[Vocabulary] Pronouncing surnames

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englishhobby

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Hello,
I have a rather "cultural" question. Do the natives always follow phonetic reading rules when they pronounce English surnames they've never heard before? Supposing, you see an unusual surname in the newspaper - will you read it loud according to the accepted rules of reading?

So, how would you pronounce "Knebel"? Kn is usually pronounced as [n] at the beginning of the word, e is in an "open" stressed syllable, so it will be [i:], the second e is not stressed, so it will be [ɪ] (or [ə]?). All these elements combined, the whole word should be pronounced as ['ni:bɪl]. Am I right? :-?

If one reads an unfamiliar surname accoding to the accepted reading rules, is there a big chance that they'll pronounce it correctly (in general, not taking into consideration the speaker's individual articulation peculiarities)?

Thank you in advance.
 

Raymott

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Hello,
I have a rather "cultural" question. Do the natives always follow phonetic reading rules when they pronounce English surnames they've never heard before? Supposing, you see an unusual surname in the newspaper - will you read it loud according to the accepted rules of reading?

So, how would you pronounce "Knebel"? Kn is usually pronounced as [n] at the beginning of the word, e is in an "open" stressed syllable, so it will be [i:], the second e is not stressed, so it will be [ɪ] (or [ə]?). All these elements combined, the whole word should be pronounced as ['ni:bɪl]. Am I right? :-?

If one reads an unfamiliar surname accoding to the accepted reading rules, is there a big chance that they'll pronounce it correctly (in general, not taking into consideration the speaker's individual articulation peculiarities)?

Thank you in advance.
'Knebel' isn't English. I'd pronounce it /kneIbl/.
Now, if you're asking about English Surnames, how about: Hough, Cockburn, Donne, Worcester ...
There aren't any accepted rules for saying people's names; sometimes you have to guess.
 

Tdol

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And because of the problems many names pose with pronunciation and spelling, feel free to ask.
 

englishhobby

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