[Mithras]

I'm giving a talk in which I'll mention the work of "Monika Woszczyna", who got her PhD in Germany, but sounds Polish to me. Anybody have a hint on how to pronounce this name?

[Chuckit]

If worse comes to worst, just call Carnegie Mellon and ask a secretary in her department.

[mojo2]

Originally Posted by Mithras

I'm giving a talk in which I'll mention the work of "Monika Woszczyna", who got her PhD in Germany, but sounds Polish to me. Anybody have a hint on how to pronounce this name?

MAH-nih-ka.

[btober]

if it's any help, i'm pretty sure "szcz" is pronounced "sez" in polish.

so my best guess would be woh-SEZ-nah.

[mojo2]

I'll guess.

Woh - CHAZ - nah

[Millennium]

Again, it's just a guess, but I'd go with "Woz-china".

[Kerrigan]

I knew a guy whose last name was Czcyolish and it was pronounced "Fallish"... wtf

[slpdLoad]

I typed it into Simple Text, and Vicki pronounced it woz-see-zin-ah.

[voodoo]

Originally Posted by slpdLoad

I typed it into Simple Text, and Vicki pronounced it woz-see-zin-ah.

Oh and she speaks Polish since... ?

V

[Chuckit]

She's been taking courses at the local community college.

[Kerrigan]

Vicki dont even speaks english

[slpdLoad]

Yeah, but her pronunciation was just as good as any of the above guesses

[ghporter]

I guarantee that the lady has heard her name butchered beyond recognition thousands of times. A good try (like one of the suggestions above) will be a good start-and an immediate follow up with "did I get that right?" will make a great impression too.

[BlueSky]

wos-zinna or wos-zina

[mojo2]

05m: Natalie Portman / Fall Out Boy

Artsy Apartment

Nunni.....Natalie Portman
Jeff.....Jason Sudeikis
Nuni.....Maya Rudolph
Nonny.....Fred Armisen
Tato.....Chris Parnell


(Nunni and Jeff walk in the door to the modern house)

Nunni: Motha? Dadu? We’re here!

Jeff: I hope they like me.

Nunni: Don’t worry. They love all my new boyfriends.

Noony: You made it!

Nuni:Oh, you must forgive us, we were eating raw bacon in the lighthouse.

(the three hug)

Nunni: Motha, Dadu, This is my new boyfriend. He is from the college with me.

Jeff: Hi, it’s an honor to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Schoener.

Nuni: Oh please, everyone calls me Nuni.

Jeff: Oh! So Nunni, you’re named after your mother? Noony: No She is Nunni and she is Nuni.

Jeff: Uh, yeah. Nuni, that’s what I am saying right? Nuni.

Noony: No, I am Noony.

Jeff: Oh, you’re Nuni.

Nuni: No. No. Noony.

Jeff: Nuuuuuuni.

Nunni: That is no one.

Nuni: Look at my face. Nuni.

Jeff: Alright, I feel like…Nuni. Is that right Nuni?

Noony: That is very incorrect. Hey! Let us toss in the towel.

Nuni: Please children, won’t you join us in the sitting room?

Jeff: Oh, Alright. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Is there a chair for me?

Nuni: You sit over there on that pile of hair.

Jeff: Oh, this is actually a cahir?

Noony: Why yes it’s the Hair Chair by Mobus.

Jeff: Oh yeah, Mobus. Of course. Wow this chair is actually very itchy.

Nunni: Yes it is. It is because of all the gorilla hair.

Jeff: Wait, so did someone kill a gorilla to make this chair?

Nuni: What a terrible conclusion! It is the hair collected from the bottom of a gorilla shower, silly.

Noony: So young boy. Please tell us about yourself.

Jeff: Uh, well. My name is Jeff.

Nuni: Geyf. Gearf. Guearf. Guarf.

Jeff: No no no it’s Jeff.

