How to pronounce brand names correctly. Norms for pronunciation of borrowed words and proper names

May 19, 2018

Due to the ban on pronouncing the Name, its exact sound was forgotten. For almost a thousand years the Name was not used in daily worship, and today we are faced with the question: how to pronounce it correctly? The two most famous versions are Yahweh and Jehovah. But why is there any confusion at all? And what is the true pronunciation of the Name?

The problem with pronunciation is due to the fact that in Hebrew writing, vowels and consonants are written using two separate and distinct sets of characters. Consonants are written in the form of letters, and vowels are written in the form of dots and dashes. For example, the word yeled (ילֶדֶ, child) is written with the consonants yld (ילד) and the vowels e e (ֶ ֶ). Regarding the Name, it is a very common belief that its vowels were systematically replaced by vowels from the word Adonai (Lord). Therefore, modern scholars deliberately ignore the vowels of YHVH, which are actually present in the Hebrew text of the Scriptures, and try to reconstruct the “original” vowels by resorting to a variety of external arguments and conjectures. As a result, scientists come to different conclusions about the original pronunciation of the Name. One of the most popular theories is that the Name was pronounced Yahweh, and scholars are almost unanimous in supporting this view. However, such consensus is not based on conclusive evidence. The Anchor Bible Dictionary explains: “The pronunciation of yhwh as Yahweh is a scientific guess.” If "Yahweh" is just a vague guess, then what do we really know about the pronunciation of the Name? And what can be said about the idea that the vowels of YHVH are actually borrowed from Adonai, as scholars universally claim?

Contrary to popular belief, the name YHVH as such was not suppressed from the written text of the Bible. In fact, the consonants that make up the name YHVH appear about 6,828 times in the Hebrew text of Scripture. What about vowels? Is it true that they belong to the word Adonai? To understand this problem, we must consider the practice of ancient scribes called kere-ketiv, "readable (kere) and written (ketiv)." Kere-ketiv occurs when a certain word in the Bible is written one way (ketiv), but a note in the margin of the biblical text indicates that it should be read as if it were written differently (kere). For example, in Genesis 8:17 we find the word hotze (הוצא, “bring out”). In Bible manuscripts, this word is marked with a small circle above it, which directs the reader to a note in the margin that says “היצא קרי” – “read haitse.” Thus, hotze is written in the Bible with the letter vav, but a note in the margin requires it to be read as heitze - with the letter yod. As with many kere-ketiv occurrences, the marginal note does not change the meaning of the verse, since the words hotse and haitse both mean “to bring out, to take away.” So why then read the word differently if it does not change the meaning? Evidently, many kereketiv were formed at a time when temple scribes were comparing two or three ancient biblical manuscripts with each other. They found slight discrepancies between manuscripts and left one form of a word in the main text while writing another in the margins. The practice of kere-ketiv directly concerns the question of God's name, since the ketiv form was always written in the main text with vowels from kere - the form read. In the above example, the word was written הַוְצֵא – with consonants from hotse (הוצא) and vowels from haitse (היצא)! The argument regarding the Name is precisely that YHVH contains the consonants of the Name, but the vowels of Adonai, and this is presented as a fact in every Hebrew textbook and in every scholarly discussion of the Name.

This academic consensus runs into two difficulties. The first is that in all other kere-ketiv the word that should be read differently is marked with a circle in the biblical manuscripts. This circle serves as a link to the margins where the reader will find the note “read this and that.” In the case of the Name, we would also expect to find a circle above the word YHVH, referring us to the fields with the note “read Adonai.” But no such link exists! YHVH appears 6,828 times in the Hebrew text, but is never marked as a kere-ketiv, either by a circle or a marginal note. In response to this objection, scholars claim that YHVH is the so-called kere perpetuum. They claim that in words that should always be read differently from how they are written, the mark was omitted by the copyist. In the case of the remaining kere perpetuum, the copyist's mark is sometimes found and sometimes omitted for the sake of brevity. And in Scripture there is not a single example of kere perpetuum, when a word read differently from the written word would never be accompanied by a mark. If we want to classify the name YHVH as a kere perpetuum, it would be unique in this category of kere-ketiv, since the scribes never marked it with the phrase “read Adonai.” Not once from all 6828 places.

Another problem with the claim that YHVH has vowels from Adonai is that this is simply not true! The word Adonai (אֲדֹנָי) contains the vowels a – o – a (khataf patah – holam – kamats). On the contrary, the name of YHVH is written as יְהוָה – with the vowels e – – a (shva – no vowel – kamats). Now let us remember that in all other cases the ketiv in the main text of the Scriptures has vowels from kere, while kere itself is written in the margins of the biblical manuscript without any vowels at all. But the difference between the vowels of YHVH and Adonai is obvious! YHVH is written as YHVAH (יְהוָה), but with the vowels from Adonai it would look like YAHWAH (יֲהוָֹה)!

How did it happen that the scientific majority overlooked this factual evidence? Until recently, printers of the biblical text freely modified the name YHVH. In many printed editions of the Hebrew Scriptures, YHVH is typed without vowels at all, while in other editions it is actually typed as Yahovah - with the vowels of Adonai. But if we consult the earliest complete manuscripts of the Scriptures, we will see that YHVH is written there as YHVaH. This is how the name YHVH is presented in the Ben Asher manuscripts (Aleppo and Leningrad Codex), where the most accurate complete text of the Scriptures has been preserved. Modern printed editions that faithfully reproduce ancient manuscripts, such as the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) and the Hebrew University Bible Edition (HUB), also contain the form YHVaH. Today we do not need to rely on these printed editions because the most important biblical manuscripts are published as offset editions with photographic reproductions of the actual pages. These photographs clearly show that the name YHVH is consistently spelled YHVaH, and not with the vowels of Adonai (YaHoVaH).

