Before you watch this video, try to pronounce these words. I think that 90.9% of Nigerians won't be able to pronounce all these words correctly. I could be wrong though, but when I hear people around me murder English words, I conclude that the generality of Nigerian don't know that a lot of English words are not pronounced the way they are spelt.

1. Alias
2. Cause
3. Champagne
4. Crescendo
5. Debris
6. Deborah
7. Leopard
8. Magi
9. Machete
10. Myrrh
11. Oesophagus
12. Pizza
13. Plumber
14. Tsetse fly
15. Chef

When you pronounce these words, please, watch the video to know whether you pronounced them correctly.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egT7vjCIknY

BinamRex:
Before you watch this video, try to pronounce these words. I think that 90.9% of Nigerians won't be able to pronounce all these words correctly. I could be wrong though, but when I hear people around me murder English words, I conclude that the generality of Nigerian don't know that a lot of English words are not pronounced the way they are spelt.

1. Alias
2. Cause
3. Champagne
4. Crescendo
5. Debris
6. Deborah
7. Leopard
8. Magi
9. Machete
10. Myrrh
11. Oesophagus
12. Pizza
13. Plumber
14. Tsetse fly
15. Chef

When you pronounce these words, please, watch the video to know whether you pronounced them correctly.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egT7vjCIknY

Nice one.

Why are many of these words so different than their actual pronunciation? Has it got to do with the origin of the words? I know the original words are not as they are currently spelt; anything to do with the English choosing to spell them the way they deem fit regardless of the origin?

owagbeba:


Nice one.

Why are many of these words so different than their actual pronunciation? Has it got to do with the origin of the words? I know the original words are not as they are currently spelt; anything to do with the English choosing to spell them the way they deem fit regardless of the origin?

In some cases, it has to do with the origin of the word, but in some cases, it has to do with the anglicization of borrowed words.

Tsetse fly was borrowed from Tswana, a Bantu language of Southern Africa.

"Chef, Champagne and leopard" are of French origin

"Alias, plumber, crescendo" have a Latin origin.

Pizza is borrowed from Italian

Deborah is a name of Hebrew origin

Magi is of Persian origin

Oesophagus is a Greek word


English belongs to everybody and nobody. That's why nobody should feel bad for wanting to speak good English. The language has been enriched by different cultures and other languages that we can all call it our own.

"Jollof " is now a word in the oxford dictionary. It's just amazing.

I got them all apart from 4, 7, 8 ,11 , 14

BinamRex:


In some cases, it has to do with the origin of the word, but in some cases, it has to do with the anglicization of borrowed words.

Tsetse fly was borrowed from Tswana, a Bantu language of Southern Africa.

"Chef and leopard" are of French origin

"Alias, plumber, champagne, crescendo" have a Latin origin.

Pizza is borrowed from Italian

Deborah is a name of Hebrew origin

Magi is of Persian origin

Oesophagus is a Greek word


English belongs to everybody and nobody. That's why nobody should feel bad for wanting to speak good English. The language has been enriched by different cultures and other languages that we can all call it our own.

Hmmm... why didn’t the English put effort to sound like the natives of these words when they anglicized them? Anything to do with their typical hubris?

"Jollof " is now a word in the oxford dictionary. It's just amazing.

Jollof is arab, right? Because I have seen that word “Jallof” on many restaurants in Arabia. Even some Afghani restaurants also write “jallof” The rice is somewhat different, cooked in layers of lamb,sauce, spices and rice.

Why didn’t the English put effort to anglicize these words like the natives? So we have same spelling as they sound.

owagbeba:


Jollof is Arab, right? Because I have seen that word “Jallof” on many restaurants in Arabia. Even some Afghani restaurants also write “jallof” The rice is somewhat different, cooked in layers of lamb,sauce, spices and rice.

I don't know if Jollof is of Arab origin, but I won't be surprised if it is. I recently learned that sharwama is an Arabic word.

owagbeba:
Why didn’t the English put effort to anglicize these words like the natives? So we have the same spelling as they sound.

It would have been better if the way words were spelled and the way they were pronounced were the same. Maybe they were afraid of being accused of cultural appropriation

owagbeba:


Nice one.

Why are many of these words so different than their actual pronunciation? Has it got to do with the origin of the words? I know the original words are not as they are currently spelt; anything to do with the English choosing to spell them the way they deem fit regardless of the origin?

Thanks. It has to do the origin of the words. Some of the words are of Latin origin. Others are of Greek, Italian, Persian and Hebrew origin.

Tsetset fly is from the Tswana language of southern Africa

Kingcalls:
I got them all apart from 4, 7, 8 ,11 , 14

10 over 15 isn't bad at all. Thumbs up.