Noony: Je Guar. Jay Hay. Jerganz.

Nunni: Motha Dadu, you are embarrasing me. Its Jerff. Jeh-Ear-Earre-Effe! Juearf!

Noony: Oh. Like the racecar competitor Juaref Gueardon.

Nuni: Oh, like the wonderful actor Juef Goaldblaum.

Nunni: Precisely! Juearf!

Nuni: Wonderful! We’re in agreement.

Noony: With all this visiting you must be quite hungry. Who wants a snack?

Nuni: Tato! Time for treat!

Tato: Who wants melted ice cream?

Nuni, Noony, Nunni: Me me me me me me me!

Noony: Oh Tato please. Give me blueberry. It’s my favorite.

(Tato sucks it up through a large straw and spits it into his mouth)

Nunni: Put on your treat bib Jarbf!

Jeff: No, I’m good. I really don’t need anyone to blow melted ice cream into my mouth.

Nuni: Oh Guarf, don’t be rude.

Nunni: Please Lerf. If you cared about me you would be more polite. Tato Tato Tato, me next!

Jeff: I do care about you Nuni.

Noony: Well, I care about you too, but this is all so new to me.

Jeff: Not you Nuni, her Nuni. You know what, uh, Tater. Let me try the strawberry.

Tato: Open wide, here comes the tube.

Jeff: Ahh, alright.

Tato: My cousin turns three in two more years. (giggles)

Jeff: Hey, how about that? Uh, you know what, that didn’t taste like strawberry.

Nuni: That is because it is pizza and capers.

Jeff: Wonderful.

Nunni: Would you like to try banana and clam?

Jeff: You know what, I’m gonna pass. I’m gonna pass on that one. Uh, where’s the little boys room.

Nunni: Oh, please use Dada’s mobile.

Nuni: It’s the Carry Pot by Human Function.

Jeff: Um, where do I do this?

Noony: Well, right here of course.

Jeff: Uh huh. Uh, maybe I’ll just take this little bugger outside, alright?

Nuni: Alright. Bye Groof.

Noony: Bye Jyland.

Nuni: Oh darling. He is so charming.

Nunni: He’s shy.

Noony: I want some more melted ice cream! Tato!!!

Tato: Who want’s seconds?

Noony, Nuni, Nunni: Me me me me me me me me!

(fade out to Nonny getting more ice cream spat in his mouth)

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/05/05mnuni.phtml

[Hash]

Its Polish and pronunciation is

--wos-zina

[Mithras]

Originally Posted by Chuckit

If worse comes to worst, just call Carnegie Mellon and ask a secretary in her department.

Good suggestion; I did this, and she offered "Wah-SHEEN-ah".
Thanks all for the help!

Maybe the Bill Gates foundation will donate vowels to Poland and save the next generation from this trouble.

[Gossamer]

Originally Posted by Mithras

Maybe the Bill Gates foundation will donate vowels to Poland and save the next generation from this trouble.

[Kerrigan]

Just call him Wozniak, or better, Woz.

[Tomchu]

[privacy]

[Chuckit]

Eh, Monika Woszcyna doesn't necessarily pronounce her name in the traditional Polish fashion. I had a teacher in college named Quintero, pronounced like "Quint arrow" rather than the Spanish way.

[Kerrigan]

The way that everyone authoritatively and confidently offered incorrect pronunciations is funny. Typicall MacNN, everyone knows everything, until someone with some actual credentials (Tomchu) sets it straight.

Reminds me of that thread last month where everyone was claiming to know the translation of a Spanish quote, but nobody spoke Spanish except for 1 person who eventually corrected everyone else.

[ghporter]

Tom, I think your phonetics work fine - at least for me. And it parses quite well sylable by sylable. But Chuck's got a great point, which leads back to my advice: give it a good shot (and probably a better shot with Tom's pronounciation) and then ask "did I get it right?" Brownie points come from this method!

