Wegen

[TEE]

How do you pronounce Wegen?

[mandroid]

Depends on whether the language Deutche is or not? its Vegen then, [i think]..
fau vay [vw]

[Austin Koerner]

Ha! I'm so glad there is a thread about this, it looks like weh-gen to me, but I heard chris thile say wee-gen. I'd like to know how to pronounce the name of my favorite pick correctly

[Mike Bunting]

The language would be Dutch, Michael Wegen (veːɡən) lives in Lochem, Netherlands.

[mrmando]

Ah, so, since it's Dutch, it's pronounced Vvvvhhhhrrrrgggghhhhnnnn.

[Mike Bunting]

# I tried to paste in the pronunciation?!?! It's "ve:gan"

[man dough nollij]

VAYgun

[Ted Eschliman]

Silly me. Here all along I thought it was pronounced, "Shar DAY."

[Bertram Henze]

The Dutch pronounce the G more guttural (like "ch" in "Loch Lomond", not like "ch" in "chance". The sound would be like "vaychen" then. Have a glass of water ready before trying...

"wegen" is a verb meaning "to have weight, to matter, to count".

Bertram

[TEE]

Thanks everyone- I thought it was Way-gun then I heard someone pronounce it as We-jin. I guess both were wrong.

Bertram- would Vaychen rhyme with bacon?

The vice presidents name is actually pronounced Cheeny instead of Chainy but he says it is pronounced the other way so much that it doesn't matter to him.

I just found out recently that luthier is pronounced by a lot of people as lootier without the H.

I had a lady call me one time about something and she said her last name was Camp Bell. I thought that was an odd name and when I looked at the caller ID the name was spelled Campbell.

It is going to be hard to read wegen and think Vay-gun.

[Jim Broyles]

Americans always pronounce names the way we think they should be. The accented syllable in Adidas was supposed to be the third, but we said ahDEEdas so much it became acceptable. The first syllable of the Japanese auto is not TOY but Toe - Toe yo tah, but we say Toy ota (unless we say tie ota for some unknown reason.) The power tool maker says it's ree obi, but we say rye obi, because it has a Y in it. There are a lot more.

[Jim Broyles]

Oh - how could I forget Eye banez? It's Ee banez in Spanish, which is the language the name was taken from. Same with Eye rack and Eye ran. I've always wanted to ask some one who said he knew an Eye-talian what town in Eye-taly the person came from.

[Jim MacDaniel]

I don't know about Wegen, but I can tell you from first hand experience that dining with a vegan can be less than fun -- especially if you are in the mood for veal.

[MikeEdgerton]

veːɡən

That doesn't always work here.

[Brad Weiss]

As Bertram notes, the Dutch G sounds like you're hacking something up: VAY- chken

[JEStanek]

"ka' ching"

Ha! #They are nice picks. #How would you pronounce, "Thile took his Dudebostel to a luthier in McGaheysville, Virginia to remove the Wegen scratches from the Carpathian spruce?"

Jamie

[JeffD]

Americans always pronounce names the way we think they should be. The accented syllable in Adidas was supposed to be the third, but we said ahDEEdas so much it became acceptable. The first syllable of the Japanese auto is not TOY but Toe - Toe yo tah, but we say Toy ota (unless #we say tie ota for some unknown reason.) The power tool maker says it's ree obi, but we say rye obi, because it has a Y in it. There are a lot #more.

Cairo, (Kay ro) New York

Forked River (FOR ked) New Jersey

bedroom suite (soot)

Goethe Street (Go-eethy)

Beethoven Street (beeeth oven, or better b'thoven)

Calace mandolins (KA lase)

Montecello (mont a SEL o)

Louisville, (LOO a vil) KY

Waxahachie (wok SAT chie) TX

Mississippi (misipi)


And if you are in Boston, you would drive your Honder Accoad to the pahking lot.

[Jim MacDaniel]

Americans always pronounce names the way we think they should be. The accented syllable in Adidas was supposed to be the third, but we said ahDEEdas so much it became acceptable. The first syllable of the Japanese auto is not TOY but Toe - Toe yo tah, but we say Toy ota (unless #we say tie ota for some unknown reason.) The power tool maker says it's ree obi, but we say rye obi, because it has a Y in it. There are a lot #more.

Cairo, (Kay ro) New York

Forked River (FOR ked) New Jersey

bedroom suite (soot)

Goethe Street (Go-eethy)

Beethoven Street (beeeth oven, or better b'thoven)

Calace mandolins (KA lase)

Montecello (mont a SEL o)

Louisville, (LOO a vil) KY

Waxahachie (wok SAT chie) TX

Mississippi (misipi)


And if you are in Boston, you would drive your Honder Accoad to the pahking lot.

One more odd example: Boston's pro basketball team's name, the Celtics, is pronounced "SELL-tix" here in the US -- even though there is a sizable Irish-American population in that city that likely knew better.

[Jim Rowland]

I remember recording 5 or 6 thirty second commercials for "Chic" clothing,years ago using the French "Sheek",only to receive a note from the company to be sure and pronounce the word "Chick". Iuz bummed.
Jim

[Bob A]

I'm originally from Rochester NY, where the correct pronunciation seems to require speaking thru your nose. We have a beach area, Charlotte, pronounced sharLOT, and a small town, Chili, which is CHAI-lye.

We have a farm in south central VA, near Staunton, whcih is, of course, STANton.

These little local tidbits are all that's left of regional language; helps us pick on the furriners.

[Jim Broyles]

Well, these examples are cool, but I was really talking about how we Americanize foreign words and names, like San Peedro instead of the more authentic Sahn Pehdro

[JEStanek]

I hear ya', JB. The regional accents in America are great. In my home town there are 4 regional, distinct accents, one for Lynchburg itself, and one each for the surrounding Counties (Campbell, Amherst, Bedford).

I know there are several different accents to identify folks from the UK and France too. It's probably the same all over.

There's a Celtic balladeer around here who sings Farewell to Nova Scotia (a great sing along for me at least) and he sings the chorus part "may your mountains dark and dreary be" as drear-eye be. Very disconcerting the first time I heard him sing it that way.

For the record, when I ordered my Wegen from Elderly, the man on the phone taking my order said WEE-gun... In my head I always said it WEH-gen.

Jamie

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm originally from Rochester NY, where the correct pronunciation seems to require speaking thru your nose. We have a beach area, Charlotte, pronounced sharLOT, and a small town, Chili, which is CHAI-lye.

We have a farm in south central VA, near Staunton, whcih is, of course, STANton.

You got nuthin' on the folks from Massachusetts where Worcester becomes Woostah.

[Jim MacDaniel]

Well, these examples are cool, but I was really talking about how we Americanize foreign words and names, like San Peedro instead of the more authentic Sahn Pehdro

Or like pronouncing Lima Beans as LY-ma BEENS, rather than as LEE-ma free-HO-lays. (or would it actually be free-HO-lays LEE-mas )

[Bertram Henze]

Bertram- would Vaychen rhyme with bacon?

Nope. BradW has had a better try at pseudo-phonetic than I did.

The "ch" I meant is more like the sound an agry cat would make after you've thrown her out of a 3rd floor window, only shorter. Or like the sound your car would make on the interstate if you suddenly lost both front wheels, only shorter and without the bang at the end. Or the sound I make when sleeping on my back, open-mouthed.

So it's Vay<chrkchkrch>en.

For an audible sample of Dutch containing lots of these gutturals
look here.

Hope this helps.

Bertram