Before looking at the vowels of YHWH that are actually attested in the text of Scripture, we should briefly discuss the scientific consensus regarding YHWH. As has already been said, scholars do not attach importance to the vowels of YHVH in biblical manuscripts, and turn to external sources in an attempt to restore the original pronunciation of the Name. The main such source is Theodoret of Cyrus, the so-called “father of the Church”, who lived in the 5th century AD. e. About the name of YHVH, Theodoret wrote:
“The Samaritans pronounce it IABE, and the Jews AIA.”
The form AIA (pronounced Ah-Yah) indicates that the Jews called God by a shortened form of the name Yah (יָהּ), which appears repeatedly in the Bible. The form Yah is the result of an ancient tradition of abbreviating a word by its first and last letters. Thus, the first and last letters YHVH give the abbreviation Yah. But how did the Jews form AIA from Yah? One of the characteristic features of the late Hebrew language was the proliferation of the prosthetic aleph - the letter aleph added at the beginning of a word to facilitate pronunciation. For example, in Late Hebrew the common biblical word tmol (תמוֹל) turns into etmol (אתמוֹל) with the prosthetic aleph. The prefix e- in the word etmol simply makes it easier to pronounce. The prosthetic aleph already existed in biblical times, so the words *rba (four) and *tsba (finger) were already pronounced arba and etzba, respectively. But in the days after the Bible was written, the prosthetic aleph became much more widespread and could be added to almost every word. Therefore, AIA is nothing more than Yah with a prosthetic aleph added at the beginning of the word to make it easier to pronounce. Thus, Theodoret of Cyrus tells us that the Jews of his time called God by the name A-Yah.

By the time of Theodoret, the pronunciation of the Name among the Jews supposedly ceased due to the prohibition of Abba Saul. Therefore, scholars give more weight to the pronunciation of the Samaritans. According to Theodoret, the Samaritans pronounced the name of YHVH as IABE (sounds Ya-be). If we wanted to transliterate this word back into Hebrew, we would end up with something like Yabeh (,יֲבֶּה). This example provides some insight into the difficulties of reconstructing Hebrew pronunciation from Greek transcription. First, it should be noted that Ancient Greek did not have an "x" sound in the middle of words. Therefore, the first X in the word YHVH would be omitted in this language, regardless of its vowels. Second, Greek did not have a “v” sound, so the third letter in God’s name would also be omitted or corrupted. Finally, the vowel systems of Greek and Hebrew were very different. Hebrew had 9 vowels that did not have exact equivalents in Greek. For example, the Hebrew vowel schwa (pronounced short and in the word "to beat") has no equivalent in ancient Greek. Therefore, no matter what Theodoret heard from the Samaritans, performing a Greek transcription was an impossible task for him.

What about the IABE form? Most scholars believe that the Greek B (beta) in this word is a corruption of the Hebrew vav, and that the first he in YHWH is omitted due to the omission of the x sound in the middle of Greek words. Because of this, by transliterating the Samaritan IABE back into Hebrew, they end up with Yahweh (יֲהְוֶה). This is the very “scientific guess” that the Anchor Bible Dictionary talks about. This pronunciation is trusted more because it is believed that the Samaritans were not yet subject to rabbinic prohibitions, and even in the time of Theodoret they remembered the pronunciation of the Name. But is this the best explanation of the word IABE? As it turns out, the ancient Samaritans called God Yafeh (יָפֶה), which means beautiful. Also in Samaritan Hebrew the letter feh was often pronounced "b". Therefore, everything could look like this: the Samaritans told Theodoret that God’s name is Yafeh (beautiful), but due to the defective pronunciation of Hebrew words, they came out with Yabe. This explanation seems to be consistent with the fact that the Samaritans did stop pronouncing the Name, perhaps even earlier than the Jews. Instead of saying the name YHVH, the Samaritans call God shema (שְׁמָא). This word is usually interpreted as the Aramaic form of hashem (name), but we cannot help but notice the similarity of the Samaritan shem with the pagan hashem (אֲשִׁימָא), the name of one of the gods (2 Kings 17:30) whom the Samaritans worshiped at the beginning of their migration to the land Israel in the 8th century BC. e. So, already around 700 AD. e. The Samaritans called on Hashemah, not YHVH.

The learned majority also presents a second piece of evidence in favor of the supposed Samaritan pronunciation Yahweh/IABE. They indicate the connection between the name YHVH and the root word HYH - “to be.” This connection is clearly made in Exodus 3:13, 14 where we read:
“And Moses said to God, Behold, I will come to the children of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you. And they will say to me: What is His name? What should I tell them? God said to Moses: Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh (I am who I am). And he said, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel: Ehyeh has sent me to you.” (Exodus 3:13-14)
So Moses asks YHVH what name to give the Israelites when they ask about God. YHVH invites Moses to say that he was sent by Ehyeh, which is derived from the root HYH (to be) and means “I am.” Immediately after declaring himself Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh, God further explains that his eternal name is YHVH:
“And God said again to Moses: Thus shall you say to the children of Israel: YHVH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and I will be remembered from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3:15)
But how can the name YHVH be related to HYH (to be)? In Hebrew, the letters vav (ו) and yod (י) are weak and are sometimes used interchangeably. As an example: in one of the declensions the word yeled (child) sounds like walad, while the letter yod is replaced by vav. In the root word ХХХ (to be) we observe a similar substitution. The present tense form of the verb HYH (to be) is hovekh (Ecclesiastes 2:22), where yod changes to vav. This replacement is especially common in names. So, in Hebrew, Eve was called Chavah, “for she became the mother of all living (hai).” (Genesis 3:20) Thus, the letter yod in the word chai is replaced by the letter vav, giving the form Havah (Eve). It should not be concluded that vav and yod are always interchangeable, but when a Hebrew root contains V or Y, sometimes one letter takes the place of the other. There is therefore no linguistic difficulty in supposing that YHVH goes back to HYH (to be). This is why YHVH introduced himself to Moses as Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh (I am who I am), alluding to his name YHVH, which appears in the next verse.

