Bluetiger Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 So "You have to remember your name" but what if your name is not English and unspellable for foreigners? In my case:My first name ( we tradtionaly have two in Poland, my second is Alexander by the way ) is Mateusz http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mateusz It's has many translations and equivalents in English:Matthew, Matthew, Mathew, Matthias, Matt, Matty, Mattie Old English: Mattheus In other languages: Afrikaans: Mattheus (Mattie)Amharic: ማቴዎስ? (Mathewos, Mateos)Arabic: متى (Mattà)Aramaic: MattaiArmenian: Մատթէոս, Մաթևոս(Mat.teos)Azerbaijani: Matta, MəttaBasque: MateoBelarusian: Мацей (Maciej)Bulgarian: Матей (Matej)Breton: MazhevCatalan: MateuChinese: 马修 (simplified) /馬修 (traditional) (mǎ xiū)Croatian: Matej, Matija, Mate, MatoCzech: Matěj, Matyáš, MatoušDanish: Mads, MathiasDutch: Matthijs, Mathis, Mathijs, Mattijs, Mattheus, Matthias, Thijs, Ties, TijsEnglish: Matthew, Mathew, Matthias, Matt, Matty, MattieOld English: Mattheus[citation needed]Esperanto: MateoEstonian: Madis, MatiFinnish: Matias, MattiFrench: Mathieu, Matthieu; Mathias, Matthias; Mathis, MatthisGeorgian: მათე (Mate)Galician: MateuGerman: Matthias, Mathias, MatthäusGreek: Ματθαίος (Matthaios,Mattheos)Koine Greek: Ματθαῖος (Matthaios,Mattheos)Hebrew: מתתיהו ,מתיתיהו (Matityahu)Gujarati: મેથ્યુ (Mēthyu)Hindi: मैथ्यू (Maithyū)Hungarian: Máté, MátyásIcelandic: Matthías, MattiIndonesian: Matius, MateusIrish: Maitiú, MaitiasItalian: Matteo, MattiaJapanese: マシュー (Mashū), マタイ (Matai)Kannada: ಮ್ಯಾಥ್ಯೂ (Myāthyū)Khmer: ម៉ាថាយ (Meathay)Korean: 매튜 (Maetyu), 마태 (Matae)Latin: Matthæus, MatthiasLatvian: Matīss, MatejsLithuanian: Matas, MotiejusMacedonian: Метју (Metju)Macedonian: Матеј (Matej)Maltese: MattewMarathi: मॅथ्यू (Mĕthyū)Malayalam: മത്തായി (Matthayi)Mongolian: Матай (Matai)Nepali: मत्ती (Mattī)Norwegian: Mathias, Mattias; Matheus, Matteus; Mats, Mads; MattisPolish: Mateusz, MaciejPortuguese: Matias, Mathias (archaic); Mateus, Matheus (archaic)Punjabi: ਮੱਤੀ (Matī)Romanian: Matei, MatiaRussian: Матвей (Matvej), Матфей (Matfej)(archaic), Мотя (Motja), Мотка (Motka), Мэтью (Met'yu)Serbian: Матија (Matija), Матеја (Matеja)Slovak: Matúš, MatejSwahili: MatayoScottish Gaelic: Matha, MataSpanish: Matias, Matheo, Mateo, Matejo, TeoSwedish: Mats, Mattias, MathiasSlovene: Matej, Matevž, Matjaž, MatijaTurkish: Matta, MeteTamil: மத்தேயு (Mattēyu)Telugu: మట్టయ్య(Mattayya)Thai: แมทธิว (Mæthṭhiw)Ukrainian: Матей (Matej), Матвій (Matvij), Матвійко (Matvijko)Venetian: MateoWelsh: MathewZazaki: Matta So which one should I use in contacts with foreigners? ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 If communicating verbally, say it until they can pronounce it right. Toughest one for me to say correctly was Mahvand. The name is an Iranian one and has a kind of palated airy sound in the middle.that is tough for speakers of Ameucan.English. if writing out your name, just take your best shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Iceman of the North Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 So which one should I use in contacts with foreigners? ;) Gregor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kikajon Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Gregor?:lmao:I have difficulties in getting the point.Why should foreigners be so lazy or so incapable to pronounce a foreign name?Moreover Mateusz is pretty easy and comprehensibleI work with people of many different nationalities but everyone of us does hie/her best to pronounce at best foreign names.And the polish names are not the most difficult ones (surnames though...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theda Baratheon Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 If Mateusz is your name then go by Mateusz; you just might have to tell people how to pronounce it that's all. , I have to tell people how to pronounce my name sometimes (Siân) and I don't mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Just go by Mateusz. They'll cock up the pronunciation and will occasionally miss either the s or the z off the end, but who cares really? But yeah, me and my siblings all have essentially two names- the Polish ones for people who can pronounce Polish names and the English ones for the ones who can't. The difference is purely phonetic though, and in my brother's case especially (he's also a Mateusz) it's just an anglicisation of the Polish pronunciation. (it's a bit different for me because you literally can't spell my name in English - hell, I can't even do it on my laptop- because it's Lukasz and the first letter doesn't exist in this language. So it gets pronounced as an L in the English version and is that on official forms and things) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocksniffer Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 If Mateusz is your name then go by Mateusz; you just might have to tell people how to pronounce it that's all. , I have to tell people how to pronounce my name sometimes (Siân) and I don't mind. yes i remember