For simplicity of pronunciation:
1. Alias /eilias/
2. Cause /koz/
3. Champagne /shampein/
4. Crescendo /krishendow/
5. Debris /Deibri/
6. Deborah /dehbra/
7. Leopard /lepa:d/
8. Magi /meijai/
9. Machete /masheiti/
10. Myrrh /murrr/
11. Oesophagus /isofagvs/
12. Pizza /pitsa/
13. Plumber /plvmer/
14. Tsetse fly /tsetsi or tsitsi flai/
15. Chef /shef/
Hope y'all gerrit.

Well Done Bro.
It seems you are a teacher?

Josbreed:
For simplicity of pronunciation:
1. Alias /eilias/
2. Cause /koz/
3. Champagne /shampein/
4. Crescendo /krishendow/
5. Debris /Deibri/
6. Deborah /dehbra/
7. Leopard /lepa:d/
8. Magi /meijai/
9. Machete /masheiti/
10. Myrrh /murrr/
11. Oesophagus /isofagvs/
12. Pizza /pitsa/
13. Plumber /plvmer/
14. Tsetse fly /tsetsi or tsitsi flai/
15. Chef /shef/
Hope y'all gerrit.

Good one bro. Thanks a lot.

MALIGNANTGuest:
Well Done Bro.
It seems you are a teacher?

Thanks a lot. Yes, bro. I am a teacher.

BinamRex:


In some cases, it has to do with the origin of the word, but in some cases, it has to do with the anglicization of borrowed words.

Tsetse fly was borrowed from Tswana, a Bantu language of Southern Africa.

"Chef and leopard" are of French origin

"Alias, plumber, champagne, crescendo" have a Latin origin.

Pizza is borrowed from Italian

Deborah is a name of Hebrew origin

Magi is of Persian origin

Oesophagus is a Greek word


English belongs to everybody and nobody. That's why nobody should feel bad for wanting to speak good English. The language has been enriched by different cultures and other languages that we can all call it our own.

"Jollof " is now a word in the oxford dictionary. It's just amazing.

Champagne doesn't have a Latin origin, it is French.

WhatCanIsay:


Champagne doesn't have a Latin origin, it is French.

The inclusion of "Champagne" amongst words of Latin origin is an honest mistake.

Champagne is named after a region in France. Thanks.

BinamRex:


The inclusion of "Champagne" amongst words of Latin origin is an honest mistake.

Champagne is named after a region in France. Thanks.

Welcome bro... Kudos

WhatCanIsay:


Welcome bro... Kudos

Thanks a lot

Josbreed:
For simplicity of pronunciation:
1. Alias /eilias/
2. Cause /koz/
3. Champagne /shampein/
4. Crescendo /krishendow/
5. Debris /Deibri/
6. Deborah /dehbra/
7. Leopard /lepa:d/
8. Magi /meijai/
9. Machete /masheiti/
10. Myrrh /murrr/
11. Oesophagus /isofagvs/
12. Pizza /pitsa/
13. Plumber /plvmer/
14. Tsetse fly /tsetsi or tsitsi flai/
15. Chef /shef/
Hope y'all gerrit.

Thanks man. In my own calling of Deborah "deboraaaah"

Kingcalls:
I got them all apart from 4, 7, 8 ,11 , 14

You tried bro.

aaking:


Thanks man. In my own calling of Deborah "deboraaaah"

You are welcome. Deboraaaah

Life is too short to take things like this serious. Na the idea matter no be the correct pronunciation

Wow. very nice

Antimarraige:
Life is too short to take things like this serious. Na the idea matter no be the correct pronunciation

Anything worth doing is worth doing well. My cousin read nursing. He got a job in the UK, but at some point, his job was threatened because patients complained that they couldn't understand his pronunciation of words. He had to learn oral English to keep his job.

If articulating English words correctly is not a requirement in your job, you can still learn oral English. No knowledge is wasted, bro.

seanwilliam:
Wow. very nice

Thanks a lot bro

BinamRex:


Anything worth doing is worth doing well. My cousin read nursing. He got a job in the UK, but at some point, his job was threatened because patients complained that they couldn't understand his pronunciation of words. He had to learn oral English to keep his job.

If articulating English words correctly is not a requirement in your job, you can still learn oral English. No knowledge is wasted, bro.

I can pronunce them well I'm good at oral English, just speaking for the Iya alatas and the baba elerans , etc

Antimarraige:
I can pronunce them well I'm good at oral English, just speaking for the Iya alatas and the baba elerans , etc

Ok bro.

I got all correct

GraceUnIimitedd:
I got all correct

Wow! You are really good. Thumbs up.

BinamRex:


Wow! You are really good. Thumbs up.

i have a British pronunciation app I've been using for years now