It is not new to us how European commentators mispronounce the name of some African athletes but the truth be told even some Africans mispronounce these names too. Is it because of our varying ethnicity? or our over dependence on these European commentators to feed us the rightful pronunciation? or is it because no one has any time to find out the rightful pronunciation of these names so we just be like "who cares let's just go with how it's spelled".
Well, to tell you the truth when one's name is mispronounced it creates an unaccommodating aura if it's done by one's host or a felling of embarrassment if the mispronounced name actually means something vulgar or ridiculous. Here are some names and their right pronunciation:
Diamé - it is not pronounced "dee-ah-may", but "jammeh" exactly as the surname of that former Gambian President Yahyah Jammeh Liverpool star and Senegalese player Sadio Mané's first name is not pronounced "sah-dee-oh", but "sah-jaw"
The first name of England's Dele Alli is shortened from the Nigerian name "Bamidele" - and therefore does not rhyme with "telly, jelly or smelly", but with "waylay"
The surname of Stoke City's Mame Biram Diouf, from Senegal, is not pronounced "dee-oof", but "joof", rhyming with roof
Badou Ndiaye is also with Stoke and from Senegal - and his last name does not sound like "in-de-eye" or "en-gee", but "nj-eye"
For Fulham's Aboubakar Kamara, who is of Mauritanian descent - pronounce each syllable "ka-ma-ra"
The last name of Moussa Wagué of Senegal, who plays with Barcelona, does not rhyme with "vague". It is pronounced "wah-geh"
In fact, Mame Biram Diouf has the distinction of having both his first name and his surname serially mispronounced. He is not "Mamay Biram Dee-oof", but "Mam Biram Joof".
We should be guided not to pronounce names wrongly like pronouncing the Igbo name Chibuike: Tchi-bi-kay meaning 'God is power' or 'God is powerful' as Shi-bi-ike which translates to 'plastic spoon' in Yoruba. Having the right pronunciation of ones name can help towards creating a more healthy relationship