Based on Exodus 3:14-15, modern scholars argue that the name YHVH must be the piel form of the verb HYH (to be). In other words, they view YHVH as a simple verb meaning “He causes to be.” They believe that the piel and hifil forms of the verb YHVH should be pronounced Yahweh (יֲהְוֶה). Yet such an explanation is highly problematic in view of the verb system of the Hebrew language. There are seven verb forms, or conjugations, in this language. Each conjugation slightly modifies the root, giving it a different shade of meaning. Some roots can be conjugated in all seven directions, while for others not all conjugations are possible. In reality, most root words can be conjugated in 3-4 conjugations, and it is very rare to find verbs that can be conjugated in all seven. This may seem like a subjective opinion, but this is the reality of Hebrew grammar. For example, the root Sh.B.R in its simple form means “to break”, in the conjugation piel it means “to crush”, etc. In total, the root Sh.B.R can take six out of seven conjugations. But in the seventh conjugation (hitpael) it simply does not exist and cannot exist. The verb HYH (to be), from which the name YHVH comes, exists in Hebrew only in the simple form (kal) and in the conjugation niphal. This means that scientific assumptions that YHVH is a form of piel or hifil of the verb HYH (to be) have no right to exist for the reason that this verb does not exist in such conjugations. In other words, Yahweh is a verb form that did not exist in the Hebrew language. So why do modern scholars unanimously consider the name YHVH to be some kind of fantastic verb that violates the rules of Hebrew grammar? There are two explanations for this. First, the non-existent form of Yahweh (piel or hifil) coincides with the theological preconceptions of modern scholars. Secondly, the form of Yahweh (piel or hifil) is consistent with Theodoret's testimony about the Samaritan pronunciation of the Name.

There is another reason to consider it futile to attempt to restore the vocalization of the name YHVH by forcibly identifying it with the impossible forms of piel or hifil. Most Hebrew names contain a Name. However, it is characteristic of names that the verbs in their composition do not necessarily correspond to the correct verb forms. For example, the name Nehemiah (Hebrew Nehemyah, “YHVH comforts”) contains two elements: the verb nehem (he comforts) and the name Yah (short for YHVH). But the verb nehem does not correspond to the standard verb form - nihem. As a rule, in Hebrew the verb that is part of the name randomly changes vowels. This can also be illustrated by the name Jesus (Hebrew Yehoshua, “YHVH saves”). Again, this name includes two elements: the verb yoshia (he saves) and the name of God Yeho- (short form of YHVH). The verb yoshia (he saves) was modified, becoming part of the name Jesus (Yehoshua). The letter yod in this verb is omitted, and the vowels are completely replaced to the form -shua. The form -shua can only exist as part of a personal name, whereas the verb form yoshia would be quite unusual in a name. So, it is normal for verbs to change when included in names. Therefore, the name YHVH may well contain the root verb HYH, which simply did not retain the original vowels. The attempt to impose grammatical verb forms on names is contrary to the rules of the Hebrew language.

As we have seen, the scientific consensus regarding the pronunciation of "Yahweh" is actually based on vague guesswork. At the same time, we saw that the “generally accepted fact” of borrowing vowels from Adonai does not correspond to reality at all. The real vowel for the name YHVH in ancient manuscripts is YHVH. It is clearer that YeHVaH does not contain vowels from Adonai. But are the existing vowels actually authentic? The first thing that catches your eye is the fact that the name YeHVah lacks a vowel after the first heh. A basic rule in Hebrew is that a consonant in the middle of a word must be followed by either a vowel or an unpronounceable schwa. True, sometimes there are unpronounceable letters in the middle of a word that are not followed by a vowel or shva (for example, aleph in the word beresheet). But this never happens with the letter he in the middle of words. In Hebrew, an unpronounceable heh at the end of a word is very common, but there is no such thing as an unpronounceable heh in the middle of a word. All this means that according to the rules of language, the first he in YHVH must be accompanied by some kind of vowel. Where did she disappear to? We will probably find the answer in another medieval scribal custom. When Bible scribes wanted to mark a missing word, they removed its vowels. Having reached a word without vowels, the medieval reader understood that this word should not be read. Perhaps medieval scribes omitted the vowel at the first heh to prevent the reader from reading the Name aloud. It is also noteworthy that in the Aleppo Codex, which is distinguished by its high accuracy in transmitting the biblical text, the name YHVH receives the vowel YeHoViH when combined with Adonai. Apparently, the hirik (the "i" sound) reminded the reader to pronounce the word as Elohim (God), since reading it as Adonai would be a tautology. Still, this case does not belong to the category of kere-ketiv, where the “written” word has all the vowels of the “readable” form. If it were a Kere Ketiv, we would expect that the vowels in YHVH would be replaced by Hataf Segol - Cholam - Hirik to form YHVH. Instead, this sound is formed by another set of vowels: shva - holam - hirik. We seem to be dealing with a unique scribal practice of substituting one vowel to remind the reader which word should be pronounced in place of YHVH. So, in both cases we observe a single replacement: when YHVH occurs separately, it has the vowels YeH?VaH - the vowel after the first he was omitted. This cautioned the reader against reading the Name by its letters; on the other hand, when YHVH came after Adonai, the “a” (kamatz) was changed to “and” (hirik), reminding that it should be read as Elohim.

What is remarkable about the form of Jehovih is the absence of any obstacles for the reader to accidentally read it as “Yehhovih.” This spelling had a full set of vowels and could be read like any word in the Hebrew language. For some reason, the medieval Masoretes who made copies of the Scriptures were concerned that the reader should not say the word Yeh?wah, but were not at all concerned that he might say Jehovah. This must be due to the taboo of the Name, to which the Masoretes strictly obeyed. Why didn't the scribes remove the vowel after the first heh in the form Jehovih? The only explanation can be their awareness that this is not the true pronunciation of God's name. Conversely, when they encountered Yeh?wah, they realized that this was the real pronunciation of the Name, so they removed the middle vowel.

