Show ARE DIFFICULT TO PRONOUNCE I Some twisting Tongue Names Found in the Everyday News From Europe SELLING IS NO CRITERION I Commentator Says It Is Idle for Americans to Affect Native Native Native Na Na- tive Pronunciation The Pathfinder In Jn reply to a anum num ber r of ot Inquiries a as to the pronunciation tion of the the- numerous Jaw-breaking Jaw names of or places which the European war var w r has brought Into prominence says SS It Is la difficult to Indicate evon even approximately ap ape proximately the correct pronunciation even evell where whore the authorities agree on what Is correct For lor example what la is the correct P pronunciation of tn tho name of or Y WArsaw It all depends upon what language you have ln in mind It is ii en onI on- on I Urel proper to anglicize all such geo geo- geo eo- eo graphic names and so this name in tn English becomes plain W s However the people of Warsaw call It t Tile TUe Russians call It the French so vee and so on r r T As wi WO we have often explained Pla ned In the Pathfinder It is 18 idle for tor Americans to tl try trl to adopt tho the pronunciation of oC the tho place-names place as aa used b by the people of oC the tho locality the sensible Va way Is to pronounce the name me as if It it were Eng Bag lish fish The French for example call their capital Pair ce but ov oven ovon n the I most affected American would not be so foolish Coolish as to ape that pronunciation unless possibly in fun tun And even the French do not all pronounce their thelt names the samo same wa way The French name for tor Brussels for or instance Is la Bruxelles This according to the Parisian Pari Pan sian pronunciation is ii seh Broo voh eh-voh but an at you travel north to the Belgian frontier the tile pronunciation gradually sharpens until It becomes ell Brux So too in Germany German the pronunciation tion varies very ery much and tends In the same name way to softer In the south than In tho the north Thus the word Ich for r I Is 15 called Ish Ili In some somo sections and Ik In others while the polite form Is 18 about half hail halfway way v between these two This peculiar sound of ch in German is something that Is very hard for fOl most people who have not heard the lan language a great deal It Is la different dif dl- dif dif- ferent from anything in J. J English and therefore cannot be indicated So also the vowel u In l French rench and the modifIed modi modi- fied fled u u In German have a a. sound which Is unlike anything in English and w which cannot be bo expressed accurately Polish Puzzler The Polish words In the war war- Accounts accounts Ac ac- c counts are re especially puzzling One Inquirer In asking how tho the name is pronounced says that when whon he tried to t speak peak It It he nearl nearly swallowed his tongue and had to stop sto- Fearful and wonderful are the pronunciations pronunciations pronunciations pro pro- of this name heard on the streets and elsewhere Some make It oth others ers and others avoid It by speaking of ot It as Pr Pr oh you POU know what place I Ime me mean an The fact is Is a person who ho knows know nothing of at Polish cant can't come very close to the correct pronunciation of ot this and other Polish names but in ina a a. rude way we can approximate them Ulem I In Polish tho the combinations si u sz cz rz rt etc te are used with and they require a a. lot of ot tongue twisting on the part of ot an speaking English person to master them Sz Is like hike sh ah ahIn shin In English and c cz Is like the ch cli In church In the proper name e we get both these and It be becomes becomes becomes be- be comes pan ik a 8 hard one In Indeed Indeed Indeed In- In deed Is J. It If you ou want to bo be correct Jaroslav Is o o Ir-o- Is off Is lah iah sow is off Kalisz Kaliss Is Kahl Kahi each The Germans when the they occupied occupied pied pled this Polish town renamed It which Is easier Petro- Petro I grad the name nama of or St St. Petersburg is Js Pet et if It you wish to speak It by the book though plain tro Pee grad grod Is the way most Americans wilt will call It Is Lublin Is strictly but Eng Eng- lish speaking persons have made mado It the same as In English Lublin 10 1 Cracow the German form of ot which Is Krakau is called Krakoff by the Russians Breslau is low Bres ow as asIn asin asin in cow in iii German Is strictly but it Is commonly Anglicized Prague Is la Prang but hut in In English It is mostly called Prag with the thc long IonS a Koenigsberg Is practically tho German Baltic seaport Is e S moon Budapest Is Berlin in German Is but It Itis itIs is 18 universally Anglicized by people I when speaking English Tho The German for Vienna Is pronounced Wien pronounced Veen Vaen In that case wo we have taken great liberties with the name namo The German name for Cologne Cologna Is pronounced Koeln-pronOUnCed pronounced Keln The name namo Cologne Is French and was derived from tho the old Roman noman name of ot the place Colonia meaning colon colony the Germans butchered the lie name muno Tn Yn that case rather rathel than have It as Cologne la Chapelle pronounced la Alx-la- shap ell Is of course a French name and the Germans call It Aachen Ak- Ak ken Iten Strange to say a these two names dissimilar as they look are both derived de do- rived from the same source source aach be beIns being belag be- be lag Ins an old German word meaning water water wa wa- vater va- va ter and tho the French form alx aix coming comInS' from Crom the Latin aqua This Tills refers to the warm springs here There is 18 another another another an an- other Ai Aix Ix In France Prance called to distinguish dis h it from the German derman German Alx Alx- Alx ti- ti the x xIn xin les The French sound t EI xIn In this case whereas In Bordeaux It I Is i silent Belgian Ver Versions lon The Belgian names partake of ot the French and also of the Flemish and Walloon The name Antwerp Is Flemish Flemish Flem Flem- ish tho French version of oC It being pronounced So al also o is Flemish but it Is 13 turned Into French us Malines pronounced pronounced pronounced pro pro- leon leen The Tho name Liege Is French pronounced Leo the tile Germans call It Luttich pronounced Flemings know It as all Littich and the tIle Luyk Roy Huy is 19 practically Wee and anu Namur Is nearly The pronunciation l of or other place- place names In the border dl districts varies according to the language EI which Is be beIng being being be- be ing used Generally the English goo geo- oco- oco have havo taken the tho French form torm of oC the tho word For Jor example the great river ri alon along which there has been so much fighting Is known b by us In its French form as the tile Meuse leuc pronounced as near as can be Indicated J JIn in Belgium it becomes Maese Macso and farther farther far far- ther thor on oi In Holland Hollund it Is as js the tho Mans Maas Louvain Is Loo In trench French Loo but it is commonly pronounced vain aln In lIsh Bruges Is Broo In English though In the French form Corm It Is The Tile city we know as ns Ghent Is known locally aa as Gand the French form The English 1111 Anglicized this Into Gaunt as in ins the name of or John Gaunt pronounced Lille Is Leel tIou though h cornmon commonly called callec In English LI LII Is Mo 10 Amiens is usually called In iii plain I ens but 10 If you wish to speak you ou will make It Ah th St. St Quentin Is called b by native of ot that place ken Sang tang The Somme river rhel Is called Sum Som the tho Olse OINe Is the tho hmo Is Aln In the tile I la is the Is |