[Mithras]

Tomchu: if you're game to say the name + throw it on a web page, hey, I'd love it.
I wouldn't take the secretary's word as gospel truth, anyhow. If I'm gonna say it wrong, I might as well say it wrong but Polish-ish.

And ghporter, you're right that just being spirited & plugged-in about it is the way to go. It's not like everyone else says her name correctly...

cheers!

[Chuckit]

Just do like in sign language and spell it. "According Monika W-O-S-Z-C-Y-N-A…"

[Monique]

I would say Vozkoona

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by Monique

I would say Vozkoona

You would be wrong…

[Tomchu]

[privacy]

[MacMan4000]

...........

[Tomchu]

privacy

[Ozmodiar]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan

Typicall MacNN

I would argue that this trend is typical of the entire internets.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by Tomchu

I fail to see how anyone can possibly make any more uneducated suggestions, right after the native Pole on the board posts an audio recording of the correct pronounciation.

Seriously now.

You are quite obviously wrong, MacMan.

I'm thinking MacMan was joking, since the issue was how you pronounce "szcy," not where the emphasis should fall — meaning "Wos-ZCY-na" is completely useless.

[undotwa]

Originally Posted by Tomchu

All completely wrong. I read, write, and speak Polish, and some of these suggestions made me laugh.

You'll want to pronounce her name "Mo-nee-ka Vosh-tzin-ah". However, the last name "Woszczyna" is a lot more common than "Woszcyna", in which case the last name would be "Vosh-chin-ah", with the "ch" sound being a more deeper/gutteral sound than say, the "ch" in "chin" (the part of your face).

I can just record myself saying it when I get home from work.

With the very little Polish I know from a few classes I took at the beginning of last year, I couldn't agree more with Tomchu's pronunciation. I don't understanding where all the other ones came from. Did you guys just pull them out of your ass?

Just wondering though, I was taught that 'c' is 'ts'. So I would have pronounced it "Vosh-tsin-ah". Why did you use 'z'?

[MacMan4000]

.............

[Ulrich Kinbote]

Originally Posted by Tomchu

http://tomchu.com/pronounciation.mov

Ignore the fact that I sound 14 years old when speaking Polish (it's a higher-pitch language than English, or so my friends tell me), and ignore the large size of the recording. I have QT set to Raw.

Good luck Mithras.

[Mithras]

Kickass, thanks. This thread has been both educational and entertaining.

[Hash]

The fact that Tomchu is Polish, does not mean that he can pronounce it correctly or even read it. Maybe he doesn't speak Polish or did not grew there. Then he knows sh*t about the name. As I see, I was right about the pronunciation: it is wos-zi-na

[Tomchu]

[privacy]

[undotwa]

Originally Posted by Hash

The fact that Tomchu is Polish, does not mean that he can pronounce it correctly or even read it. Maybe he doesn't speak Polish or did not grew there. Then he knows sh*t about the name. As I see, I was right about the pronunciation: it is wos-zi-na

Look, I know very little Polish, but I can (with difficulty) pronounce Polish words (as I don't do it very often). I don't know where you are getting your crazy conspiracy theories from or even your pronunication. 'woszina' seems completely wrong. 'sz' is a 'sh' sound, not 's' and 'c' is a 'ts' sound. In principle, Polish pronunciation is easier than English, it is simply getting your head around the consonant clusters that is often the problem.

[Hash]

OK, let it be wosh-tzina as you all prefer. Still, sounds similar

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Tomchu

All completely wrong. I read, write, and speak Polish, and some of these suggestions made me laugh.

You'll want to pronounce her name "Mo-nee-ka Vosh-tzin-ah". However, the last name "Woszczyna" is a lot more common than "Woszcyna", in which case the last name would be "Vosh-chin-ah", with the "ch" sound being a more deeper/gutteral sound than say, the "ch" in "chin" (the part of your face).