But what exactly was the vowel in the middle of Yehwah? When comparing the two forms (Yeh?vah and Yehovih), it becomes clear that the missing vowel is “o” (holam). This means that the Masoretes knew that the Name sounded like “Yehovah”, and deliberately eliminated the middle vowel “o”. This is confirmed by the fact that in a number of cases they forgot to omit the vowel “o”. When scribes in ancient times copied documents, they spoke the words out loud or in a whisper. Sometimes the scribe made a mistake because he wrote down what his mouth said instead of what his eyes saw. This is a common mistake even in modern Russian. When a Russian-speaking person quickly writes or types a text, sometimes instead of “betray” he writes “addat”, etc. The reason for this is not necessarily illiteracy, since most people are well aware of the differences between these homophones. Often the error is caused by the sound of words. In the case of God's name, the scribe knew that the word YHWH had the sound Yehovah, and although he was obliged to omit the vowel "o", he left it out several dozen times. In Masoretic Manuscript LenB19a, the oldest complete Masoretic text and the basis of the famous BHS edition, the Name is spelled Jehovah 50 times out of a total of 6,828. It is also significant that no other vowel was “accidentally inserted” into God’s name except “o.”

There is further evidence indicating that it was the vowel “o” that was missing from the name Yeh?vah. Many Hebrew names contain part of the Divine name, forming a compound name. For example, Yehoshua (Jesus) means “YHVH saves,” and Yeshayahu (Isaiah) also means “YHVH saves.” As we see, God's name as part of other names has the form Yeho- if it is at the beginning of the name, and -yahu if it is at the end. Proponents of the pronunciation "Yahweh" often cite the ending form -yahu as evidence of their case. There are two difficulties with this argument. First, the -yahoo element of God's name is not comparable to the pronunciation "Yahweh." In extreme cases, he could suggest the pronunciation of “Yahuvah”, but not “Yahweh”. In Hebrew writing there is even less similarity between Yahweh (יֲהְוֶה]) and -yahu (יָהוּ). Yahweh is pronounced with the Hebrew vowel hataf patah, while -yahu contains kamatz in this place. These are two completely different vowels, which in ancient times were pronounced with a noticeable difference. Such a mistake can only be made by someone for whom Jewish phonetics is not native! Secondly, in the name YHVH, the letters YHV- are at the beginning of the name, not at the end. Therefore, if we choose a sample for reconstructing the pronunciation of God's name from the two types of names (Jesus/Isaiah), we must take those that contain the element Yeho- at the beginning. And if we compare this conclusion with the spelling Yeh?vah, preserved in the biblical text, we again get the form Yehovah.

Jehovah is a slightly anglicized form of the pronunciation Yehovah. The main difference is that the English letter “J” has been incorporated into God’s name. Of course, in Hebrew there is no "j" sound and instead there is a letter yod, which is pronounced "y". Another difference is that in the Masoretic text the emphasis falls on the end of the word. Therefore, in fact the Name is pronounced Yeho wa'h with emphasis on "bah". To pronounce the name "Yehovah" with the emphasis on the "ho" (as in the English Jehovah) would simply be a mistake.

Another question that should be clarified: how could the Masoretes, the medieval scribes of the text of the Scriptures who removed the vowel “o” from Jehovah, know the true pronunciation of the Name? After all, the taboo on the Name was fully established during the time of Abba Saul in the 2nd century AD. e. We know that the Masoretic scribes were Karaites. We also know that among the Karaites there were two directions - some demanded to pronounce the name, and others forbade it. Obviously, the Masoretes belonged to the latter, and therefore removed the middle vowel from the name Yehovah. At the same time, they could hear other Karaites pronouncing the Name, so they were familiar with its correct pronunciation. The Karaite sage Kirkisani, who lived in the 10th century, says that the Karaites who pronounced the Name settled in Persia (Khorasan). Persia was an influential center of Judaism from the time the ten tribes were removed to the “cities of the Medes” (2 Kings 17:6), and remained so until the Mongol invasion in the 13th century. Since Persia was located quite far from the rabbinic centers in Galilee and Babylonia, Persian Jews were protected from the innovations introduced by the rabbis in the form of the Mishnah and Talmud until the 7th century. Only after the rabbis attempted to impose such innovations on the Jews of Persia in the 7th-8th centuries did the Karaite movement arise, who wanted to preserve the old traditions. Therefore, we should not be surprised that the Karaites in Persia have retained the correct pronunciation of the name since ancient times. It appears that the Masoretes removed the vowel "o" from God's name to ensure that their fellow Karaites would not read the name according to its letters. Now, when these Karaites read the biblical text, they need to independently substitute the missing vowel.

Nehemiah Gordon

Have you ever found yourself looking at the tag on a new dress and having no idea how to combine this sequence of letters into a single word? This happens even to professionals! Especially for such situations, we have prepared a cheat sheet with rules for pronunciation of designer names and brand names.

Philipp Plein - Philipp Plein- the designer was born in Germany, so his name should be pronounced exactly like that, in the German manner, and not in English - Plain, as is usually done. We call Calvin Klein by Calvin Klein, their names are phonetically similar.

designer Nicolas Ghesquière at the urgent request of the company's press service, it should be called Nicolas Ghesquière, not Nicolas Ghesquière, but a brand under his control Louis Vuitton in Russian it is pronounced as “ Louis Vuitton”, but not “Louis Vuitton” or “Louis Vuitton”.

Belgian designer Ann Demeulemeester worth calling Ann Demeulemeester- There are a great many variations on the theme of her name.

Fashion house Lanvin pronounced like " Lanwan", these are features of French pronunciation. So forget about " Lanvin" or " Lanvin" And the name of the brand leader is Alber Elbaz.

Brand name Marchesa worth reading according to Italian rules - “ Marchesa”, rather than “Marchesa” in English, because the company received its name in honor of the Italian aristocrat Marchesa Luisa Casati.

The brand name is read using the same rules Moschino - « Moschino».

Hermes - Ermes- and nothing else. And Hermes is the name of the ancient Greek god of trade and profit. Additionally, the brand name is often pronounced as " Erme"and, it would seem, according to the rules of French transcription this is correct. But do not forget that every rule has exceptions. This is exactly the case.

Name of French designer of Tunisian origin Azzedine Alaia pronounced like " Azzedine Alaïa", usually three vowels in a row in his last name are thrown into a stupor.

