Garfield
journeyman
Reged: 19/12/2007
Posts: 88
Loc: London
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Simple question time:
Is Leica pronounced "like-a" or "lay-ka"?
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/twoodward/
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Fen
BAD WOLF
Reged: 12/03/2002
Posts: 19533
Loc: Currently Unknown!
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I'd Like-A Leica 
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Fen.
- Fen's Flickr Fotos -
"One good photograph does not a photographer make."
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Garfield
journeyman
Reged: 19/12/2007
Posts: 88
Loc: London
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Quote:
I'd Like-A Leica
Aha! Just as I thought. It's one of those names where you have to know how it's pronounced and many people assume everyone else knows...
Thanks
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/twoodward/
Edited by Garfield (02/01/2008 15:49)
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LargeFormat
old hand
Reged: 24/10/2006
Posts: 976
Loc: Buckinghamshire and Cumbria
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Did you think it might be "lay-ka" because it's an aristocratic camera?
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Tacitus
History
Reged: 17/01/2006
Posts: 871
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My German-speaking Austrian friends pronounce the 'ei' as a very short 'Iyi' - Leye-ica ... In most German words was once deemed correct to (at least attempt to) pronounce every letter ... Invariably easier said than done: such 'old' standards are fast disappearing and can now sound rather quaint. .T.
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Garfield
journeyman
Reged: 19/12/2007
Posts: 88
Loc: London
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Quote:
Did you think it might be "lay-ka" because it's an aristocratic camera?
Kind of, yeah. A terrible thing to think, but similar things are not unheard of.
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/twoodward/
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Tacitus
History
Reged: 17/01/2006
Posts: 871
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I'm always amused by the twerps who pronounce Nikon "Neye-kon". I understand that in Japanese, vowels are all short: hence Sony shouldn't be So-nee .... ?
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TimF
Senior Member
Reged: 30/07/2001
Posts: 15968
Loc: Herts/Beds border
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Quote:
Simple question time:
Is Leica pronounced "like-a" or "lay-ka"?
Yep, like the unfortunate little dog the Russkies sent into space way back. 
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Tim BSRIPN
The camera makes everyone a tourist in other people's reality, and eventually in one's own - Susan Sontag
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Zou
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/02/2007
Posts: 2022
Loc: Edinburgh
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Quote:
I'm always amused by the twerps who pronounce Nikon "Neye-kon". I understand that in Japanese, vowels are all short: hence Sony shouldn't be So-nee .... ?
It's written as ソニー (you might need Japanese language support on your browser to see that). Basically, it is soni- (the hyphen extends the sound). Whilst Japanese is based on 5 short sounds, the possibilities for extension mean most things are pronounceable to the Japanese, except French  You really do need to hear a Japanese say "Bonjour monsieur, je voudrais deux croissants."  (Something like bon.jew.ru mon.sha, je boo.dray du coo.roe.wassan)
Edit: it didn't like the Japanese. Oh well. 
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Zou's Flickr Page
Edited by Zou (04/01/2008 12:55)
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Benchista
Wich Tyler
Reged: 11/08/2000
Posts: 36427
Loc: Everywhere and nowhere, baby
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Quote:
Quote:
I'm always amused by the twerps who pronounce Nikon "Neye-kon". I understand that in Japanese, vowels are all short: hence Sony shouldn't be So-nee .... ?
It's written as ソニー (you might need Japanese language support on your browser to see that). Basically, it is soni- (the hyphen extends the sound). Whilst Japanese is based on 5 short sounds, the possibilities for extension mean most things are pronounceable to the Japanese, except French You really do need to hear a Japanese say "Bonjour monsieur, je voudrais deux croissants." (Something like bon.jew.ru mon.sha, je boo.dray du coo.roe.wassan)
Edit: it didn't like the Japanese. Oh well.
Most Brits speak French like that, if at all...
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Nick
www.nbrphoto.com
Light and Shade II - the new blog
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Zou
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/02/2007
Posts: 2022
Loc: Edinburgh
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I thought the GCSE French syllabus merely covered raising your voice, slowing the delivery, and repeating again in English?
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Zou's Flickr Page
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OneTen
'Two Breakfasts'
Reged: 23/06/2003
Posts: 2246
Loc: Hartland, Devon
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Quote:
Most Brits speak French like that...
You do if you're from Lancashire
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Richard .......... My Website - My Flickr
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Malcolm_Stewart
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/07/2005
Posts: 2244
Loc: Milton Keynes, UK
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Quote:
Quote:
Most Brits speak French like that...
You do if you're from Lancashire
As someone who is Lancashire born, that remark was very true back in the 1940s and 50s. We really were a very insular lot, and I'm very thankful that the university entrance exam didn't include me struggling to speak any French!
Somehow I knew just enough to get through the written paper.
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Malcolm Stewart
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mike_j
nobbut a beginner
Reged: 23/08/2005
Posts: 1271
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Quote:
My German-speaking Austrian friends pronounce the 'ei' as a very short 'Iyi' - Leye-ica ... In most German words was once deemed correct to (at least attempt to) pronounce every letter ... Invariably easier said than done: such 'old' standards are fast disappearing and can now sound rather quaint. .T.
I was carrying my M6 round my neck on a trip to the Black Forest last October and a German said something to me about the camera. I think that's how he pronounced it - we certainly struggled to communicate but in the end I gathered he had owned an M3 since new and wanted my opion on the M6.
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Woolliscroft
veteran
Reged: 23/08/2005
Posts: 1253
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If you think Leica is tricky to pronounce, try Voightländer. My German in laws pronounce it fucklender, and don't seem to be winding me up 
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David.
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Zou
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/02/2007
Posts: 2022
Loc: Edinburgh
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I'd say fote (like vote, but with a f and a slightly longer o) lender. Surely that's good enough? 
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Zou's Flickr Page
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Mark_Norton
Reged: 29/06/2002
Posts: 1125
Loc: London, UK
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It helps to spell it correctly in the first place - it's "Voigtländer" and pronounced "foikt-lender" with the emphasis on the first syllable.
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Bettina
Kein Titel
Reged: 12/02/2004
Posts: 3995
Loc: London
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Quote:
If you think Leica is tricky to pronounce, try Voightländer. My German in laws pronounce it fucklender, and don't seem to be winding me up
Oh no, not again!
Leica is pronounced lie-kah with stress on the first syllable.
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Bettina
http://www.vibrantpictures.co.uk
Vibrant Pictures on Flickr
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Mark_Norton
Reged: 29/06/2002
Posts: 1125
Loc: London, UK
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While we're on the subject, a final "e" in German is pronounced as a separate syllable, so when you hear some prat talking down the pub about what his "porsh" will do, you can interrupt him and tell him, actually, it's "porsh-er".
And of course, the German maker of kitchen gizmos, electric toothbrushes and alarm clocks is NOT "brawn". It's "brown".
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Mark
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Zou
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/02/2007
Posts: 2022
Loc: Edinburgh
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Quote:
While we're on the subject, a final "e" in German is pronounced as a separate syllable, so when you hear some prat talking down the pub about what his "porsh" will do, you can interrupt him and tell him, actually, it's "porsh-er".
And of course, the German maker of kitchen gizmos, electric toothbrushes and alarm clocks is NOT "brawn". It's "brown".
Indeed. Braun don't do themselves any favours though by saying 'brawn' on their commercials in the UK. In Japan they say 'Brown' - obviously they know how thick most Brits are with languages.
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Zou's Flickr Page
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