How to Say: Davos
17:00 UK time, Friday, 30 January 2009
An occasional guide to the words and names in the news from Christine Haunz of the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Pronunciation Unit
As the annual meeting of the is once again taking place in Davos, some disagreements might arise as to how the name of the host location should be pronounced: is it DAV-oss (o as in top) or dav-OHSS (oh as in no)? In fact, both pronunciations are in use: the latter is the local German pronunciation, while journalists and attendees commonly use the anglicisation DAV-oss.
Among the attendees are the Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, and China's Wen Jiabao, as well as Turkey's Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan who was involved in a on Thursday. The pronunciations of their names are as follows (with stressed syllables in upper case):
1. Vladimir Putin: vluh-DEE-meer POO-tin (uh as "a" in ago, eer as in deer -- not PYOO-tin)
2. Wen Jiabao: WUHN ji-aa BOW (uh as "a" in ago, j as in Jack, ow as in now)
3. Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan: REJ-ep TIGH-yip AIR-doh-an (j as in Jack, igh as in high, air as in hair, oh as in no)
4. Shimon Peres: shee-MONN PERR-ess (err as in merry)
The managing director of the World Bank, formerly the finance minister of Nigeria, is Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, pronounced ng-GOH-zi ock-ON-joh ee-WAY-luh (ng-g as in finger, oh as in no, o as in top, j as in Jack).
Finally, leaving the Swiss Alpine resort for the shores of north-east England, where French footballer Charles N'Zogbia is said to be unhappy that his boss, Newcastle United manager Joe Kinnear, can't pronounce his name - . The pronunciation of the player's name used in English contexts is normally n-ZOG-bi-uh (uh as "a" in ago). In France, however, he is usually referred to as SHAARL en-zoh-BYAA (oh as in no, by as in beauty).
To download the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Pronunciation Unit's guide to text spelling, click here.
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