Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[zeppy]

As an American native ,How to pronounce for these names ? thanks for your always help !
----------------------------------

Stacey Riney

Meredith bledsoe

Mani Rigunay

Sandra Badalucco

Haimowitz Dale

Isaac Mizrahi

Hawke

[bud]

Stacey Riney - STAY-see RIE-nee (rie rhymes with die, hie and lie)

Meredith bledsoe - MARE-i-dith BLED-so (both i's are short)

Mani Rigunay - MAN-ee RIG-gun-nay (I'm guessing on the last name)

Sandra Badalucco - SAND-rah (or SAHND-rah) bad-a-LUKE-oh (first name pronunciation depends on Sandra's preference)

Haimowitz Dale - HIE-moe-wits dale (dale rhymes with mail and male)

Isaac Mizrahi - EYE-zick miz-RAH-hee (I'm guessing on the last name)

Hawke - hawk

[zeppy]

thank you . I 've been figuring that it 's quite hard to look for one exact way how to pronounce some of english names .

such as Rigunay , some natives would pronounce Rig-ooh-nay .

and Badalucco, some natives would pronounce Bah-duh-luck-co .

so what 's the standard ? I'm confused for that .

[bud]

There is no standard, Zeppy, because so many names are from other languages. Often, even native speakers have to ask how to pronounce a name. Sometimes even after hearing it pronounced correctly, native speakers do not really "hear" how to pronounce it. The Spanish name Xavier is an example. Many pronounce it as ex-AVE-ee-er, while the correct English pronunciation is ZAH-vee-air (I believe). Also, you have English names like Sandra. Some women with that name prefer SAND-rah, while others prefer SAHND-rah.

(Note: The capitalized syllables are stressed.)