--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com <mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> , cardemaister <no_re...@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com <mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> , "Alex Stanley" <j_alexander_stanley@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com <mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> , "Hugo" <fintlewoodlewix@> wrote: > > > > > > I'm hoping mount Eyjafjallajokull (will we ever learn how to > > > pronounce that) > > > > http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/pronounce-eyjafjallajokull-10392613 <http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/pronounce-eyjafjallajokull-10392613> > > > > I replayed the pronunciation repeatedly, and I *still* > > can't pronounce it. > > Strange, where do those t-sounds "come from" (fjalla > fyatla; > kull > kutl)?
I've now heard three different audio clips of Icelanders pronouncing it--and they're all different. The New York Times's City Room blog had a cute piece on Friday about the pronunciation: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/16/iceland-volcano-spews-conso\ nants-and-vowels/ <http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/16/iceland-volcano-spews-cons\ onants-and-vowels/> http://tinyurl.com/y5wpm6k <http://tinyurl.com/y5wpm6k> They asked a bunch of New Yorkers to give it a shot and have audio clips of the results. Only one person-- a Swede--even came close, according to Icelanders. But the *Icelanders themselves* don't all pronounce it the same way! Listen to the guy who pronounces it at the beginning of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jq-sMZtSww <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jq-sMZtSww> That's nothing like either of the other two clips I've heard from "natives." The rest of the video features various Brit news announcers trying to pronounce it, with varying degrees of success, none apparently correctly. According to the Times, Icelanders are falling down laughing at our attempts to pronounce it. This is from an Icelandic news site: Really NOT FAIR, dammit, not when you yourselves can't agree on how to pronounce it! Give us a break!
