceberg" stays the same in Italian, whether it's referred to ice or lettuce.


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## Dymn

Thanks for the answers so far 

Spanish and French seem to be the most _unrespectful _languages towards English pronunciation . In Hispanic America they tend to be more truthful to the original pronunciation, for example they do pronounce _aisberg._



TheCrociato91 said:


> We'll have to wait for the OP to chime in.


I was referring to the ice mountain, obviously, but either way the pronunciation stays the same in both Catalan and Spanish.


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## bibax

TheCrociato91 said:


> Whereas Italian speakers (and Spanish and English too, I think) would never say that the Titanic hit a glacier, but an iceberg.


But in everyday speech we do not distinguish between glacier and iceberg, both are from ice, both are called *ledovec* (< *led* ice) in common Czech.
From the Czech Wikipedia: 14. dubna 1912 v 23:40 se parník [Titanic] srazil s *ledovcem*.

And the iceberg lettuce is called *ledový salát*, lit. ice salad. Again, it is not a scientific name.

So I was confused why some (esp. Romance) languages need to borrow the Germanic word _iceberg_.

Anyway, the scientific term *iceberg *(or _eisberg_) is pronounced roughly like in German (German pronunciation of Eisberg: [ˈaɪ̯sbɛʁk], g is also devoiced).

EDIT:

The voiceless s before voiced b is pronouced as voiced z.
So the Czech pronunciation is /ˈai̯z.bɛrk/.


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## AndrasBP

Hungarian: 
We sometimes change the English spelling to make it closer to the English pronunciation, from a Hungarian point of view.

wifi - /'vifi/
iceberg - we don't use it, in Hungarian it's "jéghegy" (ice mountain)
hockey - Hung. spelling: hoki - /'hoki/
rugby - Hung. spelling: rögbi - /'røgbi/
laser - Hung. spelling: lézer - /'leːzɛr/
radar - /'rɒdɒr/
watt - /vɒtː/

PS: _iceberg _is a curious Anglicism, as "berg" is not an English word. It's a _partial loan translation_ from Dutch _ijsberg _(Wiki). I've always found it funny that this word is commonly used even in Russian - айсберг.


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## Dymn

AndrasBP said:


> We sometimes change the English spelling to make it closer to the English pronunciation, from a Hungarian point of view.


This is also typical in Spanish. There's: _béisbol, champú, cóctel, escáner, esquí, estándar, estrés, fútbol, gol, láser, líder, mitin, pádel, raíl, récord, tenis, tráiler, tuit, váter, vóleibol, yanqui, yate_. Sometimes RAE proposes a spelling but it doesn't catch on, for example _güisqui._


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## Stoggler

Dymn said:


> I was referring to the ice mountain, obviously



Why ‘obviously’?


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## Dymn

Because it's the first and literal meaning? I think there's no need to continue this off-topic.


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## apmoy70

Since you added a couple of names, let me complete the list:

*Greek:*
_wifi_ - γουάι φάι - /ɣuˈai̯ ˈfai̯/
_iceberg_ - άισμπεργκ - /ˈa.is.ɱberg/ or /ˈai̯s.ɱberg/ only for the lettuce, for the floating mass of ice we use a native Greek word (see post #11) 
_hockey_ - χόκεϊ - /ˈxo.ce.i/
_rugby_ - ράγκμπι - /ˈɾaŋg.ɱbi/ or /ˈɾaŋg.bi/
_laser_ - λέιζερ - /ˈlei̯.zeɾ/
_radar_ - ραντάρ - /ɾanˈdaɾ/
_watt_ - βατ - /vat/
_backhand_ - ρεβέρ - /ɾeˈveɾ/ < Fr. revers (I hope it's from tennis if it's not let me know)
_smoothie_ - σμούθι - /ˈsmuθi/


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## Stoggler

Dymn said:


> Because it's the first and literal meaning? I think there's no need to continue this off-topic.



All very high and mighty!  I asked because I wondered whether it was the big lump of ice or the lettuce.  I’m surprised that languages have borrowed the English term for the former, as it’s hardly a new or unknown phenonomon and that I’d have thought native terms would have existed and borrowing a new word would have been superfluous.


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## TheCrociato91

Stoggler said:


> I’m surprised that languages have borrowed the English term for the former, as it’s hardly a new or unknown phenonomon and that I’d have thought native terms would have existed and borrowing a new word would have been superfluous.



Interesting point. I see where you're coming from.

The Italian Wikipedia page for "Iceberg" also lists the Italian equivalents (emphasis added):


> "Un iceberg (ˈaizberɡ o ˈaizbɛrɡ; *in italiano borgognone o borbottone*) è una grande massa di ghiaccio staccatasi da un ghiacciaio o da una piattaforma di ghiacciai e galleggiante alla deriva nel mare."



