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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| mr_chinnery Senior Member England Joined 5758 days ago 202 posts - 297 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 1 of 10 27 January 2011 at 4:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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I always remember my girlfriend saying she went to Italy and no one could pronounce her
name 'Bethany', they struggled with the 'th'. Now, my name is Matthew, is it easier to introduce myself as Matteo, even though it's not my real name? And what should my girfriend do? Stick with unpronounceable Bethany or use something else? Is there an equivalent in Italian? Thanks for your help. Edited by mr_chinnery on 27 January 2011 at 4:57pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| TerryW Senior Member United States Joined 6358 days ago 370 posts - 783 votes Speaks: English* | Message 2 of 10 28 January 2011 at 6:01am | IP Logged | ||
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When it comes down to something as personal as what people should call you, I would think that you should decide instead of asking us, taking into account any inevitable mispronunciation.
You could always use "Matt" to get around the "th" thing, but it'll get pronounced "Mot." Mot-tyoo, Mot, or or Matteo, you decide. ;-) This is an interesting topic, though, which I haven't seen discussed on here before. 99% of Americans will mispronounce foreigners' names. Jose: Ho-ZAY instead of Ho-SAY Giovanni: Jee-oh-VON-nee instead of Jyo-VON-nee (I think Italian-Americans even pronounce their *own* name as the former) And of course, forget about rolled "R"s Just an occupational hazard, I guess, of being a stranger in a strange land. Edited by TerryW on 28 January 2011 at 6:11am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6583 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 3 of 10 28 January 2011 at 10:06am | IP Logged | ||
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I take pleasure in the fact that for every new language I learn, I get a new name.
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| RedBlaze Diglot Newbie Italy Joined 5104 days ago 10 posts - 9 votes Speaks: Italian*, English Studies: Swedish, Danish | Message 4 of 10 28 January 2011 at 3:34pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, it's very likely that most Italians will have trouble with the "th" sound in your name - we tend to pronounce it as a simple T sound when it occurs in loanwords and other foreign words. But really, as long as you don't mind being called "Mattew" instead of "Matthew", there shouldn't be any particular problem, I think.
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| mr_chinnery Senior Member England Joined 5758 days ago 202 posts - 297 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 5 of 10 28 January 2011 at 4:45pm | IP Logged | ||
That's a really cool way of looking at it...but I'd definitely make sure everyone calls my girlfriend 'Betty', she would find that REALLY funny...or maybe just me... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tracker465 Senior Member United States Joined 5353 days ago 355 posts - 496 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 6 of 10 28 January 2011 at 5:57pm | IP Logged | ||
Except for the fact that my name is David (grrr), I would like this about language studies as well. When I travel, I always go and introduce myself with the local pronunciation, if I know it. As mentioned earlier, however, since it is your name, you really have to decide for yourself what is best. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| numerodix Trilingual Hexaglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6784 days ago 856 posts - 1226 votes Speaks: EnglishC2*, Norwegian*, Polish*, Italian, Dutch, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin | Message 7 of 10 28 January 2011 at 8:32pm | IP Logged | ||
Isn't that the classic blunder, though? There is no AY there, there's just É (long "eeeh" sound). The name business is amusing though. As a Polish kid growing up in Norway I went from Marcin to Martin cause noone could pronounce it without butchering it. Here in Holland there is no Martin (but at least they can pronounce it), so I really should be Martijn. I once tried to find out what my name would be in Chinese and the website came up with Ma Ding. Which sounds so cool that I sometimes think about using that instead. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| vilas Pentaglot Senior Member Italy Joined 6961 days ago 531 posts - 722 votes Speaks: Spanish, Italian*, English, French, Portuguese | Message 8 of 10 28 January 2011 at 9:07pm | IP Logged | ||
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There is an Italian translation for Bethany.
Bethany is a biblical name is the name of the village in Palestine ,where is the reputed Tomb of Lazarus , it is recorded in the New Testament. The Italian translation is Betania, but does'n't sounds very good . There are names that have good sound in other languages and sound funny and weird in Italian. Genevieve in french sounds good . In Italian is Genoveffa that is not so good. Many Italian Carmela and Concetta prefer the Spanish version of their names : Carmen and Conchita because their sounds are more "chic" For you girlfriend I think that "Betta" can be a good compromise 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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