Oskar Böhme

[TWScott283]

Can someone provide an accurate and authoritative pronunciation on this composer's name?

Many people pronounce it: oskar BAME.

However, the actual Germans I've asked insist it's: BURME (somewhat phonetically spelled).

Thanks!

Travis

[ginnboonmiller]

Americans do best to pronounce the umlaut o by saying "ee" while the lips are shaped to say "o". And you pronounce the e on the end.

Something like
BEWmuh.

[TubaRay]

Americans do best to pronounce the umlaut o by saying "ee" while the lips are shaped to say "o". And you pronounce the e on the end.
Something like
BEWmuh.

That is exactly how I was taught to say it(and by a German, at that).

[Donn]

I am reminded of a the German exchange student who, knowing something of the linguistic limitations of her American colleagues, mentioned the great German composer "Bee-toe-vun". One of us gleefully corrected her, "no, it's "Bay-toe-vun!" Duh... (she was presumably thinking) no, it's actually "Beh-toe-fun with the "eh" really somewhere between "eh" and "ee" and without the final glide to "ee" that happens with English long vowels, plus note: "f" not "v". But she was nice.

I'm also reminded of English speakers who ostentatiously pronounce "Bach" with a lengthy gargle at the end, or the folks I used to hear talk about the troubles in "Nicadog-wa" back in the '80s. My personal philosophy on this is that "right" pronunciation depends on what language you're speaking. No one expects you to get the tones right on a Chinese name, or utter the unusual sounds found in Danish, if you're speaking English, and in fact unless you're reasonably skilled at the language in question it may be better not to attempt it. What's useful is to know the conventional English pronunciation, which in this case admittedly rhymes with "lame", but there you have it. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with popping out an "ö" once in a while, just saying it's all right to stick to sounds found in English if that suits you better.

[TWScott283]

Thank you so much for this information.

I can finally say his name without insecurely mumbling because I'm not exactly sure!!

[tuba-tobias]

First of all: it is pronounced in two syllables : Böh-me
Then pronounce the Böh as the bu in the english word burn. (the h is mute).
The me is pronounced as mentioned earlier in this topic: meh, e as in echo, not ee as in english.

Still confused?

[TWScott283]

We are only giving approximations, here, with no actual sound for you to copy. BEST BET: call up someone in the German Language Department at UNT and ask them for a solid, safe, neutral pronunciation. All of ours could give you a very regional sound. Ask for High German. Bavarian and Austrian regional pronunciations can be very different, and my particular example comes from a family who speak Bavarian German and my own personal time spent in Austria. So I might have given you something that will sound great to most of your listeners but that would make the German speakers in your audience snicker at you. And when I attended UNT it was crawling with Germans and Austrians! High German pronunciation is universally acceptable in an academic setting.

Gotta be closer than BAME right????

[oedipoes]

Ever heard police Officer Crabtree in the British series 'ALLO ALLO' say "good morning"?
It sounds like "good muwrning"
That sound is written ö in German.
So in written German sounds, he says: "gut mörning"

Wim

[oedipoes]

I am reminded of a the German exchange student who, knowing something of the linguistic limitations of her American colleagues, mentioned the great German composer "Bee-toe-vun". One of us gleefully corrected her, "no, it's "Bay-toe-vun!" Duh... (she was presumably thinking) no, it's actually "Beh-toe-fun with the "eh" really somewhere between "eh" and "ee" and without the final glide to "ee" that happens with English long vowels, plus note: "f" not "v". But she was nice.

I'm also reminded of English speakers who ostentatiously pronounce "Bach" with a lengthy gargle at the end, or the folks I used to hear talk about the troubles in "Nicadog-wa" back in the '80s. My personal philosophy on this is that "right" pronunciation depends on what language you're speaking. No one expects you to get the tones right on a Chinese name, or utter the unusual sounds found in Danish, if you're speaking English, and in fact unless you're reasonably skilled at the language in question it may be better not to attempt it. What's useful is to know the conventional English pronunciation, which in this case admittedly rhymes with "lame", but there you have it. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with popping out an "ö" once in a while, just saying it's all right to stick to sounds found in English if that suits you better.

Mmm, I disagree to a certain point.
People will highly appreciate it if you pronounce their name, city or country like they do.
They will at least very much appreciate the fact that you are willing to do the effort of learning the correct pronunciation.