Badgley Mischka- this is not at all the name of one person, as it might seem, but the surnames of the founders of the design duo - Mark Badgley and James Mischka. Accordingly, the brand name sounds like this: “ Badgley Bear».

There are often different pronunciations of the name Vionnet- "Vionet" or "Vionnet". In fact, it's simple: Vionnet with emphasis on "e". This is exactly what the surname of the founder of the French House, the legendary Madeleine Vionnet, sounded like.

Bandage dresses Hervé Leger Everyone knows, but many people have no idea how to pronounce the brand name. Correct answer - " Herve Leger", not "Herve Ledger" or "Herve Lege".

Name Elie Saab sounds like " Elie Saab" And, by the way, the Lebanese designer is a man, not a woman, as many people think.

His fellow countryman, close to him in spirit and style, - Zuhair Murad. In Russian it sounds like this - Zuhair Murad. “E” is not pronounced clearly, but close to “A”.

Frenchman Thierry Mugler - Thierry Mugler. Nothing complicated!

American brand Proenza Schouler pronounced like " Proenza Schooler”, even if sometimes you want to call him “Sharpie”.

Brand name Balenciaga sounds like " Balenciaga».

House Givenchy should be called Givenchy, and not in the American style - “Givenshi”.

In English-speaking countries the name Balmain often pronounced as "Balmain", but it should be correctly pronounced " Balman”, while the letter “n” at the end is practically not pronounced.

But much more problems arise with the name of the creative director of the French brand - Olivier Rousteing. So, meet - Olivier Roustan, without the “g” sound at the end and with emphasis on the first syllable.

Another Olivier's last name, this time Olivier Theyskens, sounds like Theyskens.

Brand Comme Des GarçonsJapanese, but its name is French, so it should be said “Comme de Garçon" Without the "s" in both cases.

As soon as they don’t pronounce the name of the Spanish brand Loewe! Indeed, the rules for the pronunciation of this word are difficult to explain. The result should be something between " Loewe" And " Lowewe", but always with a vowel sound at the end.

Name Rei Kawakubo may look complicated, but it’s quite easy to pronounce - “ Rei Kawakubo».

The name of the world famous shoe designer Christian Louboutin according to the rules it sounds closest to “ Christian Louboutan" Although it is easy to make a mistake, even in professional circles you can hear "Louboutin", "Lobutan" or "Louboutin". In order not to complicate their lives, many fans of the brand affectionately call their new shoes “ Lubis».

One of the main hoaxes of the fashion world is the correct pronunciation of the brand name. Nike. Only in Russia has the incorrect version of “Nike” become so popular that it can even be heard on TV screens. In fact, all over the world the brand is called " Nike».

Complicated-looking names Giambattista Valli And Gianfranco Ferre turn out to be not that difficult when it comes to pronunciation - Giambattista Valli And Gianfranco Ferré respectively.

Grandmother of knitwear and lover of cheerful colors Sonia Rykiel need to be called Sonia Rykiel.

Hedi Slimane is also often called incorrectly, but everything is simpler than it seems: Hedi Slimane, not Hedy Slymane.

Burberry Prorsum sounds like " Burberry Prorsum", not "Barberry Prorsum" or "Burberry Prorsum".

Belgian designer Dries Van Noten should be called Dries Van Noten.

At the beginning of the 20th century Elsa Schiaparelli was no less famous than Coco Chanel. Then the Italian fashion house fell into decline and the rules of pronunciation of the founder’s name were forgotten. Now the company is experiencing a rebirth, so it’s time to brush up on your knowledge - Elsa Schiaparelli.

Mary Katrantzou born in Greece, but works in Britain. They call her there Mary Katrantzou.

The surname Wang can be pronounced either as Wang or Wong, with the first option being preferred. Surprisingly, in our country, in the case of Alexander Wang the pronunciation " Alexander Wang", and when it comes to the incomparable Vera Wang, then she is called "Vera Wang". Although the designer herself introduces herself as Vera Wang.

Marc Jacobs- it would seem that there is nothing complicated in this name, but some manage to call the designer Marc Jacobs. To close this topic once and for all, we assure you that his name is pronounced like Mark Jacobs.

Conceptual French fashion house Maison Martin Margiela everyone is so accustomed to calling Mason Martin Margiela in the American manner that few people remember that in French the brand name sounds like “ Mason Martin Margiela».

Name of a native of Venezuela Carolina Herrera According to the rules of the Spanish language, it is pronounced like this: Carolina Herrera, without the “x” sound at the beginning of the surname. Although in America, where the designer now lives, you can often hear a version of “Herrer” with the sound “x” pronounced as you exhale.

Designer duo Dsquared should be pronounced as " Discuert”, and not “Diswird” or “Disquared”, as you sometimes hear.

In Russia they love brand bags Longchamp, but are not very clear on what to call them correctly, most often interpreting the brand name as “Longchamp”. But the brand should be called " Longchamps».

And all men need to learn to pronounce this name correctly: the author of perfectly fitting suits and men's perfumes Ermenegildo Zegna name is Ermenegildo Zegna. We won’t even list the options for how to interpret the pronunciation of this name.

Exact pronunciation of the name Christian Lacroix quite difficult to describe. The closest option is Christian Lacroix, only the sound “r” in the designer’s last name is practically unpronounceable, as if you were burring.

Another eternal mystery of the fashion world is what the brand name actually sounds like.Miu Miu? We answer - Mew Mew

Name L'Wren Scott It seems complicated only at first glance. In fact, it is pronounced very simply - Lauren Scott.

French designer Guy Laroche He’s not “Guy,” as ordinary people sometimes call him. His name sounds like Guy Laroche, the emphasis in the surname is on the last syllable.

British designer with a not-so-British surname Gareth Pugh in Russian it is called Gareth Pugh.

As long as they don’t distort the surname of a Turkish Cypriot Hussein Chalayan. Remember the correct option - Hussein Chalayan.

Belgrade born nameRoksanda Ilinciccauses her fans a lot of inconvenience. How to combine this set of letters in her last name into one word? That's how -Roksanda Ilincic.

