If there’s an old Hebrew name for the country, it goes with this. Thus, France is “Tzarfat”, Spain is “Sefarad”, India is “Hodu” and China is “Sin”.
If there’s no Hebrew name for it, then it goes with a Latinate name - Italia, Germania, Anglia, Shvetzaria (Switzerland), Norvegia (Norway) and so on.
(Incidentally, the above two rules also apply to the names of Popes. John Paul II, for instance, was referred to as Yochanan Paulus - first name in Hebrew, second name in Latin).
If there’s no Latinate name, they pronounce it the local way, except with Hebrew consonants and vowels. People never try to copy local pronunciation, unless they’re being pretentious or mocking.
I’m pretty sure this is standard for countries were two or more languages are spoken.
What I find curious, thoug, is that the English names of foreign cities are often taken from the languages of third countries. Roma, Milano, Venezia, Napoli. Torino etc are all referred to in English by their French names, or variants thereof. Wien is called by its Italian name.
It may be okay to try to pronounce things and places, but highly recommend not trying to wing it with proper names as it not only be awkward, but insulting if you use the wrong accent.
If you have a name from a different language–a name which was used in your home all the time you were growing up in that language, which you obviously speak–why would you change the pronunciation? This is an every-day occurrence in L.A., where most people speak a language other than English at home, and where most millennials are bilingual.
If you moved to Mexico, and became fluent in Spanish, would you change the way you pronounce your own name? Or the name of your home state? Probably not. This is not about “making a point,” but rather is just customary habit.
Right, because they usually speak English, too, and know the English pronunciation, which most people use.
Again–this isn’t “making a point.” It’s just custom and habit.
In the case of Milan and Turin, I think they only started referring to themselves using the Italian names relatively recently. They’re still Milan and Turin in Lombard and Piedmontese, respectively.
I’ve moved to Mexico three times now, and yes, I certainly change the pronunciation of my name and home state to suit the local language, and sometimes in the case of my name, change it entirely (“Jim” pronounced “Jeem,” or even “Jeemy”), and “Michigan” pronounced phonetically, which is exactly what is done in Mexico.
In English, I pronounce and expect to hear “Los Angeles” pronounced in the American English way, because I’m speaking English and not being pretentious.
Seems to be quite common. I say I live near Luzern (German name), not Lucerne (French name), but much of the tourist literature uses Lucerne.
Of course, all cantons in Swltzerland have French, German and Italian names, but not all the towns do. So Schaffhausen is Schaffhausen, also in Italian. But the bigger cities, such as Geneva/Genf/Ginerva and Zürich/Zurich/Zurigo (plus Zuri in the local language) have multiple names, and the English speakers here tend to use the name which is used in the city.
So even though I live in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, I would normally mention Geneva, if I am speaking English, but Genf if I am speaking German.
Took me a long time to learn that Mailand is Milan in German. Especially since so many people here refer to it as Milano. Torino I learned during the hype preceding the 2006 Olympics.
I do it because different languages have different ways of pronouncing consonants and vowels, and switching between them mid-sentence is often difficult and always sounds bad. If you’re playing the guitar and suddenly decided to play some Debussy, would you switch to a piano?
Because foreigners try to strangle themselves with that soft r before grabbing the final consonant and hitting themselves over the head with it, repeatedly. My name includes a couple of sounds which are quite unusual; I prefer being able to communicate smoothly, finish meetings on the same day in which they started and hopefully keep people from needing oxygen.
It gets even worse when “our” place name is a foreign word or words. DuBois PA for example. Locals pronounce it “Dew-boys”. I’ve had French-Canadian friends still looking for the place after they had arrived there.
Part 2 - It varies; some will use the word in their language for “New” and a more phonetic form of York. I have relatives from the Old Country I can speak with reasonably well until it comes to our place names; then I usually have them point at a place on the map.
As for the OP; I vary. Sometimes I use the actual pronunciation (like for North Versailles PA) and sometimes our American-ized pronunciation. No pretense to it (usually) - just a habit from coming from a multilingual family and traveling in like circles.
If it gets to the point of miscommunication, of course I’ll offer native pronunciation. But before that, I’ll give someone the benefit of the doubt, and just as often they do fine. Of course, all of this depends on the name in question.
Yes. I pronounce “Montreal”, “Quebec” and “Toronto” differently if I’m speaking French or English. (I’m sure there are other examples, but those are the three that come to mind immediately. )
