{"id":3257,"date":"2015-04-13T08:34:20","date_gmt":"2015-04-13T12:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/?p=3257"},"modified":"2025-09-28T13:30:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T17:30:28","slug":"how-to-say-paris-the-correct-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/2015\/04\/13\/how-to-say-paris-the-correct-way\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Say “Paris” the Correct Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Itchy<\/a>
\nOnce upon a time, when I was living in Los Angeles, I saw a stand-up comedian, and like most amateur stand-up it was teeth-clenchingly awkward. At one point during his routine, though, he said something that stuck with me ever since. I don\u2019t remember the exact words (or even his name), but it was along the lines of, \u201cI don\u2019t get why the anti-immigrant camp complains about LA being overrun by Mexicans. Los Angeles was a Mexican city! It was built by Mexicans! If you don\u2019t want Mexicans in your city\u2026don\u2019t conquer a Mexican city!\u201d It landed with the same blunt, matter-of-fact punch you hear in everyday talk\u2014whether it\u2019s at a barbershop, over a card game, or in the kind of sports betting Mississippi fans fold into their weekend chatter.<\/p>\n

It stuck with me as a reminder that history changes the face of all things, but it also made me wonder: what\u2019s the correct<\/em> pronunciation of the name \u201cLos Angeles\u201d? Since the city was Mexican before it was American, and Spanish before it was Mexican, technically it\u2019s \u201clows ahn-heh-liss;\u201d the Spanish pronunciation of the words \u201cthe angels.\u201d I lived in LA for six years, though, and no one ever<\/em> said that, not even Hispanics. Everyone said what everyone always says: \u201claws ann-juh-lus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which one is the \u201cright\u201d one?<\/p>\n

In Europe, names of big cities aren\u2019t just pronounced differently, they\u2019re often spelled differently, and in some cases they\u2019re completely different words. Paris (\u201cpah-rhee\u201d in French) is Parigi <\/em>in Italian (\u201cpah-ree-jee\u201d). Venice (\u201cven-iss\u201d to English speakers) is Venezia<\/em> (\u201cven-et-see-ah\u201d) in Italian, but Venedig<\/em> (\u201cveh-neh-dich\u201d) in German. The German city Cologne (\u201ckoh-lohn\u201d in English) is just the English pronunciation of the French (\u201ccuh-luh-nyeh\u201d), but in German, it\u2019s K\u00f6lln<\/em> (\u201ckuhln\u201d).<\/p>\n

This is the case with a lot of words. Even the word for the German language has FOUR completely<\/em> different names just among the aforementioned languages: German (\u201cjer-man\u201d) in English, Deutsch<\/em> (\u201cdoy-tsh\u201d) in German, allemand <\/em>(\u201cahll-mon\u201d) in French, and for some bizarre reason, tedesco<\/em> (\u201cted-es-ko\u201d) in Italian. Why does it have so many totally different names? I\u2019d like someone to explain THAT one to me.<\/p>\n

I know what you\u2019re thinking. There is<\/em> no \u201cright\u201d name for anything, is what you\u2019re thinking. Words are just sounds, the meaning of which we agree on, right? Whatever is correct in the language you\u2019re speaking is the \u201ccorrect\u201d way to say it. Nobody thinks you\u2019re cool and cultured if you\u2019re speaking English, but call Paris \u201cPah-ree\u201d like the French, after all.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s where it gets wrinkly: most Frenchfolk, when speaking English, still call it \u201cPah-ree\u201d and not \u201cPa-riss.\u201d To them, after all, there\u2019s only one \u201ccorrect\u201d way.<\/p>\n

I sympathize completely. When speaking a foreign language and a city (or a word) from your native language comes up, the temptation is very strong to pronounce it the way you\u2019re used to pronouncing it, not the way they do in the language you\u2019re speaking. For example, \u201cMcDonald\u2019s\u201d, as in, the restaurant chain. If it comes up in a French conversation, I think to myself, do I really want to pronounce it with a goofy French accent? Or do I want to temporarily drop my French just so I can say it the American way? Honestly, I have no answer. I still struggle with this.<\/p>\n

(My wife, an Italian, has made fun of the way I say spaghetti (\u201cspuh-get-ee\u201d for Yanks) enough times that I now only say it the Italian way, even when speaking English, for fear of being shamed in my own house\u2026)<\/p>\n

What about you? What native words do you refuse to say in the accent of the foreign language you\u2019re speaking? Which ones do you cringe when hearing foreigners say it? What\u2019s the correct way to say \u201cLos Angeles\u201d?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Once upon a time, when I was living in Los Angeles, I saw a stand-up comedian, and like most amateur stand-up it was teeth-clenchingly awkward. At one point during his routine, though, he said something that stuck with me ever since. I don\u2019t remember the exact words (or even his name), but it was along…<\/p>\n

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