Ban Ki-moon, bahn gee-moon

[Ducklet Cat]

Hi

I noticed that Ban Ki-moon's name is pronounced with a "g" rather than a "k".
I googled and found this:

inogolo - Pronunciation of Ban Ki-moon : How to pronounce Ban Ki-moon

So, it is true it should be pronounced with a "g", but why is it then still written with a "k" in English?!

Thanks.

 

[Tdol]

Sometimes, when languages are changed into the Roman alphabet, the spelling convention doesn't always correspond to the sound, especially when the sound isn't exactly the same, so it could be this. Also, I have only heard people in English pronounce his name the way we write it with a /k/.

 

[Ducklet Cat]

Thanks Tdol.
I understand that. But it seemed to me a clear /g/ so I was confused why it was not romanized as a /g/

Well, I've also been hearing it with a /k/, but recently I heard a couple of TV Arab anchors pronounce it as a /g/, and these were on trustworthy TV channels.
So I doubled checked to find out that.

I was thinking myabe in the original language it is written as a k but pronounced as a g, an the one who romanized it was not aware of that.
But that is just a wild guess.

 

[Tdol]

Their writing system is very different, so transcription will involve making changes.

 

[Ducklet Cat]

Thanks.
I hope that someone who speaks Ban Ki-moon's language can tell us what could be the reason.

Regards