when you had to school me...and i thought how beautiful... <sigh> :laugh: So "You have to remember your name" but what if your name is not English and unspellable for foreigners?In my case:My first name ( we tradtionaly have two in Poland, my second is Alexander by the way ) is Mateusz http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MateuszIt's has many translations and equivalents in English:Matthew, Matthew, Mathew, Matthias, Matt, Matty, Mattie Old English: MattheusIn other languages: Afrikaans: Mattheus (Mattie)Amharic: ማቴዎስ? (Mathewos, Mateos)Arabic: متى (Mattà)Aramaic: MattaiArmenian: Մատթէոս, Մաթևոս(Mat.teos)Azerbaijani: Matta, MəttaBasque: MateoBelarusian: Мацей (Maciej)Bulgarian: Матей (Matej)Breton: MazhevCatalan: MateuChinese: 马修 (simplified) /馬修 (traditional) (mǎ xiū)Croatian: Matej, Matija, Mate, MatoCzech: Matěj, Matyáš, MatoušDanish: Mads, MathiasDutch: Matthijs, Mathis, Mathijs, Mattijs, Mattheus, Matthias, Thijs, Ties, TijsEnglish: Matthew, Mathew, Matthias, Matt, Matty, MattieOld English: Mattheus[citation needed]Esperanto: MateoEstonian: Madis, MatiFinnish: Matias, MattiFrench: Mathieu, Matthieu; Mathias, Matthias; Mathis, MatthisGeorgian: მათე (Mate)Galician: MateuGerman: Matthias, Mathias, MatthäusGreek: Ματθαίος (Matthaios,Mattheos)Koine Greek: Ματθαῖος (Matthaios,Mattheos)Hebrew: מתתיהו ,מתיתיהו (Matityahu)Gujarati: મેથ્યુ (Mēthyu)Hindi: मैथ्यू (Maithyū)Hungarian: Máté, MátyásIcelandic: Matthías, MattiIndonesian: Matius, MateusIrish: Maitiú, MaitiasItalian: Matteo, MattiaJapanese: マシュー (Mashū), マタイ (Matai)Kannada: ಮ್ಯಾಥ್ಯೂ (Myāthyū)Khmer: ម៉ាថាយ (Meathay)Korean: 매튜 (Maetyu), 마태 (Matae)Latin: Matthæus, MatthiasLatvian: Matīss, MatejsLithuanian: Matas, MotiejusMacedonian: Метју (Metju)Macedonian: Матеј (Matej)Maltese: MattewMarathi: मॅथ्यू (Mĕthyū)Malayalam: മത്തായി (Matthayi)Mongolian: Матай (Matai)Nepali: मत्ती (Mattī)Norwegian: Mathias, Mattias; Matheus, Matteus; Mats, Mads; MattisPolish: Mateusz, MaciejPortuguese: Matias, Mathias (archaic); Mateus, Matheus (archaic)Punjabi: ਮੱਤੀ (Matī)Romanian: Matei, MatiaRussian: Матвей (Matvej), Матфей (Matfej)(archaic), Мотя (Motja), Мотка (Motka), Мэтью (Met'yu)Serbian: Матија (Matija), Матеја (Matеja)Slovak: Matúš, MatejSwahili: MatayoScottish Gaelic: Matha, MataSpanish: Matias, Matheo, Mateo, Matejo, TeoSwedish: Mats, Mattias, MathiasSlovene: Matej, Matevž, Matjaž, MatijaTurkish: Matta, MeteTamil: மத்தேயு (Mattēyu)Telugu: మట్టయ్య(Mattayya)Thai: แมทธิว (Mæthṭhiw)Ukrainian: Матей (Matej), Матвій (Matvij), Матвійко (Matvijko)Venetian: MateoWelsh: MathewZazaki: Matta So which one should I use in contacts with foreigners? ;)so Blue, i am curious...how do you pronounce it...when i saw spelling i first thought of Mateus, no offence but that is what it looks like to my sailor's eye... Just go by Mateusz. They'll cock up the pronunciation and will occasionally miss either the s or the z off the end, but who cares really? But yeah, me and my siblings all have essentially two names- the Polish ones for people who can pronounce Polish names and the English ones for the ones who can't. The difference is purely phonetic though, and in my brother's case especially (he's also a Mateusz) it's just an anglicisation of the Polish pronunciation. (it's a bit different for me because you literally can't spell my name in English - hell, I can't even do it on my laptop- because it's Lukasz and the first letter doesn't exist in this language. So it gets pronounced as an L in the English version and is that on official forms and things)i agree with you PG... your name is your name it is my job if i want to know you to learn it...i have a friend who's last name is polish and i struggle to figure it out...but it is worth it...she is my friend my friends only need to learn tripp..as in acid trip...then i whip out broussard, which happens to = brews-sarrrr :smoking: eta:because i forgot the most important part Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Muh -tay-oosh. But I don't know how to do that properly using the phonetic symbols. :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Muh -tay-oosh.That's how English people say it. It's not how you're actually supposed to say it. :PBut in fairness, it is just pretty damn hard for English people to do properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 That's how English people say it. It's not how you're actually supposed to say it. :P But in fairness, it is just pretty damn hard for English people to do properly. Well, I'm trying to do it the way English people would say it. They're not going to get the Polish pronunciation without hearing someone say it 20 times, and even then might never, ever be able to say it. :P https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feeNJw7pVso Try! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocksniffer Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 well the wine i linked is Muh twoos as in loose i am not a linguist but believe every lip can form the words...sounds come next... but to the OP i say again it is worth it...if we are friends i owe you the correct pronunciation of your name...the end... :cheers: to friends with weird names... