Proper pronunciation of Nowitzki (split from Rising Stars thread)

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#1
I can't get too bent with the mispronunciation of Bogdanovic. I still hear people mispronounce Nowitki's name and phonetically call him Nowitskee rather than Novitskee. (I think I heard Paul Pierce do that just recently). It seemed like it took it decade for most announcers to finally understand that the germans pronounce the w as a v. If it took that long for them to get a HOFer's name right, I'm not holding my breath on Bogs.
 
#2
I can't get too bent with the mispronunciation of Bogdanovic. I still hear people mispronounce Nowitki's name and phonetically call him Nowitskee rather than Novitskee. (I think I heard Paul Pierce do that just recently). It seemed like it took it decade for most announcers to finally understand that the germans pronounce the w as a v. If it took that long for them to get a HOFer's name right, I'm not holding my breath on Bogs.
No idea where you got this from, but I am German and I don't pronounce the w as a v. Neither does anyone here. :)
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
#5
I find this hard to believe considering phonetically the German w is an English v... Unless you're telling me you guys say Volkswagen and not "folksvagen"
Richtig! Sehr gut.

http://joycep.myweb.port.ac.uk/pronounce/consonw.html

The German consonant 'w' is pronounced like an English 'v' in the words 'very' and 'video'. The sound is also represented in phonetics by the phoneme 'v'. Although this may take some getting used to, the articulation of the sound itself is one with which English speakers are familiar. In both languages, the upper front teeth and the lower lip come together to form a narrowing through which the air passes with a trace of a hiss. It is called a 'fricative' consonant, which means that is articulated by forcing air through a narrow gap in the vocal tract in such a way that friction is audible.

The /v/ phoneme, the sound that is made when you say the German letter 'w', is thus formed in the same manner and the same place as the German /f/ phoneme. The difference is that you use your vocal cords to make the /v/ sound, but not when you articulate /f/. To feel the difference between the two consonants, place your hands over your ears and repeat the German words fein and Wein (which begins with the /v/ phoneme, despite its spelling). When you say fein, the only thing that should hear is the airstream passing out through your mouth. But when you say Wein, you should be able to feel your entire head vibrate.
 
#7
I find this hard to believe considering phonetically the German w is an English v... Unless you're telling me you guys say Volkswagen and not "folksvagen"
Ah, indeed. Now I get the confusion. The underlying problem is the pronounciation of 'v', say like in Frank 'Vogel', which basically is a /f/ in german (Fogel). So yes, 'folkswagen'.
So yes, in turn you could say the german 'w' is like the american 'v'. But one question remains to me. How do you pronounce the american 'w' then? Say in 'Webber'? Isnt that the same sound as in 'Vogel'? So dont you pronounce the american 'w' as american 'v' as well? But why would @Kingster then differentiate between Nowitzki and Novitzki?

Seriously? You're gonna argue about how a letter is pronounced? smdh

I'm gonna get back to talking about the All-Star events. Yawn.

Hopefully Buddy will do us proud in the 3-point shootout.
Can we maybe move it in another thread where it is more appropriate? Im really interested in learning the differences :)
 
#8
Has this been here a month and nobody answered?

The 'W' in Webber is very different from the 'V' in Vogel. I don't know enough German to know if there's a sound in German that is comparable to the English 'w', but it is clearly different to native speakers. When making the 'w' sound in English, your teeth never come close to your lips. You can get close to it by saying 'oooooo' as in boooooo, then pursing your lips a little extra and finishing with an 'uh'. So ooo-uh with that extra purse in the middle becomes ooowuh.

Meh... Probably better for Warhawk to post another link. ;)