"Rodart" or "Rodarte"? - fans of the brand ask themselvesRodarte. It is correct to say, after all, “Rodarte».

In the name Thakoon Panichgul there is nothing particularly complicated, but with a surname it is more difficult, which is why the designer did not choose it as the name of his brand. However, if the opportunity arises to show off your erudition in this area, know that the full name of the fashion designer is: - Thakun Panichgul.

Russians' love for complex oriental motifs in fashion is invincible, so another name worth taking note of is Naeem Khan - Naeem Kan, and he is no “Khan”.

French brand name Rochas in Russian it is pronounced like Rochas, despite the rule that there should be no “s” sound at the end of a word. As with Hermes, this is an exception.

Anna Suinot at all “Anna Sue”, as she is sometimes called. The designer's name sounds likeEnna Sui

Next on our list are two legends of Japanese design - Issey Miyake And Yohji Yamamoto. The first name sounds like Issey Miyake, and the second - Yohji Yamamoto.

If you carefully read the designer's name without skipping letters Dirk Bikkembergs, then there will be no problems - it is pronounced exactly the same as it is written. For convenience, we write in Russian - “ Dirk Bickembergs».

Name Prabal Gurung pronounced the same way as it is written - Prabal Gurung. Nothing complicated!

Fausto Puglisi- a favorite of Hollywood stars and fashion editors, but he is less known to the general public. Maybe because of the complex-looking surname? In fact, it is pronounced simply - Fast Puisy.

Last but not least on our listRoland Mouret. His French name sounds likeRoland Muray.

The combination of first name and patronymic is used in various situations, both in written and oral speech: in official decrees on awards, appointments, orders, lists, for example, on personnel records, the composition of production and educational groups, in business and private correspondence, in circulation to the interlocutor, in introducing and naming third parties.

In an environment of official, business communication between people, especially in the work of a teacher, translator, editor, lawyer, businessman, government or commercial employee, there is a need to address people by name and patronymic. Many Russian names and patronymics have pronunciation options that it is advisable to take into account in a given communication situation. So, when meeting a person, when introducing a person for the first time, a distinct, clear pronunciation that is close to the written form is recommended.

In all other cases, incomplete, contracted forms of pronunciation of names and patronymics, which have historically developed in the practice of literary oral speech, are acceptable.

1. - y (Vasily, Anatoly, Arkady, Grigory, Yuri, Evgeny, Valery, Gennady ), ending in combinations - evich, - evna with a preceding separator b : VasilEvich , VasilEvna ; GrigoryEvich , GrigoryEvna . When pronouncing female patronymics, these combinations are clearly preserved: VasilEvna , AnatoleEvna , GrigoryEvna etc. In male patronymics, full and contracted variants are allowed: Vasya?[l'j'v']ich and Vas[l'ich], Anato?[l'j'v']ich and Anato?[l'ich], Grigo?[r'j'v']ich and Grigo?[r' ich] etc.

2. Patronymic names formed from male given names - to her And - ah (Alexey, Andrey, Korney, Matvey, Sergey, Nikolay ) end in combinations - eevich, - eevna, - aevich, - aevna : Alekseevich, Alekseevna, Nikolaevich, Nikolaevna . In their pronunciation, the literary norm allows both full and contracted variants: Alexeyevich And Alex?[i]h , Alekse?evna And Alek[s'e?]vna ; Sergeevich And Serge?[i]h , Sergeevna And Ser[g'e?]vna ; Korne?evich And Corn?[i]h , Korne?evna And Kor[n'e?]vna ; Nikolaevich And Nikola?[i]h , Nikolaevna And Nikola?[vn]a etc.

3. Male patronymics ending in an unstressed combination - ovich , can be pronounced both in full and contracted form: Anto?novich And Anto?n[y]ch , Aleksandrovich And Alexa?ndr[y]h , Iva?novich and Iva?n[y]ch etc. In female patronymics ending in an unstressed combination - Aries , full pronunciation recommended: Alexanderaries, Borisaries, Kirillaries, Victoraries, OlegAries etc.

4. If the middle name begins with And (Ivanovich, Ignatievich, Isaevich ), then in pronunciation with a name ending in a hard consonant, and turns into [s] : Pavel Ivanovich - Pavel[y]vanovich, Alexander Isaevich - Alexander[y]saevich .

5. Not usually pronounced ov n And m : Iva?[n: ]na, Anto?[n: ]a, Efi?[mn]a, Maxi?[mn]a .

6. Unstressed words are not pronounced - ov in female patronymics from names ending in V : Vyachesla?[vn]a, Stanisla?[vn]a .

§ 239. Pronunciation of borrowed words

Some of the borrowed vocabulary in the Russian language has some orthoepic features that are fixed in the literary norm.

1. In some words of foreign language origin, in place of an unstressed O sound is pronounced [o]: ada?gio, boa?, bomo?nd, bonto?n, kaka?o, radio, three?o . In addition, stylistic fluctuations in high-style text are possible; preservation of unstressed [O] in words of foreign origin - one of the means of attracting attention to them, a means of highlighting them. Pronunciation of words nocturne, sonnet, poetic, poet, poetry, dossier, veto, credo, foyer etc. with unstressed [O] optional. Foreign names Maurice Thorez, Chopin, Voltaire, Rodin, Daudet, Baudelaire, Flaubert, Zola, Honore de Balzac, Sacramento etc. also retain unstressed [O] as a variant of literary pronunciation.

In some borrowed words in literary pronunciation, after vowels and at the beginning of the word, the unstressed sound sounds quite clearly [e] : duelist, muezzin, poetic, aegis, evolution, exaltation, exotic, equivalent, eclecticism, economy, screen, expansion, expert, experiment, exhibit, ecstasy, excess, element, elite, embargo, emigrant, emission, emir, energy, enthusiasm, encyclopedia, epigraph, episode, epilogue, era, effect, effective and etc.

