Quote:Anyway, American speech habits do not properly determine the pronunciation of foreign names.
I'd take comprehension over propriety any day. If I'm "properly" pronouncing blWAH or alYECKeen, and no one understands me, what's the point? You're needlessly creating rhetorical barriers that distract from the actual content of what you're trying to say.
If I'm speaking English to an American audience, why shouldn't I let American speech habits determine pronounciation? Similarly, if I'm speaking Chinese to a Chinese audience, I'm not going to prounounce American names in "proper" English. Again, no one understands me. Learning how to pronounce proper nouns in a foreign language is an important part of learning the languge.
Also, it's a lot harder to talk that way. It's tough to switch from one accent to another, let alone for just a single word.
What does "proper" mean in this case, anyway? Who's doing the judgement? What absolute rule is out there deciding the "proper" way to pronounce a word?
See, my standard is easy. You pronounce the word however will get your message across to your audience. Voila, no ugly & ill-defined "proper" usage required.
Quote:There are, of course, many English proper names like "Moscow", "Paris," "Geneva," "Rome," and "Hong Kong," which can properly be used to refer to foreign places. But only rarely, e.g. "Charlemagne" or "Napoleon," is this the case with names of persons.
I can think of bunches. How about Alekhine? Winawer? Nimzowich? Ruy Lopez? Pirc? Robatch? Levenfish? Tchigorin?