That said, I've personally never heard two words; in any case, I daresay they are far less commonly used than the English loanword. Hopefully other Italians will chime in to confirm or refute my assumption.

As for the icerberg lettuce, in Italian we sometimes use its adapted version: "insalata / lattuga _ghiaccio_" (literally: "_ice _lettuce").


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## Dymn

Stoggler said:


> I’m surprised that languages have borrowed the English term for the former, as it’s hardly a new or unknown phenonomon and that I’d have thought native terms would have existed and borrowing a new word would have been superfluous.


There aren't many icebergs in the Mediterranean 

But it's true that many more languages have a native term for this concept than I would have imagined.


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## Määränpää

*Finnish*
_wifi _- /ˈvifi/
_iceberg
hockey - _maahockey /'ma:hokkei/ (field hockey)
_rugby _- /ˈragbi/
_laser_ - /ˈlaser/ (99.9% of people say /'la:ser/ with German/Swedish long A but prescriptivists won't accept it)
_radar
watt - _watti, /'vatti/
_backhand
smoothie _- /'smu:ði/ (one also hears /ˈsmu:tie/, /'smu:thie/, /'smu:ðie)


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## Awwal12

Russian:
_
wifi _- [vɐj'faj]
_iceberg _- ['ajzbʲərk]
_hockey _- [xɐ'kʲej]
_rugby _- ['ɾɛgbʲɪ]
_laser_ - ['ɫazʲər], ['ɫazər]
_radar _- [ɾɐ'd̪ar]
_watt -_ ['vat̪]
_backhand_ - we don't use it
_smoothie _- ['smuzʲɪ] (sounds particularly ugly, worse than [ɾʲɪ'sɛpʂən] and [mʲɪɾʨɪn'd̪ajzʲənk] taken together)


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## Encolpius

Awwal, you want to say you Russians do not use your own Russian words? I mean хоккей, etc..


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## bibax

IMHO хоккей is pronounced [xɐ'kʲej], as Awwal stated.

Similarly the other mentioned words, лазер ['ɫazʲər], etc.

Awwal was only lazy to write them in Cyrillic. 

And glacier is глетчер (< Ger. Gletscher).

As for backhand, I have found бэкхенд [bɛkˈxɛnt].


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## Awwal12

bibax said:


> IMHO хоккей is pronounced [xɐ'kʲej], as Awwal stated.


 Precisely.  After all, the thread is about the anglicisms and how we pronounce them, it isn't about how we write them.


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## Dymn

What about fictional characters? In Spain _Spiderman _and _Popeye _are pronounced /esˈpiderman/ and /poˈpeje/.


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## Awwal12

Dymn said:


> What about fictional characters? In Spain _Spiderman _and _Popeye _are pronounced /esˈpiderman/ and /poˈpeje/.


In Russian, Spiderman is most typically translated, which makes him человек-паук [ʨɪɫɐ'vʲɛk.pɐ'uk], lit. "human-spider". Transcribing "Spiderman" could have some undesirable effects.
Popeye is phonetically adapted according to the rules of Russian phonology, that is, [pɐ'paɪ̯].


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## Penyafort

Dymn said:


> *Spain Spanish, Catalan*
> _hockey _- /ˈxokei̯/, /ˈxokei̯/


In Catalan, I've always said _hoquei _/u'kɛj/, as they did in the TV show _Les de l'hoquei_ (The Hockey Girls).

Same thing with _handbol _and _voleibol_, stressed on the last syllable.


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## Dymn

Fair enough, but if I said _uquèi _I probably would be laughed at


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## Circunflejo

Dymn said:


> _radar _- /raˈðaɾ/


Stress in real life is variable either on the first or on the second syllable.


TheCrociato91 said:


> A *jéghegy *





Dymn said:


> Fair enough, but if I said _uquèi _I probably would be laughed at


Nowadays the league is called OK league so you should be fine.


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## apmoy70

Dymn said:


> What about fictional characters? In Spain _Spiderman _and _Popeye _are pronounced /esˈpiderman/ and /poˈpeje/.


The comic hero was translated into *«Ο άνθρωπος-αράχνη»* /oˈanθropos.aˈɾaxni/ --> _The [masculine definite article in the nominative sing.] human-spider_. Nowadays, especially since the franchise movie release, the name its just trnsliterated into: *«Ο Σπάιντερμαν»* /oˈspaɪnderman/ --> _The [masculine definite article in the nominative sing.] Spiderman_.
Popeye is just *«Ποπάυ»* /poˈpaɪ/


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## Terio

In Canadian French:

Spiderman : /spajdœʁ'man/. The r may be pronounced as in English.