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Pepper Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 So which one should I use in contacts with foreigners? ;)It's your choice. Your choice might even be different when around people of different languages. Foreigners are almost always going to struggle to properly and perfectly pronounce foreign sounds. Just the way it is. I have a name that is fairly simple to pronounce for most people, and usually foreigners will just accent the vowels differently than I do. It doesn't bother me. However, I was in one place where the locals would pronounce it in a way that did bother me, like nails on a chalkboard sort of thing, so I adopted a local version of my name for everyday use. Worked well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aderyn Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Fortunately my own name is quite international so I hardly find any people who have difficulties pronouncing it. My family name would be a lot harder but not the hardest one around there. At least it doesn't contain any umlauts (or, you know, those vowels with diacritical marks), which can really scare people who aren't familiar with them. As to this question, I would say don't worry about your name too much. I think it's always good and ok to expect foreigners to use the correct pronunciation of your name. I'm sure most foreigners will be happy if they are taught to do it because mispronouncing someone's name is quite embarrassing and awkward from a foreigner's point of view as well... Of course there are cases when a name just proves too damn hard to pronounce. Then it's a good idea to negotiate about a compromise (whether it be using an English equivalent or a shortened version or an adapted pronunciation) which makes both parties feel at ease. Muh -tay-oosh. But I don't know how to do that properly using the phonetic symbols. :POk this might be far from correct with Polish as I'm only used to using IPA with English, but here's how I would transcribe it based on that video: /mɑteuʃ/ Yup, totally letting my geeky side show... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Filippa Eilhart Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 my parents in law say "matoosh" (it's my brother's name). I find Hungarian names really difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckwheat Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Ok this might be far from correct with Polish as I'm only used to using IPA with English, but here's how I would transcribe it based on that video: /mɑteuʃ/ Yup, totally letting my geeky side show...Looks correct to me. :) OP, just use the version that is your name, obviously. I see no reason to change it for anybody, you just sometimes have to repeat it more than once for people to get it right. If everybody tried to "translate" their names for foreigners, we would not come far ... most names are not existing in a whole lot of languages like yours. If I strated to introduce myself with a literal translation of my name, people would think I am crazy. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Filippa Eilhart Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 I know a Bulgarian guy called Kamen (which means stone). It always cracks me up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkhangel Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 As non-native Polish speakers, they're probably not going to pronounce your name the way you would. As a non-native English speaker, you're probably not going to pronounce their name the way they would. My name can be pronounced the French way or the English way, and because I live in a French-speaking country, these days I always get called by the French version. It's not a big deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyron Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 This is a rather common problem. My name is difficult to pronounce right for most with other languages, but I don't really mind how they say it. I say it the way I pronounce it and most do the best they can to say it that way but with a rolling R in it, they often can't. So just like with any sound, people say it the way the say that letter in their language. I would not change my name when meeting people because of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Indeed, it is. My given name has a number of orthographic variations, depending on the base language of that particular region. And in my native language, it has a so-called voiceless dental fricative (the "th" in "thing") in the middle, which is a sound a lot of people can't make because it doesn't exist in their own native languages or dialects. I don't sweat details like that -- as long as they're not calling me "hey, shithead" I am fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 " you changed out name to latrine?""It used to be shithouse". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.