Re: How do you pronounce Huygens?

From: Davoud (star_at_sky.net)
Date: 01/16/05 

Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2005 16:25:32 -0500

Eric:
> Thats been bugging me, I've heard it pronounced a bunch of different ways
> but what is correct?

What, indeed. As others have pointed out, the Dutch pronunciation is at
<http://frank.harvard.edu/~paulh/misc/pics/huygens_96.mp3>. But you and
I don't speak Dutch and we are unlikely to guess at the Dutch
pronunciation, because the spelling "Huygens" offers no hint to English
speakers of the Dutch pronunciation. We're dealing with a language that
has a name "Jaap" that is pronounced "yop," rhymes with "hope." What
English speaker would guess at that. I had no trouble with the "y," but
I had no clue that "aa" might be a long "o."

Now, how do _I_ pronounce it? Since I heard the correct pronunciation
when Mr. Steinberg first posted the above link, I sometimes try to
pronouce it that way; more often I make it rhyme with "toy dens"
because English speakers are more likely to know who I'm talking about.

Davoud 

-- 
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

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