# British pronunciation of "foreign" words **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 29, 2003, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation-of-foreign-words/198406 "2003-08-29T11:40:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation-of-foreign-words/198406/121 "2003-09-02T14:54:28Z")
The BBC produces a pronunciation guide for use by its news-readers and other broadcasting staff. I have done a quick Google but I do not think that it is available to tne general public. This would be useful for a lot of people if it was made available to a wider audience. ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation-of-foreign-words/198406/122 "2003-09-02T14:54:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OpalCat \* > **What is the proper pronunciation? Mish-el-angelo?** It should be something like “_MI_-kul-angelo,” not “MYE-kul-angelo.” In other words, a short “i” instead of the long “i” in “Michael.” The “ch” is still the hard “k”-sound. In French, however, I’ve heard his name rendered as “Michelange,” in which case you would use the soft “sh”-sound. So English is hardly the only language to “translate” the pronunciations of foreign words/names into a more “native” sound. ---
**Author:** ![spogga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@spogga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spogga)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation-of-foreign-words/198406/123 "2003-09-02T16:48:14Z")
The English translate any foreign words they find appealing/useful or whatever straight into the English vocabulary and this is what make the language so delightful and ever growing. It may be a little presumptious of us but…we see, we hear, we like, we take…we don’t ask for permission. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Richard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Richard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation-of-foreign-words/198406/124 "2003-09-02T18:41:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Homer \* > \*\*::sigh:: > > NO, we fucking DONT. > > I wish people who’ve never even BEEN to Missouri and probably don’t even know any one FROM Missouri would stop passing along this “gem”. > > NO, we fucking DONT. It’s Miz-ur-ee. Just like it should be. :rolleyes: > > Have you EVER heard a “Missouri” or “Kansas” accent? No, that’s because they don’t exist. We speak the way that news anchors are taught to speak. Without accent. > > Tim \*\* Yes, we do, at least some of us. I’m from Missouri (Jefferson City, in the center of the state). I never thought there was a Missouri accent until I was at a lunch once and someone asked if someone would pass him a “fark”, and I was the only one who understood him. I found out he was from Missouri also. I’ve lived in Ohio most of my life now, but I still slip into highway “farty” and “argan” music if I’m not careful. My kids (born in Ohio) make fun of me when I do this, and I can now hear the difference, but when I came here I couldn’t. I suspect that the Kansas City side of the state (I’ve spent very little time there) has much less of the accent than the St. Louis side. My brother-in-law, who has spent his entire life in St. Louis, has a very noticeable Missouri accent. By the way, the last syllable is not “ee” or “uh”. It’s a neutral unaccented vowel, which I guess sounds closer to “uh”, but the important thing is that it’s unaccented. It should be nearly swallowed. ---
**Author:** ![Hanayatori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8baadc/32.png) [@Hanayatori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanayatori)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation-of-foreign-words/198406/125 "2003-09-03T02:54:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mogiaw \* > \*\*On the Quikzit debate, my da was in Madrid at, (I think) the Quixote Museum (maybe there’s no such place and it was just a gallery) but it was some tour with an exhibit about Don Quixote and the tourguide pronounced it Don “Key-Shot”. So der. > > mogi \*\* I’m going to guess that the tour guide pronounced it “Key-Shot” because in older forms of Spanish, “x” represented an “sh” sound. If I’m not mistaken, “x” pronounced as “h” is an aspect of Mexican Spanish, coming from native words. The name of the country is spelled “Mexico” in Mexico, but “Mejico” in Spain. ---
**Author:** ![britain\_bro\_im\_from\_britain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/58956e/32.png) [@britain\_bro\_im\_from\_britain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/britain_bro_im_from_britain)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation-of-foreign-words/198406/126 "2012-11-06T20:00:54Z")
this is why we say that sorta stuff. BECAUSE ITS HOW OUR LANGUAGE WORKS! its kinda like me saying to you ‘why do you say mom instead of mum?’ you just gotta except it! its how our language/ accent works and thats how yours is different. :smack: \< face palm ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation-of-foreign-words/198406/127 "2012-11-06T20:15:00Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > What am I missing? Have I been pronouncing Maryland wrong all these years? How do the natives pronounce it? The actual natives pronounce it something like “Merlin.” ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation-of-foreign-words/198406/128 "2012-11-06T20:35:19Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > The actual natives pronounce it something like “Merlin.” Pssst: [Post 37.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=3913578&postcount=37) ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation-of-foreign-words/198406/129 "2012-11-06T21:25:08Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > The actual natives pronounce it something like “Merlin.” No, it’s more like “ZOM- bee”. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation-of-foreign-words/198406/130 "2012-11-07T11:09:38Z")
> [@raygirvan](#): > > _people from the north will pronounce the “a” in path, grass, bath etc as the short version and people from the south will use the longer version. I guess it depends on how snobby you wish to be._ > > Although ‘long a’ is only (arguably) snobby in the context of overall RP speech. Rural southern English and Estuary use it too. Well said, I grew up in a small Southern town and that is how we speak. Posh RP speaking Northerners however often use the short a. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation-of-foreign-words/198406/131 "2012-11-07T11:13:03Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > No, it’s more like “ZOM- bee”. I can’t believe you would say that. It’s obviously “Zohm-Bay” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-pronunciation-of-foreign-words/198406.md?page=6)