2. In oral public speech, certain difficulties are caused by pronouncing a hard or soft consonant before the letter in borrowed words e , for example, in words pace, pool, museum etc. In most of these cases, a soft consonant is pronounced: academy, pool, beret, beige, brunette, promissory note, monogram, debut, motto, recitation, declaration, dispatch, incident, compliment, competent, correct, museum, patent, pate, Odessa, tenor, term, plywood, overcoat; word pace pronounced with a hard voice T .

In other words, before e a hard consonant is pronounced: adept, auto-da-fé, business, western, prodigy, riding breeches, dumbbell, grotesque, neckline, delta, dandy, derby, de facto, de jure, dispensary, identical, boarding school, international, intern, karate, square, cafe, muffler, codeine, code, computer, motorcade, cottage, bracket, open-hearth, billionaire, model, Art Nouveau, Morse, hotel, parterre, pathetic, polonaise, purse, poetess, resume, rating, reputation, superman and others. Some of these words have been known among us for at least one hundred and fifty years, but do not show a tendency to soften the consonant.

In borrowed words starting with a prefix de- , before vowels dis- , as well as in the first part of compound words starting with neo - , with a general tendency towards softening, fluctuations in the pronunciation of soft and hard are observed d And n , For example: devaluation, deideologization, demilitarization, depoliticization, destabilization, deformation, disinformation, deodorant, disorganization, neoglobalism, neocolonialism, neorealism, neofascism.

Firmly pronouncing consonants before e recommended in foreign-language proper names: Bella, Bizet, Voltaire: Descartes, Daudet, Jaurès, Carmen, Mary, Pasteur, Rodin, Flaubert, Chopin, Apollinaire, Fernandel [de?], Carter, Ionesco, Minnelli, Vanessa Redgrave, Stallone and etc.

In borrowed words with two (or more) e often one of the consonants is pronounced softly, while the other remains hard before e : strap [rete], genesis [gene], relay [rele], genetics [gene], cafeteria [fete], pince-nez [pe; ne], reputation [re; me], secretary [se; re; te], ethnogenesis [gene] and etc.

In relatively few words of foreign origin, fluctuations in the pronunciation of the consonant before e , for example: with the standard pronunciation of a hard consonant before e in words businessman [ne; me], annexation [ne] pronunciation with a soft consonant is acceptable; in words dean, claim soft pronunciation is the norm, but hard pronunciation is also acceptable [de] And [te] ; in a word session Hard and soft pronunciation options are equal. It is non-normative to soften the consonants before e in the professional speech of representatives of the technical intelligentsia in words laser, computer , as well as in colloquial pronunciation of words business, sandwich, intensive, interval .

Stylistic fluctuations in the pronunciation of hard and soft consonants before e are also observed in some foreign-language proper names: Bertha, Decameron, Reagan. Major, Kramer, Gregory Peck and etc.

3. Solid [w] pronounced in words parachute, brochure . In a word jury pronounced soft hissing [and'] . Names are pronounced the same way Julien, Jules .

LIII. FEATURES OF RUSSIAN ACCESS

In English, words are often pronounced differently from how they are written. And when it comes to proper names (surnames, city names, etc.), the discrepancies between writing and pronunciation can be even stronger. Even more confusing are the situations when the same name, for various reasons, can be pronounced differently! We will examine an example of just such a discrepancy in today’s article.

Intrigue with the name

The American town of Norwich is located in the state of Connecticut in New England. As you know, the first settlers, persecuted for religious reasons in Europe and moved to another continent, initially settled in this region. And they named it New England in honor of their native country, which they were forced to leave.

For this reason, many settlements in America have twin names of cities of the Old World. Some of them acquired the addition New - new, such as New York or New London; and many have the same names completely, as is the case with the above-mentioned town.

However, apart from the name, there is practically nothing left in common between them. And with the name it’s not so simple...

How to pronounce the name Norwich? Yes, very simple! As it is written and pronounced: – Norwich. But here we must make an important remark: only Americans pronounce it this way. Such pronunciation hurts the British ears mercilessly. I came across many people from England who found themselves in those parts for work or to travel, and everyone agreed on one thing - the way the American residents pronounce it, it is incorrect to pronounce it! But how do they think it is pronounced CORRECTLY?

And in this case this is easy to check. To check, we will use a poem from the famous children's book Mother Goose Rhymes (“Tales of Grandmother Goose”):

The man in the moon,
Came down too soon,
To inquire his way to Norwich.
He went by the south,
And burn his mouth
With eating cold pease porridge.

The essence of the poem comes down to the fact that a certain moon man descended to earth to find out the way to a town called Norwich and burned himself with cold porridge.

This is the kind of rhyming nonsense that English-speaking children nevertheless - or even precisely because of this - are very fond of and often recite. This and similar poems are an indispensable component of the general cultural code of those for whom English is their native language.

So, it is known that the favorite English porridge is porridge- “Oatmeal, sir!” - in English it is pronounced with a voiced [ʤ] - “j” - at the end. (To be fair, it should be noted that the poem is not talking about oatmeal, but about pea porridge). Accordingly, the name of the town, which rhymes with the word porridge, is pronounced the same way - (in Russian transcription - Norwich).

This is how it turned out that British Norwich is Norwich, and American Norwich.

By the way, it was in the American Norwich that one terrible real story took place, which formed the basis of a local legend and on which a film was made not so long ago.

Other examples of inconsistencies in spelling and pronunciation

The Norwich-Norwich discrepancy is not the only example of a discrepancy in the pronunciation of the same toponyms - geographical names - in British and American English.

Several similar examples, where in the British version the sound [w] is also omitted when pronounced, but in the American version it is retained:

Woolwich – [ˈwʊlɪdʒ]

Warwick – [ˈwɒrɪk]

Berwich – [ˈbɛrɨk]

But in some British proper names, the logic of the discrepancy between spelling and pronunciation is more difficult to trace (how they are pronounced in the American way, I’m afraid to even guess

Featherstonehaugh – [ˈfænʃɔː]

Cholmondeley - [ˈtʃʌmli]

The above examples were discussed in a discussion, from which I quote below:

We discussed other differences between British and American English here.