To be precise, though: the ‹cz› is not technically ‘deeper’ or more ‘guttural’ than ‹ch› in English. Rather, unlike ‹ch› [tʃ], which is post-alveolar, ‹cz› [tʂ] is slightly retroflex, meaning that the bulk and blade of your tongue is not really placed further back in the mouth, but the tip of the tongue is tilted backwards a bit.

Not that it usually matters much whether or not you maintain this difference as a foreigner: I’m usually told my Polish pronunciation is exceedingly good, and I don’t do much to distinguish the retroflexes from the post-alveolars. As long as I don’t start talking about beetles disturbing raindrops inside reeds, I’m usually fine.

(If you read the first post again, you’ll see he actually did write Woszczyna in there; the title is probably just a typo, so you’d be right in your guess that it’s Woszczyna, not Woszcyna)

[Tomchu]

Ah, you are indeed correct about the tongue thing ... I knew what the two sounds I was thinking of were, but I couldn't quite describe it.

Linguistics is such an interesting area of study.

[ghporter]

With most people, if you ask them what their tongue does when making a specific sound, they either give you a blank look or suddenly can't make any sounds at all (sort of like asking someone what he does with his little finger when he bowls-he may never bowl again!). It takes some seriously in-depth nomenclature to be able to isolate and delineate the structure of vocal sounds-Oisín seems to have quite a mastery of that technical language.

Me? I can recognize a variety of languages, speak,read, and write English quite well, speak Spanish a bit (and read it a bit too), and otherwise hear but cannot describe a lot of non-English sounds. That's frustrating sometimes...

[undotwa]

Originally Posted by Oisín

To be precise, though: the ‹cz› is not technically ‘deeper’ or more ‘guttural’ than ‹ch› in English. Rather, unlike ‹ch› [tʃ], which is post-alveolar, ‹cz› [tʂ] is slightly retroflex, meaning that the bulk and blade of your tongue is not really placed further back in the mouth, but the tip of the tongue is tilted backwards a bit.

Not that it usually matters much whether or not you maintain this difference as a foreigner: I’m usually told my Polish pronunciation is exceedingly good, and I don’t do much to distinguish the retroflexes from the post-alveolars. As long as I don’t start talking about beetles disturbing raindrops inside reeds, I’m usually fine.

(If you read the first post again, you’ll see he actually did write Woszczyna in there; the title is probably just a typo, so you’d be right in your guess that it’s Woszczyna, not Woszcyna)

Heh, I didn't actually read the first post. Maybe that had been a source of confusion for everyone? I was basing my pronunciation on the title!

Reading your post makes me want to study linguistics!

[Ulrich Kinbote]

I've got a name pronunciation question too that's not worth starting a thread.

How do you say the Spanish family name "Funes" ?

Is that "FEW-nihs", "Fyoons", "FOO-ness"....?

[Chuckit]

That would be "Foonehs."

[Ulrich Kinbote]

Originally Posted by Chuckit

That would be "Foonehs."

Rhymes with loonies?

[undotwa]

Originally Posted by Ulrich Kinbote

Rhymes with loonies?

The Spanish 'u' is too pure for that. More like 'oo' in 'foot'.

[Oisín]

And the e in -es is an ‘open’ e, as in set.

The great thing about Spanish is that its orthography is so close to pure phonetics. Funes, for instance, is pronounced almost precisely the same as how [funes] in phonetics would be pronounced. The only difference is the e, which is different. The proper phonetics would be ['funɛs] (Spanish doesn’t have [e], only [ɛ]).

So basically, FOO-ness, with the ‘oo’ part being one single vowel made with your lips tightly pouted (enough for you to be able to whistle as well) and not moving while you produce the vowel.

[Hash]

Talking about Spanish: I really enjoyed Spanglish, a movie with Adam Sandler and Paz Vega. Paz Vega is incredibly beautiful, sexy and romantic woman I ever seen on a screen.