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Help[Facts] Re: German pronounciation question
in reply to a message by Anya Mel’nik or Mel’nyk
Located in Germany I can say that Germans mostly use "spelling pronunciations" when seeing unknown foreign names (this is essentially any name beyond English and French). And there is an unwritten rule to put the stress on the penultimate syllable.
So when Germans see Svitlana they read zvit-LA-na.
This is the High German side of the story. Another side is that the initial /z/ sound has a very small base in German dialects. Dialectal speakers will use /s/ initially.
So when Germans see Svitlana they read zvit-LA-na.
This is the High German side of the story. Another side is that the initial /z/ sound has a very small base in German dialects. Dialectal speakers will use /s/ initially.
This message was edited 3/12/2025, 8:59 AM
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