Wim (pronounced like William but without the 'llia' between Wi and m )

[Donn]

Mmm, I disagree to a certain point.
People will highly appreciate it if you pronounce their name, city or country like they do.
They will at least very much appreciate the fact that you are willing to do the effort of learning the correct pronunciation.

Wim (pronounced like William but without the 'llia' between Wi and m )

Hey, that's interesting - I would have guessed "Vim". And a quick check on Flemish (am I close?) pronunciation confirms, but then further research yields 'w sounds halfway between English "w" and "v"', so it's apparently not so easy as a simple choice between the two sounds we use in English - and maybe subject to regional variation? Too bad no r - I see it's trilled in Dutch, which is always the most fun way.

I personally love this stuff, and I'm looking forward to trying to pronounce the Dutch (really!) first name "Guido" correctly the next chance I get, if indeed I really stand a chance from what little I've been able to read about it. So I'm not the person to throw cold water on anyone's desire to go native with foreign names. You really get right to the point I was trying to make, though - we always have to draw the line somewhere, because in the end if we're speaking English our listeners are no better equipped to understand our attempts to render the sounds of Mandarin Chinese or whatever than we are to utter them, and in the end a very reasonable position is to try to make it work using only English phonemes -- not because we don't care, and certainly not that we don't appreciate the remarkable ability of so many of our European friends to communicate in such good English, but because we're trying to communicate, in English. Your instructions for pronouncing your name aren't in conflict with that at all, I'm just talking about non-English sounds like ö or the G in Guido (I think?), or a trilled r for that matter. The tendency to substitute natural English sounds for these isn't dismissive Anglo-centrism, it's just a practical choice that's made by speakers of every language.

[JCalkin]

I am reminded of a the German exchange student who, knowing something of the linguistic limitations of her American colleagues, mentioned the great German composer "Bee-toe-vun". One of us gleefully corrected her, "no, it's "Bay-toe-vun!" Duh... (she was presumably thinking) no, it's actually "Beh-toe-fun with the "eh" really somewhere between "eh" and "ee" and without the final glide to "ee" that happens with English long vowels, plus note: "f" not "v". But she was nice.

I'm also reminded of English speakers who ostentatiously pronounce "Bach" with a lengthy gargle at the end, or the folks I used to hear talk about the troubles in "Nicadog-wa" back in the '80s. My personal philosophy on this is that "right" pronunciation depends on what language you're speaking. No one expects you to get the tones right on a Chinese name, or utter the unusual sounds found in Danish, if you're speaking English, and in fact unless you're reasonably skilled at the language in question it may be better not to attempt it. What's useful is to know the conventional English pronunciation, which in this case admittedly rhymes with "lame", but there you have it. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with popping out an "ö" once in a while, just saying it's all right to stick to sounds found in English if that suits you better.

Mmm, I disagree to a certain point.
People will highly appreciate it if you pronounce their name, city or country like they do.
They will at least very much appreciate the fact that you are willing to do the effort of learning the correct pronunciation.

Wim (pronounced like William but without the 'llia' between Wi and m )

...and people can get downright upset if you pronounce something incorrectly. Where I grew up on the East coast, we pronounced Oregon "Or-eh-gone", in three syllables. Natives of the state (as I learned when I went to Idaho) pronounce it more like "organ" with a short "i" jammed into the middle. Some folks were pretty hostile about my mispronunciation. We also pronounced Nevada "Ne-VAH-duh", which I was less-than politely informed was also incorrect. I have since used the correct regional pronunciations.

Here in Nebraska, we have a town, Norfolk, what is not pronounced like it looks. They (we) say "nor-fork", two equal syllables. There's a story about the naming of the town and how it was supposed to be "North Fork" (for the North fork of the Elkhorn River) but was messed up and the odd pronunciation stuck. Compare that with the Virginian "NAW-f'k" and you'll see how important regional dialects/pronunciations can be.

Back to the German, I think in an academic setting we ought to try for the most correct pronunciation we can. We tend to argue over the correctness of using the high German for names that are harder for pronounce for us 'mercans (those that use an umlaut), but we all (on this board) most likely pronounce "Richard Wagner" in the German, right? Do you pronounce Vaughan Williams' first name "Raif" or "Ralf"?

If someone would take the time to teach me the correct pronunciation of Mandarin, Japanese, Swahili or anything else, I'd try to use it as best I could. IMO, it's better to try (and fail) at pronouncing something correctly than to say "screw it" and butcher names wantonly.

[oedipoes]

Travis[/quote]

http://media.putfile.com/Boehme[/quote]

That's what I thought.