I'm new to a lot of film and video stuff and figure that one day I may seriously embarrass myself if I have to talk about things I can't pronounce. These following words have been bugging me. Hopefully those with knowledge can help.

Kino Flo
Arriflex, Arri (is it are-I, or are-E)
Aaton
Sekonic
Matte

I know there's probably more, I'll post them if I think of them.

I say:

Kino Flo like ... beano joe
Arriflex like ... hair of decks
Arri like ... scary
Aaton like ... Baton (Rouge)
Sekonic like ... thick tonic
Matte like ... bat

These are slang. What matters is that folks on the set understand you. When in doubt, listen--then talk.

I'll go along with the above pronunciations... but Sekonic for me usually rhymes with "Say-tonic"

But then, I say Tomahto, you say tomaetoe...

Just for that, I won't tell Papert you spelled his name "Paupert" the other day!

I've said and heard...

Kino - same
Arriflex - harry flex
Arri - harry
Aaton - hate in
Sehkonic - same
Matte - same

here's one for ya. I always hear...

Chimera, with "ch" sound

...but I say (and the original word is properly pronounced as)...

Chimera, with a "K" sound.

I will not give in on that one no matter how other people say it. ;)

The terms Arri and Arriflex are based on German names (Arri = Arnold & Richter from Munich), so the correct way to pronounce is "Uh-Ree" or [ah:ri] in German.

Is there a dictionary of cinematic and video terms? Sounds like it would be a good thing to have. Videomaker magazine often has a page of video and editing terms in the back of their magazine but not the pronunciation. Some people may feel that focusing on pronunciation of terms borders snobishness, but it seems that proper pronunciation would be a mark of professionalism.

Reminds me of the story of a young couple driving south from Dallas on Interstate Highway 35. As they drove along they saw signs announcing the mileage to the city of Waco. As each tried to pronounce the name of the city an arguement arose. Was it pronounced Way-co or Wack-o? At the height of the arguement the husband suggested that they pull into the first business they come to and ask someone how they pronounce it. As they entered the city limits they came to a Dairy Queen and promptly drove up to the drive-thru window where a young lady slid open the window and asked for their order. The husband replied, "We are having an arguement over how to pronounce the name of this place. Will you settle the arguement and tell us how you pronounce it?" The young clerk smiled, moistened her lips, and then slowly said, "D-A-I-R-Y Q-U-E-E-N."

Pronunciation is important in many cases. Don't know where you would end up if you asked for directions to Wack-o, Texas. It sure wouldn't be in Way-co.

Oh, don't get me started on place names! Especially in Texas, where all the Spainish names are mangled.

Along the same lines however, the Japanese names for most consumer goods are mis-pronounced here in America anyway. I've been told by a Japanese friend that "NYE -kon" is "nee-KON" and "CAN-nin" is ka-NON".

But then, I had a friend from Australia who tried to convince me they had "Roo-bars" on their land rovers. I told him they would come in handy driving across west texas when he encountered the jack-0-lopes.

...and how does one say ..."moire"?
I've been saying "mo'-ray" for years.

LOL...

ya ain't seen nuttin', Richard. Here in New Mexico, the corrupted pronunciation of Spanish words is downright embarrasing. For some reason the village of Madrid is pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable...as in MA'-drid(said with a very nasal MA). And the mountains of Jemez(HE'-mez) are pronounced HAY'-mus. It took me months to figure out where haymus was.

And the famous mission in Tucson, San Xavier, is a dead givaway for a tourist when they pronounce the hard "X" as in EX-avior.

This is getting off Xiaoli Wang’s topic, but I went to college in St. Louis, where lasting Creole influence gave us such names as Gravois ("GRA-voice") ... a sizeable tectonic crack runs under town & is called the "New MAD-rid" fault.

Of course, here in California, we insist on pronouncing our governor's name through the nose as "ARE-nulled," rather than the more Teutonic "AHH-nult."

<<<-- Originally posted by Bill Ravens : ...and how does one say ..."moire"?
I've been saying "mo'-ray" for years. -->>>


MWAH-RAY is acceptable.

At the risk of sliding even further off-topic, I had the great mis-fortune of being a full time DJ/Newscaster in Houston back in '79 - during the hostage crisis in Iran. Every hour, the AP wire service would send over a different pronuciation for" Ayotallah Khomeni" and "Shapur BaHktiar"... the phonetic pronunciations were all over the page!

Pity us poor fools who had to "rip and read".

How about:

Sachtler
Anton Bauer
Lacie

<<<-- Originally posted by Marco Leavitt : How about:
Anton Bauer
-->>>

Ant (as in the insect) - on BOW (as in 'take a bow') - er ?

Marco,

Good ones! Okay, while I was living in TEXAS, the pronunciations I heard most often

ANT - on BOWER (Rhymes with "ant on tower")

SHOT-lur (Which I think is wrong) and SOCK -lur (Which sounds more likely)

I heard "Luh - SEE" most often with "LAY- see" second.

Oh, this one's been driving me crazy: Schoeps.

<<<-- Originally posted by Richard Alvarez :
I heard "Luh - SEE" most often with "LAY- see" second. -->>>

If you go by French pronunciation it should be:

LAH-sea.

I asked LaCie technical support. They responded:

----
Well that's a good question.

We've heard pretty much all the versions possible : (here is an attempt to reproduce the way people pronounce it)
- Lassy
- LeCie
- LaaCye...

The best is to pronounce it "the French way" : "lassee"

I hope this will help...

Best Regards,
-----

<<<-- Originally posted by Marco Leavitt : Oh, this one's been driving me crazy: Schoeps. -->>>

Schoeps - slopes (?)

I'd say it like George of the Jungle's elephantine pal: Sheps.

