Artist names you're unsure of how to pronounce

That's a tough one. I think it's "wroy klahrk."

 

It's not just the speaking part; it's the hearing part. If I were to say I can't distinguish between a Bb and a C, I don't get to claim that's a regional way of listening. It means I have an issue with my hearing.

 

“Churches”.

 

Ponderous.

 

He wasn't wrong as far as Sinatra himself was concerned...

Frank Sinatra – Reprise: In 1960, no artist dared to stand against a label. Which is why Sinatra loved the idea. He'd just renewed his deal with Capitol Records, then decided, "Screw it, I want my own label." After a foiled attempt to buy Verve, Frank, on advice from attorney Mickey Rudin, invested in his own company. To everyone else, the label was pronounced re-preez, but to Frank, it was re-prize. As in reprisal against Capitol, and all the "cretinous" rock'n'roll they were releasing. Frank signed Vegas pallies Dean and Sammy, as well as jazz greats like Duke Ellington. But when first year sales fizzled, he lost interest and let Warner Brothers take over. Grudgingly, he soon became labelmates with Jimi Hendrix, The Kinks and Tiny Tim.

Google led me back to this very site for this tidbit!

Everybody wins! Yay!

 

The vowel sounds as we utter them do not have a universally agreed upon notation--especially as they occur in different combinations with other sounds and letters--the way musical notes do. Different regions pronounce the same letters differently, and therefore will describe the sounds differently. That's the distinction you seem to be missing. You are assuming that people cannot hear two different sounds. But why on earth would you assume that? There are only two distinct sounds to hear if speakers pronounce two distinct sounds. We cannot hear what isn't spoken, until or unless it IS spoken that way.

I think in your region of the US, people will pronounce "fairy" and "ferry" with the clear distinction you are making, so it is there to be heard. People in other areas of the US or the world may not hear it where they live, not because there is anything wrong with their hearing, but because it isn't being pronounced that way. They can certainly hear those two sounds, but will not normally hear them in those particular words.They presumably would hear it if they came to your area, and would think the speakers sounded funny, or at least different. Do you hear a clear difference between the vowel sounds in "there, " "their," and "hair"? If not, does that mean you have an issue with your hearing?

 

I've never looked into how to master Diamanda Galás.

 

I only have my own anecdotal data points. I have a friend from the midwest who swears he does not hear the vowel distinction (in the mary/merry case); not just that he doesn't use it in his speech. As to your there/their/hair vowels sounds, I could certainly make a case for saying those vowel sounds differently but I do not. I was raised in NY with those being the same. I would have to mentally go out of my way to say them differently. But if someone pronounced them differently I'm sure I could hear it.

I just reread your post. I cannot conceive of "not hearing the distinction in particular words", but somehow distinguish them in a disembodied manner. How is that done?

I say Merry followed by Mary and they go - same - but if I say just the vowel sound they magic say "yes different"?

 

My point is just that, as you say, in NY, no one pronounces those three words differently, so you hear them as the same. If someone from abroad were to ask you how to pronounce one, you might tell them to pronounce it like one of the others. Then imagine how you'd feel if someone from some region where they pronounce them differently from one another were to suggest you had something wrong with your hearing, That would be ridiculous, right? But that's exactly what you did.

I think your assertion that you would notice and hear the difference if someone were to pronounce those three words in three distinct ways is correct--and it should therefore be presumed correct for the person to whom you were replying in this thread, as well. He is coming from an area where they pronounce those two words the same, and so that is what he is (correctly) hearing. If he were to listen to a New Yorker (or someone like Chris Matthews, who I think is Philadelphian) pronounce "ferry," he's probably notice that it sounded more like "fehh-ry," and it would sound odd. I'll never forget a grad school roommate in Rochester who was from Philadelphia, and complained that folks in Rochester talked so funny--her example was how they pronounced "horror." To me, what she imitated was exactly what "horror" should sound like. So I asked how she thought it should sound, and her answer was "HAW-ruh." To her, "HAW-ruh" was simply the obvious and correct way to pronounce that word, and to clearly pronounce not only both sets of Rs, but also that second "o," was utterly bizarre to her. Does that mean she couldn't hear the OR at the end of that word? No--only that she grew up never having heard it that way. The fact that someone does not share your accent doesn't mean they cannot hear its sounds (though, as we quickly discover when learning new languages, some nuances of pronunciation do take time and experience to fully discern if we are not in the habit of discerning them in our own languages or accents, especially in casual conversation).