Popeye : /pᴐ'paj/

In France:

/spidɛʁ'man/ and /po'pɛj/.


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## Penyafort

Now it'd be good to know if the same thing happens between Brazilians and Portuguese. If it's as in Spanish and French, that definitely shows a pattern.


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## Zareza

*Romanian*
_wi-fi _ /waj.'faj/
_iceberg _ - aisberg /'ajs.berg/
_hockey _ - hochei /'ho.kej/
_rugby _ - rugbi /'rujg.bi/ or rugby /'rag.bi/
_laser_ - laser /'la.ser/
_radar _- radar /'ra.dar/
_watt -_ /vat/
_backhand_ - backhand /'be.kend/
_smoothie _- smoothie /ˈsmu.ði/ or /'smu.ti/


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## Awwal12

Stoggler said:


> I’m surprised that languages have borrowed the English term for the former


Russia definitely cannot be called a nation with a long or particularly intensive history of seafaring. Most of its terminology in that regard ("board", "mast", "keel", "helm", "port", "sea storm" etc.) comes from Dutch or Low German. "Iceberg" in English is, in fact, a loan from Dutch as well. Russian has loaned it from German (< Eisberg).


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## סייבר־שד

Dymn said:


> How do you pronounce the following anglicisms (if you use them), in your country and language?
> 
> *Spain Spanish, Catalan*
> _wifi _- /ˈɣwifi/, /ˈwifi/
> _iceberg _- /iθeˈβeɾx/, /isəˈβɛɾk/
> _hockey _- /ˈxokei̯/, /ˈxokei̯/
> _rugby _- /ˈruxbi/, /ˈrugbi/
> _laser_ - /ˈlaseɾ/, /ˈlazeɾ/
> _radar _- /raˈðaɾ/, /rəˈðaɾ/
> _watt - _/bat/, /bat/
> _backhand_ - we don't use it
> _smoothie _- /esˈmuθi/, /əzˈmuθi/
> 
> There is no need to be accurate about IPA, the main idea is if you pronounce after the spelling or the real English pronunciation. Feel free to add more anglicisms if you may.
> 
> Thanks!


In case you're still interested in the subject... 

Here in Mexico it's not at all rare to bump into both hispanicized forms and those more faithful to the original English pronunciation, though it's also true some words are pretty much always pronounced in only one form, like "radar" and "laser".

Judging from personal experience, I would say it often has to do with the socioeconomic status of the speaker in question, but that's by no means a rule.

I also find it interesting (and unfortunate) that respecting the English pronunciation can often lead to either being mocked or attacked, whereas the same doesn't seem to be quite as common if you use hispanicized forms. But again, the socioeconomic factor, as well as the historical one, play a big role in that.

Anyway, the anglicisms you listed would be pronounced in Mexican Spanish thus:

• wifi: [ˈɣwaifai / ɣwai fai]
• iceberg: [ˈaisberk]
• hockey: [ˈhɔki]
• rugby: [ˈrukbi]
• laser: [ˈlaseɾ]
• radar: [raˈðaɾ]
• watt: [ɣwat]
• backhand: _(not used)_
• smoothie: [esˈmuti]


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## Welsh_Sion

*Cymraeg/Welsh*

_*wifi* _- /ˈwIfI/
_*iceberg* _- *mynydd iâ* /*ˈ*mənəð Ia:/
_*hockey* _-* hoci* /ˈhokI/
_*rugby* _- *rygbi* /ˈrəgbI/
_*laser*_ - /ˈlaseɾ/
_*radar* _- /ˈradaɾ/
_*watt* - _*wat* /wat/
_*backhand*_ - *trawiad gwrthlaw* /'traujad 'gurθilau/
_*smoothie* _- *smŵddi*/ˈsmu:ði/


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## Linnets

Italian:

_wi-fi_ [wai̯ˈfai̯]
_iceberg_ [ˈai̯zberg]
_hockey_ [ˈhɔːkei̯]
_rugby_ [ˈrɛgbi] (just like _club_ [klɛb], old Anglicisms often have a French-like pronunciation)
_laser_ [ˈlaːzer]
_radar_ [ˈraːdar]
_watt_ [vat]
_backhand_ (not used)
_smoothie_ [zˈmuːti] (although _frullato_ is more common)
_Spiderman_ [ˈwɔːmo ˈraɲɲo] (_Uomo Ragno_) or [sˈpai̯derˌmɛn]
_Popeye_ [ˈbrattʃo di fɛrro] (_Braccio di Ferro_) or [poˈpai̯] (rare)


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