Nobody has yet mentioned Canopus:

Kuh - NOH - pus.

Brightest star in the southern hemisphere, brightest star in Hiro Yamada's real-time NLE universe.

<<<-- Originally posted by Chris Hurd : Nobody has yet mentioned Canopus:

Kuh - NOH - pus.

Brightest star in the southern hemisphere, brightest star in Hiro Yamada's real-time NLE universe. -->>>

Haha...Have you ever heard it mispronounced though, Chris?

I have---a guy at a workshop kept rhyming it with "cannabis."

You may now proceed to lob puns.

Schoeps is indeed pronounced"sheps", at least every soundman I know calls it thus.

I regularly ask company reps how to properly pronounce their company names (the "Ah-rri" vs "Arry" thing rages on and on). Recently I had two skylights installed by the well-known skylight company Velux, and I asked the regional sales rep how to pronounce the name (for a good reason; they were furnished as part of an HGTV show being done on the renovation of my bedroom, and I wanted to make sure to give them the proper nod).

He said, "Well, a lot of people say VELL-ux, but it's really supposed to be VEE-lux".

I then asked how the president of the company says it. "Interesting question; he's Scandinavian, so he says vel-LOOX. Actually, the name stands for Ventilation + Lux (as in illumination)."

I thought about it and responded "shouldn't it be pronounced VELL-ux", then?" He laughed and said, "you're probably right!"

So who the hell knows.

(and incidentally, "Papert" is pronounced with a short "a"...and if I did in fact spell it "Paupert", it would probably be due to that aforementioned renovation threatening to make me into a pauper by the end...)

Boy, did THAT joke take a long time to find a punchline!

I'll just set 'em up, Charles, and you knock 'em down.

I apologize for the earlier misspelling Charles, mea culpa. I should know better. You'd think people couldn't mangle Alvarez, but they do.

You should have my name, Richard. Phonetic nouns confuse people ...

no worries, Mr. A! don't think I even saw the post in question.

Here's one for you guys:

Avid

pronounced:

Ay (like the Fonz) -vid

or

Ah (like a yawn) -vid

Avid as in "Cat Lid" That's how every Avid rep I've ever talked to pronounced it, not to mention every owner and instructor.

Check out a commercial by the Senior Marketing director.

http://avid.com/video/index.asp#

Click on the spot about Avid Xpress Studio, and that's how he pronounces it.

Thanks Richard. It always confused me because I've known other products called Avid, and they were always pronounced ay-vid, or eh-vid, up here in Canada.


How abour "bokeh"?

According to Photonotes.org:

"A term borrowed from the Japanese, pronounced with short vowels. (ie: more like French pronunciation - bo-ké - versus long English diphthongs - bow-kay.)"

How about:

Matrox

I pronounce it Mate-trox

Adobe:

I pronounce it A-doe-bee.

I have heard it spoken as dol-bee, but I think the guy I was speaking to had a speech impediment???

Yup, again from the manufacturers reps, "May Trox" and "Uh Doh Bee" (Like the bricks)

Heres' one. My actual birth name.... (Carney is adopted, but yes I have lots of Irish ancestors).

Avielhe.
it's French/Basque origin.

5 stars to the first who can pronounce it properly. (Phonetically here on the forum)
Even the French get it wrong. hehehe

Just guessing:

AH- VEY

My guess

Ahh VEE yeh

prononounciation of my name is:

fee-lee-ph covh-cheen,

but i wanted to ask the starter of this thread (Xiaoli Wang) - how to pronounce his name?

just curious.

filip

guys, try this:

the one and only...

CHROSZIEL...


any guesses?

personally i didn't know, and therefore i asked in amsterdam on IBC last year - on CHROSZIEL booth how to pronounce that.

the lady i spoked with - said something, but now i cannot reproduce that.

so, can you find the solution?

thanks,

filip

Filip, there is really no good English pronunciation of romanized chinese characters, but people call me "show-lee".

I pronounce Chrosziel like Crow-Zeal...but not sure if thats right.

I'm still a little confused about Kino-Flo, didnt really get the explanation. Is it like know-flow, or like keyNO-flow, or am I still wrong?

Kee NO flow or if you prefer Keeno flow

"Crow zhyell" or "Crows yell" but the 'z' sound should be in there.

Where's the accent on that? "CROW zhyell" or "crow ZHYELL." I assume crow is pronounced like the bird?

<<<-- Originally posted by Xiaoli Wang : Is it like know-flow, or like keyNO-flow, or am I still wrong? -->>>

keyNo-flow


at least in poland. :)


filip

As I've heard it, the stress is pretty flat across the three syllables of kee no flow. But thats in the south and southwest of America. If anything, a bit more stress on 'kee'. But again, pretty flat.

"crow" as in the bird... and the stress tends to be on the last syllable, but just but barely. "crowzhYELL" Though, to be fair, in French it might be "Kwah"

Guys, these are just my experiences... nothing etched in stone here, I'm no pronunciation authority, just passing on what I've heard in the business.

People give me static for pronouncing the "H" in "what", "whether", and "white", but I am undeterred.

I think if you know, or can find out the language root, that helps determine pronounciation.

Mark, do you pronounce coupon as "kyew-pon"? Just wondering...!

Only when he wins a KOO-pee doll at the fair.

In my part o'Saath Texas (Narth Texas bein' fulla Yankees), most every one-syllable word is pronounced as if it had two. Not all, but most. As in:

"Yew'n a heap o'trouble, boah."

And don't get me started on the proper usage of and difference between "y'all" and "all y'all." But now I'm way off-topic already.

Hey...Austin is blue country, all the yankees are here! I'm loving RTF@UT though.