Pronouncing Typefaces

[William Berkson]

>I do feel self-conscious sometimes about saying it that way

We Americans, bless us, want to show our respect for foreigners by trying to pronounce their names their way. The English tend to unapologetically Anglicize foreign names. (At least traditionally; don't know whether that's changed.) Either way is ok, in my view. The problem with typeface names is that they have been so little spoken that for many there is no standard way to Anglicize them, in the sense that you can look it up and get something authoritative.

So I say do what you are comfortable with--GAIR-a-mond or Gahr a MON (nasal 'on'), oo-ni-VAIR or universe--and enjoy the type!

[Eric_West]

Does anyone know how to pronouce Marian Bantjes last name?

I have an interview with F+W publishing on Friday, and I'd like to comment (positively) on the recent cover of Print.

[Dan Gayle]

This is perfect! Now I can win some debates with some fellow students:

Emigre Filosofia? Is it Feelo-Sophee-a or Philosophy-a?

Letterperfect Beata? Is it Beeta or Baytuh?

Letraset Aachen? Is it A-uh-ken, ah-ken, a-uh-chen, or ah-chen?

Ha! I should start betting now...

[Thomas Phinney]

AH-ken. Just like the city it's named after.

T

[William Berkson]

Aachen. Anglicized, as Thomas says. In German, ah-chen, with 'ch' as in the composer J.S. Bach or the Scottish word for lake, 'loch'.

[brampitoyo]

That Bitstream song, Mr. Simonson, is pure gold.

Can we have an Adobe -- FontShop -- ITC/Monotype sing off at the next TypeCon? I can already see how ITC/Monotype could potentially pull an all nighter :)

On the same note -- sorry to veer off here -- check this out, a song called, rather inapropriately, Kern That Bembo Tighter.

By the way, how do you pronounce Fountain's Waldstein? 'Woldsteen', 'Waaldstein' or 'Vaaldstein' as it is spoken in Germany (maybe)?

[ndmike]

And... (now you've got me thinking...)

Walbaum: WAHL-bowm or VAHL-bawm (the German way)?

Goudy: GOW-dy (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Goudy)

Barmeno: bar-MEEN-oh or bar-MEN-oh?

Berthold: BER-told or BEART (rhymes with "bear")-hold?

Bodoni: bo-DOH-nee (I presume the Italian way) or bo-DONE (rhymes with "bone")-ee?

Caslon: CAS-lun or CAS-lawn?

Fago: FAY-go or FAH-go?

Scala: SCAY-luh or SCA-lah?

Keivit: KYEH-vit?

Fenice: rhymes with Venice? or fen-EES

Univers: your pronunciations are very helpful, but I've always called it (erroneously, I suppose) YOU-ni-verz

And lastly, Comic Sans: KO-mic SANDS or ko-MEEK SAWN (nasally)... you know, lipstick on a pig and all...

I could go on all day!

[Mark Simonson]

Fenice: fay-nee-CHAY

I think it's funny--it's almost like it's not a real typeface unless there is some confusion as to how to pronounce its name.

[dezcom]

FRROW-ghee

:-)

ChrisL

[crossgrove]

"ko-MEEK SAWN"

I love this, it's like Tarr-Szay. Maybe it will help the reputation of Comic Sans. If we put enough lipstick on this pig, who knows?

Mike Abbink could share the story of Kievit; it's very sweet. Is he listening?.....

I'm afraid I'm only adding to the mess. My new typeface has a name that apparently nobody can pronounce when they first read it. Beorcana is not that strange when you realize it's pronounced like Bjork, with -ana on the end: Byor-KON-uh. But my family and friends keep mangling the name when they say it. Maybe I should have named it ESPN. ;D

[dezcom]

"my family and friends keep mangling the name"

LOL! Maybe that is why Eric and FontFont are so fond of those 3-letter font names?
;^D

ChrisL

[crossgrove]

"FRROW-ghee"

Is the r trilled, then?

;)

[crossgrove]

"Fenice: rhymes with Venice? or fen-EES"

"Ver - SAYCE"

[dezcom]

Carl, Yes it is a rolled Italian r best pronounced with an audible croaking sound afterwards :-)

ChrisL

[Miss Tiffany]

I think Fenice is actually Feh-KNEE-chey ... feh as in fed the dog ... chay as in pay.

I hope my earlier remark about pedantic didn't offend anyone. I was just being silly. Obviously what I found as funny didn't translate. :^/

[dezcom]

I thought it was funny Tiff but that is how I am wired :-P

ChrisL

[Miss Tiffany]

Carl, you were being funny. :^> I didn't see your version until just now.

[ndmike]

Wow! Feh-KNEE-chay? I would never have guessed. I suppose that's why we need this thread after all. Beginning designers rarely hear the name spoken; they just see it listed in a font menu.

Two more that came up this morning:

Sabon: with or without a nasal ending?

Futura: FYOO-too-rah or or FYOO-tchur-ah or FOO-tchur-ah?

In fact, name pronunciation came up in a class today, where a guy apologized for pronouncing St. Augustine, AW-gus-teen (which is how the city in Florida is pronounced), rather than the more popular (in academic circles, anyhow), uh-GUS-tin. Naturally, I immediately wanted to create a font with that name to fit Mark's Maxim above.

[Ralf H.]

Futura: FYOO-too-rah or or FYOO-tchur-ah or FOO-tchur-ah?

None is right! 😉
It's Foo-TOO-rah.

Ralf

[brampitoyo]

So it is spelled like Latin, yes? I wonder if Fenice, Scala, Fago are supposed to be spelled that way. No fuss. No accent.

By to by, is Mr. Abbink a member?

[pattyfab]

Since so much of this discussion is about Frutiger...

is it FRUIT-i-ger or Froo-tee-ZHAY?

[MHSmith]

If I may crash in: FRUIT-iger, the German way.

And a couple more on German: VAHL-bowm would be best.

KAH-bull is fine, and KAH-bell is possible — depending on Koch having a northern or southern German accent? But the a in Zapf is short by all means, actually closer to CAT: so, TSAPF.

Incidentally, the same should have applied for Bach, the English pronunciation is a little wide of the mark. Just in case someone might fancy naming a typeface after him. We already have Handel Gothic :)

A little Latin (or Italian?): Beata is Bay-AH-tah. Wonder if Futura should be Latin with a touch of German accent?

[michelemiller]

I'll ask Mike--I have to touch base with him anyway.

Froo-ti-ger?

[Nick Shinn]

I've been wondering how to configure special German versions of fonts with low-riding umlauts on the A and U, and the answer may be to translate the name of the typeface, so that the regular western version is, say, Brown, but the German version is Braun.

[dezcom]

As I pour another cup of jo from my Braun coffeemaker and ponder...:-)

ChrisL