 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is to address the almost universal mis-spelling of Hildur Guðnadóttir's name that I keep seeing. Some people are using a "d" to represent the "ð" character (which is pronounced as something between "th" and "d" in Icelandic [as well as other pre-German languages]). It more often seems to be treated as "o", which produces a totally wrong sound. The "d" at least gives a reasonable approximation (Gud vs. Guth). There are, of course, many other cases where a non-English character is simply represented as the English letter which most looks like it. (Think Dvorak and Rozsa.) This is particularly problematic with Chinese, Japanese and Korean names, the accepted spelling of which has changed over time. (Not certain how XI sounds as SHI, but that seems to be the name of the Chinese leader.)
I don't know what the solution is, but I would ask anyone dealing with such names to think about how your version sounds. To me it seems a matter of respect.
Thanks for your kind attention.
Louis
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Consider two things:
1. People see the name elsewhere and copy and paste it with the mis-spelling, having no idea its in error.
2. People type the name on a standard English keyboard and there is no character for it. Yes, even if they know there is a character map in Microsoft to probably find such characters, but they are not going to take the time.
And keep in mind sometimes these characters don't display properly at places, so it's not even worth the trouble of writing an name many won't see correctly. Because of this, I'll often replace foreign characters for the nearest equivalent; though sometimes I'll simply copy and paste regardless of displaying issues.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hildur probably thinks it's a small price to pay while baggin' trophys.I think it was Ron Randell who said something like - they can call me what they like as long as they are paying me
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Which I find odd... I mean, if I'm a representer for such an award, I think I would go to the trouble to check how the name is supposed to be pronounced.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Jan 18, 2020 - 5:04 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Ray Worley
(Member)
|
I've been studying Icelandic and Old Norse and I share he discomfort at seeing the misspellings and such, but the spelling as Gudnadottir is pretty well commonly accepted in English as a translation device. I've got numerous copies of translated Icelandic sagas where substituting the two Icelandic characters that don't don't exist in English, Thorn (Þ) and eth (ð), to "Th" and "d" respectively are common and accepted by scholars. Also eliminating the diacritical marks from some vowels: from ó to o, for example. Hollywood has certainly been doing it forever. I would be willing to bet Miklós Rózsa has far more official credits as Miklos Rozsa. I've never cared for it and prefer the legitimate spelling, but it is common. I think modern scholarly thinking is to stop doing this, but it will no doubt linger.
What aggravated me on this board more was the misogyny and xenophobia exhibited by some not-so-lamented recently banned ex-members who were griping about how they couldn't pronounce her name, that they liked composers whose name you could spell, and now we've got a female composer, let's get a female DP and a female Best Boy etc. Of course, when called out for this crap, it was always "I'm just kidding. You've got no sense of humor". And then adding another lame joke and/or insult. (Not just Hildur. This junk got into discussions of Pinar Toprak and others as well).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I don't know what the solution is, but I would ask anyone dealing with such names to think about how your version sounds. To me it seems a matter of respect.
Thanks for your kind attention.
Louis
Is that LOO-ISS, or LOO-EE?
Hope I did this right (never tried to quote for a reply before [Ludite lite]). (I haven't been checking in on the thread that often, so this is a while later.)
Its LOO-IS. The other is the French pronunciation. I'm not certain how my German-speaking great-grandfather pronounced it (I'm named after him), but I suspect it was the same as I use. (I imagine in his case, Louis was an Americanized version of his Austrian father's Alois.) Of course, a number of my friends have simply shortened it to "Lou". I respond to either.
Louis
|
|
|
|
|
|
I've been studying Icelandic and Old Norse
Hi, Ray W.
Have you already encountered/listened to the music of Jón Leifs?
Realizing this is tangential to the OP's topic, I nonetheless wish to bring some discussion of music into this non-musical thread about spelling. 
The 4 nature-based tone pictures that Leifs wrote during the 1960s were not written for films but sound very descriptive and Herrmannesque as if conceived as movie music.
In addition to the above pieces, I love his Baldr composition as well. You also might have interest in his Saga symphony, too, since you read actual Icelandic sagas.
The BIS label has an excellent sequence of CD volumes on music by Leifs:
https://bis.se/composer/leifs-jon/
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