We, people from PR, are sometimes ashamed of not knowing how to pronounce the names of leading brands correctly - after all, we often learn from their cases. Not to mention the fact that we ourselves often become consumers of things from famous brands. Once again, after listening to the people around me and watching the episode of America's Next Top Model, where the incomprehensible “Christian Lacroy” and “Hermes” appeared, we decided to prepare this post.

If you want to argue, please don’t here. We checked every entry, so if you haven’t heard with your own ears how Christian Lacroix said that his last name is pronounced “Lakroich”, then please don’t argue. We examined a dozen websites of people who don't go out to fashion shows and checked the correct pronunciation. We did not include those in which there were discrepancies in the review.

Since there is a big problem with the accent icon in the editor, we will highlight accents with a capital letter. Let us immediately make a reservation that sometimes there are several possible pronunciation options and different pronunciation options in different countries. We will take those that are considered correct in Russia.

Alexander McQueen - [Alexander McQueen]

Giorgio Armani - [giorgio armani]/[giorgio armani]

Balmain - [balmAn]. Here, please pay attention: the brand is French, so the combination ai is read as “a”. Some particularly advanced people, of course, also read Balmain, but you’re not one of them, right?

Bulgari - [bulgari]

Burberry - [burberry]. No matter what anyone says. don't believe me? Listen.

Byblos - [byblos]

Cacharel - [kasharEl]

Carolina Herrera - [Carolina Herrera]

Cartier - [kartE]

Céline - [celine]

Chanel - [chanEl]. Well, you should know this, like Our Father.

Chloé - [cloe]

Christian Dior - [Christian DiOr]. One more Our Father.

Christian Louboutin - [Christian Louboutin]. Listen

Christian Lacroix - [Christian Lacroix]

Clarins - [clarAns]

Dior Homme - [diOr Ohm]. By the way, a note. Homme means "male, male" and is always and everywhere read as [Om]. Femme means “female, woman,” and is always and everywhere read as [fAm]. Accordingly, the names of perfumes “for him” - pour homme - will be read [pUR Om], and “for her” - pour femme [pUR fAm].

Dolce & Gabbana - [Dolce End Gabbana]/[DolchengabAna]/[DolchegabAna]

Dsquared - [diskEirt]. There is also a lot of controversy about this name, but that is how it is pronounced.

DKNY (Donna Karan New York) - [DI KEY N UAY, DONNA KARAN NEW YORK]

Emilio Pucci - [emilio pucci]

Escada - [escada]

Estée Lauder - [estE Lauder]. There is also an interesting story here. The name seems French, although the brand is American. Therefore, in such abnormal eclecticism, such a hybrid as [estE lauder] turned out. Listen.

Ermenegildo Zegna - [ermenegildo zegna]. But this is a must-know for all men.

Etro - [ethO]

Hermès. A very interesting story is happening with this brand. All over the world, including in Russia, ordinary people pronounce the brand name as “HerMes”. But it's not right. French people, whose land, in fact, gave birth to this brand, read the brand name as “ermE”. And they do it correctly from the point of view of French phonetics - the first letter is silent, the emphasis is on the last syllable, the last letter is not readable. But the French people forget that proper names can be exceptions to any rule. The founder of the brand was called Thierry Hermès, so the only correct pronunciation of the brand is [ermEs], with a slight aspiration on the first syllable. You can listen.

Hublot - [yubO]

Guy Laroche - [guy larOche]

Gianfranco Ferré - [genreAnco ferE]

Givenchy - [givenchy]. The founding father of the brand was named Hubert de Givenchy [Hubert de Givenchy]

John Galliano - [John Galliano]

Jean-Paul Gaultier - [Jean-Paul Gaultier]

Jimmy Choo - [Jimmy Choo]

Gucci - [guchi]

Guess - [gEs]. The vowel is somewhere between “E” and “E”

Jimmy Choo - [Jimmy Choo]

Lacoste - [laKost]

Karl Lagerfeld - [karl lagerfeld]. And tell these smart Anglomaniacs that Lagerfeld is German.

Louis Vuitton - [luI vuitOn]/[luI vitOn]/[luI vuitton] - in all three cases the “n” is pronounced through the nose

LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) - [el ve em ash], [louis vuitton moët hennessy]. Listen and .

Stella McCartney - [STELLA MAC CARTNEY]

Mandarina Duck - [Mandarina Duck]

Max Mara - [max mAra]

Miu Miu - [miu miu]

Moschino - [MoskIno]. The designer's name is Franco Moschino

Nina Ricci - [Nina Ricci]

Paul Smith - [Paul Smith]

Pierre Cardin - [pierre cardan]. This is ideal. People often say “cardEn” in Russia. The main thing is not to be “cardin”.

Prada - [prada]. Designer: Miuccia Prada [miUcha Prada]

Ralph Lauren - [Ralph Lauren] - again a French-American linguistic setup.

Robert Piguet - [robEr pigE]

Salvatore Ferragamo - [selvatore ferragAmo]

Seiko - [seiko]

Sergio Rossi - [SERGEO ROSSI]

Sonia Rykiel - [Sonia Rykiel]

Shiseido - [shiseido]

Tommy Hilfiger - [Tommy HilfIge(r)]. English language, so the last letter is soft to read

Tissot - [tissO]

Ulysse Nardin - [Ulysse Nardin]. "U" is more like "Yu". Listen.

Van Cleef & Arpels - [van Cleef & Arpel]

Versace - [versAce]

Viktor & Rolf - [Victor and Rolf]

Wyler Genève - [Wyler Genève]

Yohji Yamamoto - [Yoji Yamamoto]

Yves Saint Laurent - [Yves Saint Laurent]

Zuhair Murad - [ZuhEr Murad]

Naturally, I haven’t covered all the brands here, but at least those that everyone knows. You can thank us in the comments. If you take something to your website or blog, don’t forget to leave a direct active link to me.

For those who are especially advanced in the affairs of fashion brands, but not particularly advanced in matters of phonetics, we advise you to watch, listen, and read this post by fashion blogger Brian Boy - there he mentions many brands that we have not talked about here.

That's probably all. Pronounce the names of your favorite brands correctly!