Why is it that most English speaking people EASILY pronounce the letters "as" in Douglas, Christmas, Nicholas, Lucas, Banderas, Thomas, and all other such names or words with the same ending correctly but seem unable to pronounce the "as" or" "az" in Dias or the "az" in Diaz correctly? Do the same to the above names and the reason for correct pronunciation should be obvious! It comes across as ridicule.

Example:

The lady on Comcast who is advertising Cameron Diaz' latest film has a
Field day with the name's possessive form.

I don't understand. Now, maybe it's because I'm mispronouncing Cameron D's name incorrectly. Is the correct pronunciation of her name "Dee Azz"?

American's used to be very poor about this sort of think (like calling Beijing, China "Peking") but nowadays newscasters are expected to pronounce people and places more like they are supposed to be pronounced. If Cameron's last name is supposed to be pronounced "Dee azz" then I'd say that Comcast is doing a poor job of training their newscasters to pronounce things correctly.

Hi,
I don't know the correct way to pronounce "Diaz" either!
I would guess at "Dee-azz", or is it "Dii-azz" ?
Unless one is familiar with different names, from different parts of the United States, there are certain names some of have never heard, or don't remember hearing.
I was a High School Math teacher for 13 yrs. At one time. I would always have to ask how to pronounce many names (both First and Last). The public high school I was teaching at was located near a large Army base, with many, many different nationality names.
I do agree that a Network having someone mis-pronounce a name is not good at all. The Newscaster should already have done their homework on the proper way to pronounce it.

Among North Americans (Canadians are just as guilty as Americans!), there is a lot of mispronunciation of any name or word that is considered "foreign". I think it boils down to people not being properly educated. Grammar, pronunciation, geography (especially of foreign nations), and the study of foreign languages is not emphasized in schools as much as it should be. Also, depending on where people live, they are not exposed to certain cultures and languages. For example, my given name is Chava, and in the part of western Canada where I live, most people have never even heard of this name. So I get all kinds of "butchering" of it. The only person who knew how to pronounce it correctly without explanation was a doctor who happened to be from overseas. Most people born and raised here seemed to have no clue. I am actually more than happy when people ask how to pronounce my name. Unfortunately though, most don't ask.

That is weird about the newscaster on television, though. I don't watch any American news, but one thing that's positive about Canadian broadcasters is that their pronunciation is impeccable.

I don't know how to pronounce "Diaz" either I suppose but I don't really think it is due to being uneducated. You can be educated but still not be able to pronounce it properly. If people hear the word pronounced as it is meant to be then the ear is trained to know the difference when it is pronounced incorrectly. But for one to pronounce it correctly one has to be trained to also say the word properly and often and that is largely dependent on your background and social circle.

If I may use Chava as an example... most people would think it is pronounced as "Sha-vah". I know I did at first. However, I googled for what the proper pronunciation should be and from what I can tell it is pronounced no where near as it is written simply because there are no english equivalent of the first Hebrew letter depicted in English as "ch". In English we use 2 letters to try and represent the sound and it doesn't do the word justice. I could be way off base but hopefully Orange will correct me :)

Casey

I wouldn't take it as ridicule. We just don't say it with the same accent as those with the native tongue. I know that people whose first language isn't English have a really hard time pronouncing MY name... which to natvie English speakers is one of the easiest names to pronounce... no question about it.

Good points casey and Dr Jizzle. However, all things considered, I have noticed that people who come from other parts of the world tend to have a broader knowledge of languages than people from North America. It may be out of necessity, or perhaps because in Europe for example, there are so many different countries, and many different languages. Anyway just my own personal observation. I agree though that it shouldn't be taken as ridicule. I'm sure it's not intentional.

Thanks you all for the responses. The name is a historical one taught in
All elementary schools as part of European history.


The names Diaz and Dias are both pronounced identically with an "s" sound.
The "mistake" is when the "as" or "az" is emphasized so that it sounds like
In Jackass. I think that the important thing when pronouncing a name that
One is unfamiliar with is to ask oneself if it sounds obscene in English and
If that obscenity might embarrass, or otherwise humiliate the person who is
Being referred to that way in public.

So the decent thing to do is at least ask to make sure.


BTW

My experience in the USA has been that when persons mispronouncing the name are corrected they get upset and either begin arguing or else mispronounce it even worse just to demonstrate that they will pronounce it whatever way they wish.