 

It's the latter.

Spencer is from Swansea, South Wales, and Davies (pron. Davis) is a very popular name in Wales. Indeed, the father of Ray and Dave Davies is from South Wales too, hence their name is also pronounced Davis.

Chances are the book you are thinking of is Exploding by Stan Cornyn (with Paul Scanlon). From pg. 48-49 of my copy: Then, from a long list, they chose the label's name: "This is it! This is it! 'Reprise: to play and play again.'"

From pg. 49, footnote 12: Almost everyone pronounced the label "Re-preese." Frank [Sinatra], who was slow to forgive, was the only one to pronounce it "Re-prize" as in "reprisal."


Since the first quote indicates that the title comes from the verb form, it is re-prize.

 

Thank you. I want to say his name often... To make people discover his wonderful music.

 

Yeah, thanks so much! I posted a similar quote - it seems there's more than one source for this; it's so gratifying to know I didn't misremember it!

Most people will say ruh-PREEZ - and they're not 'wrong'....but I'll stick with Frank's pronunciation!

 

Edgar Froese

 

Holger Trülzsch

 

I remember reading years ago that when Warners wanted to shut down Reprise and fold it into one of their other labels the last holdout was Neil Young, who wouldn't budge because he wanted to stay on Sinatra's label.

 

ED-gar FRER-seh (that's the vowel sound of "er")

The vowel sound in Trülzsch does not exist in Standard English. It's the regular German ü, as used in Müller and München (but not in "Hüsker Dü", as we've learned previously in this thread).

So, HOL-ger TRÜLTS-SH. <- That notation is intended to show that there are two different fricatives, not a single one.

 

I stand corrected! I most certainly will defer to anyone who lives in Italy, but that's not how I was taught.

I at least know enough to know that a final 'e' in Italy would not be pronounced with a long "E" sound at least.

 

There are regions in Italy (the south, in Naples principally) where they don't finish any word, but it's dialect. Take the Soprano's term gumba, which is (in southern italian) compare (it means buddy). In southern dialect compare becomes cumpà or gumbà and you have the broccolino or 'nu joisey' pronounce. It like good fella that means fellow but it's shortened. They have to shorten every word, who knows why... But in proper italian you have to say every vocal or consonant, it's pronounced as you write or read. The exception is the H which is silent.

 

In the interview with Labi Siffre at the link below, he is introduced as "Labby Siffree"

Labi Siffre on Arthur Ransome – Great Lives – Podcast

The same pronunciation is used by Siffre himself in his Ted Talk at 0:44

 

Thanks! That made it really clear!

 

No, the first quote indicates that the title comes from the musical symbol ( :r ) which served as the company’s logo:



Many years ago at the Sinatra Family Forum, Nancy Sinatra stated that the footnote in Stan Cornyn’s book is inaccurate:

 

la-TEE-sea-ya SA-dee-ay

In Stereolab's earliest days (and during her brief stint in McCarthy), she was credited as Seaya Sadier, a diminutive of her first name that some of her friends used.

 

Mine is a record label. Is "DERAM" pronounced "Dee-ram" or "Der-ram" or "Dare 'em" or something else? TIA

 

Big Country drummer Mark Brzezicki has a challenging name for us Anglos. I recall Smash Hits used to refer to him as Mark Unpronounceablename.

 

I always pronounced it re-PRIZE before I'd ever actually heard it said. It's still how I pronounce it more often than not!