Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

Of suns and worlds I've nothing to be quoted;
How men torment themselves, is all I've noted.

I wish I'd said that.

how many footsteps have been followed
by the continuation of doubts to be swallowed

I love goethe, I would never renounce him
I only wish that I could pronounce him

ok, I've heard a half dozen ways to say this guy's name
is it GOthe
or is it GotheAh
or is it GertAh
or some sound that I can't make with my mouth because I'm a Texan?

it must be a texan thing... i've heard it said but i just can't repeat it. but ger-tah sounds close to what've i heard said, which actually sounds kinda gay doncha know?

thank-ah you cec

I thought it was "goat urgh"

Hm.

how do you pronounce van gogh? I once knew a girl called him "van gogck"... like an arab she spoke.

van gogh i heard the sound - 'van gohhhg' like the gogh was choking on a paint brush

as far as Goethe... maybe Panta can help us out.

in scotland we say, "go tae"

as in, "go tae fuck!"

Go athe young man!
Bet you wish you said that too!
H

it's GÖ-ta (the 'ö' has to be pronounced similar to the 'i' in 'first', only a bit more closed) - audio sample here: http://forvo.com/word/goethe/ (listen to the second and third version)

and it's van choch (the 'ch' must be pronounced like the the swiss or hebrew 'ch', like a raspy/snarly vibration in the upper part of the throat) - audio sapmples here: http://forvo.com/word/vincent_van_gogh/ and http://forvo.com/word/van_gogh/ )

second and third versions sound like

"gerta"

well, kind of.
except that there's no 'r' and that the 'ö' sound is straighter than the 'e' before the 'r' in "gerta" (meaning it does not have that slight diphthong sound).

can you say "gerta" non-rhotically and without the vowel-slide?

ha... i would love to hear you try! )

hmm... i donno what "non-rhotically" means... and i don't know what a "vowel slide" is either

sorry panta... my ear isn't trained for german i guess... i listened again 2x and can only here it exactly like "gerta" ... well maybe like "gurta" but those sound pretty much the same pronouncing them phonetically

even though there's no R in it, I hear an R in the pronunciation

i tried

"English pronunciation is divided into two main accent groups, the rhotic (pronounced /ˈroʊtɪk/) and non-rhotic, depending on when the sound typically represented in spelling with the letter R is pronounced. Rhotic speakers pronounce written /r/ in all positions, while non-rhotic speakers pronounce /r/ only if it is followed by a vowel sound, and not always even then."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhotic_dialect

..... and the vowel slide is what happens in a diphthong.

maybe "gerta" is the closest you can come to it then when you can't pronounce an "ö" (= oe).... just try to skip the 'r'!

p.s. oh, and.... have you tried to say "van gogh"?