- Joined
- Jul 27, 2010
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- 31,353
This might be a one and done topic question, but it's bugging me!
A few years ago I took German at university., although I don't remember that much about the language, which is a shame. BUT the pronunciation of Munich has never been explained to me where I understand it In German with the umlaut ("u" with two dots over the "u").
The English speaking world, along with Germans pronouncing it in English way as Munich (Mewnick). In German it's spelled as Munchen and pronounced like Mewnken. WHY?!?!
It's been explained to me that Germans can pronounce a town's name in anyway that they want, which I understand. But why pronounce it differently in one language and not enforce the actual spelling and pronunciation in German (Deutschland) in English as well? Welp, they do it with more than one geographical name!
One way that makes sense to me comes from an exchange daughter from South Korea. Her name is spelled something like Seon Young and I could never get the pronunciation correct, which frustrated us both. After a while she informed us that her English name was now "Kylie." lol. So because stupid Americans couldn't pronounce her actual name and was tired of hearing her American Dad butcher it, she changed it to a different English name. Could that be the reason for "Munich"?
A few years ago I took German at university., although I don't remember that much about the language, which is a shame. BUT the pronunciation of Munich has never been explained to me where I understand it In German with the umlaut ("u" with two dots over the "u").
The English speaking world, along with Germans pronouncing it in English way as Munich (Mewnick). In German it's spelled as Munchen and pronounced like Mewnken. WHY?!?!
It's been explained to me that Germans can pronounce a town's name in anyway that they want, which I understand. But why pronounce it differently in one language and not enforce the actual spelling and pronunciation in German (Deutschland) in English as well? Welp, they do it with more than one geographical name!
One way that makes sense to me comes from an exchange daughter from South Korea. Her name is spelled something like Seon Young and I could never get the pronunciation correct, which frustrated us both. After a while she informed us that her English name was now "Kylie." lol. So because stupid Americans couldn't pronounce her actual name and was tired of hearing her American Dad butcher it, she changed it to a different English name. Could that be the reason for "Munich"?
