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Thread: Bernstein
- 09-Feb-2007, 11:33 #1
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Bernstein Could you please to explain me the English phonetic of the name Bernstein (the famous Watergate's journalist). Actually, the name is German, so I suppose that "st" is pronounced like "sht". Am I right?
Thank you.
- 09-Feb-2007, 11:44 #2
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Teacher Re: Bernstein BE /staın/
Originally Posted by meliss 
AmE /sti:n/ - which is, I think, how he and people he knew pronounced it
No English dialect, as far as I know, gives the first syllable anything approximating the German of the 'er'.
b
PS
An afterthought re German pronunciation. There are people who make a Big Thing of pronouncing foreign names (in the world of music, though not in the world of football
) according to the original (foreign language). This is a dangerous thing - they sometimes make ridiculous mistakes.
- 09-Feb-2007, 12:43 #3
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Threadstarter / Original Poster Re: Bernstein So, it's "s" like in "stone" not like "sht"?
- 09-Feb-2007, 13:31 #4
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Teacher Re: Bernstein It was in the film!
b
- 09-Feb-2007, 13:37 #5
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Threadstarter / Original Poster Re: Bernstein I haven't seen it (don't forget, I am from Ukraine, we'd entered your world just 15 years ago). Just answer my question, please!
- 09-Feb-2007, 13:46 #6
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Teacher Re: Bernstein Sorry, Meliss. My intonation did answer the question, but you didn't hear that
: 'It was in the film'. (I mentioned the film because that's my source for knowledge about AmE pronunciation of this particular name. It was called All the President's Men - which is probably available on DVD; so you could hear for yourself!)
b
- 09-Feb-2007, 14:10 #7
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Threadstarter / Original Poster Re: Bernstein Yes, maybe. But now I'd like to know (sorry, so stupid I am), is there the sound [ʃ] or not?
Thank you for your patience.
- 09-Feb-2007, 15:42 #8
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Teacher Re: Bernstein No, there's no [ʃ] - although maybe his Jewish grandmother, who wants him to remember his heritage, says it properly. Originally Posted by meliss
b
- 09-Feb-2007, 16:31 #9
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Teacher Re: Bernstein BERN-steen.
That's how it was pronounced in the film, and by the media when the story was unfolding.
- 09-Feb-2007, 16:34 #10
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Re: Bernstein Right. Originally Posted by meliss 
burn + s-teen. There isn't a sh sound.
