How to pronounce 'Naudé'

[cocoabutter]

I have a question concerning the pronunciation of the following surname-Naudé. How should I pronounce it? Thank you for help, in advance.

[BobK]

Originally Posted by cocoabutter

I have a question concerning the pronunciation of the following surname-Naudé. How should I pronounce it? Thank you for help, in advance.

It's not a common name. If I met it, I'd expect it to be pronounced something like /nəɷ'deɪ/, but if the users were French I'd make more of an effort with the vowels. Some names, initially borrowed from French, have acquired a very English pronunciation; Beauchamp, for example is often pronounced /'bi:ʧəm/ (and, after a few generations of living in England, even spelt 'Beecham'. So people with the name Naudé might want it pronounced /'nɔ:di:/ (note the change of stress). In other words, as so often with family names, you have to follow the preference of the owner (or your speech community - depending on which is most important to you)

b

PS
Also, mispronunciation of foreign names is an interesting political weapon. Churchill - who I'm sure knew the correct pronunciation - chose to say /'næzi:/ for NAZI. And more recently, Thatcher used her abuse of Galtieri's name as a weapon of war (/gælti:eəri:/ she used to say, with 4 - nearly 5 - syllables) .

And another thing - names get Anglicized for political reasons: just before the First War, German Street in London became what it is today - 'Jermyn Street'; careful RP-speakers still use a schwa for the final vowel; and Lord Mountbatten's family name was originally Battenberg (which may have been changed either because of the war or because of the cake - which makes it sound faintly ridiculous). But I'm beginning to ramble; I could witter on for ages about family names!

[cocoabutter]

thanks a lot. I ask since one of the lecturers from my English department comes from South Africa and I wonder how I should pronounce his surname.

[BobK]

Originally Posted by cocoabutter

thanks a lot. I ask since one of the lecturers from my English department comes from South Africa and I wonder how I should pronounce his surname.

In a South African name, I'd expect the more English-sounding version (to rhyme with 'gaudy'). But it may be a common name in SA, with some other pronunciation; I'm sorry - I just haven't met it.

b

[cocoabutter]

ok, I don't mind it. I'd also pronounce it in the following way /'nɔːdi/ and I think that's how he does it but I wasn't sure

[naomimalan]

Originally Posted by BobK

In a South African name, I'd expect the more English-sounding version (to rhyme with 'gaudy'). But it may be a common name in SA, with some other pronunciation; I'm sorry - I just haven't met it.

b

I can lend a hand here as I have South African citizenship and lived there 18 years. Naude ( today spelt without the acute accent over the “e”) is indeed a very common name in South Africa (all are descendants of the French Huguenots who emigrated there after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIVin 1685.)

I don’t have phonetic symbols on my computer* but:

-the stress is on the second syllable
-the first syllable rhymes with “so”
-the second syllable rhymes with “hear” and “ear”

Say hello to Mr Naude from a French Malan (another extremely common SA name with the same origins)

*Could anyone tell me how to download phonetic symbols EASILY?

[cocoabutter]

So, is it like /nəʊˈdɪə/? I once heard other lecturer pronounce it as /ˈnɔːdɪ/ and wanted to make sure.
Be sure I will

I don't know how to download it, I've just copied the transcription from the word processor.

[Anglika]

Originally Posted by naomimalan

*Could anyone tell me how to download phonetic symbols EASILY?

Have you tried this: Writing Phonetic Symbols - UsingEnglish.com ESL Forum

[BobK]

Originally Posted by naomimalan

I can lend a hand here as I have South African citizenship and lived there 18 years. Naude ( today spelt without the acute accent over the “e”) is indeed a very common name in South Africa (all are descendants of the French Huguenots who emigrated there after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIVin 1685.)

....

Thanks for this Naomi - I feared I might be barking up the wrong tree

b

[naomimalan]

[php]

Originally Posted by cocoabutter

So, is it like /nəʊˈdɪə/? I once heard other lecturer pronounce it as /ˈnɔːdɪ/ and wanted to make sure.
Be sure I will
I don't know how to download it, I've just copied the transcription from the word processor.

Thanks to your inquiry, I've got the phonetic symbols! Anglika put me onto the page where they are. So I'm using them for the first time to answer this: Yes, as you have transcribed it: /nəʊ'dɪə/

It could also be transcribed as /nɔ:'dɪə/

If you try practicing both versions you'll see that in this environment the difference is imperceptible.

The pronunciation you've heard other lecturers using is in fact incorrect for a South African Naude. Today, Naude is an Afrikaans name and other communities there including the English speaking South Africans pronounce it the way the Afrikaners do. But the English speaking Naudes elsewhere in the world would pronounce it differently, very possibly most of the time as /ˈnɔːdɪ/, the way BobK guessed it might be pronounced.