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Usenet Posted 17 years ago
Usage
Pakistan vs. Afghanistan
Have you noticed that Pres. Obama pronounces Pakistan as one might hear it in a foreign movie? But he pronounces Afghanistan with all three a's as in tin can.
I noticed this during the campaign last year and he continued to do it tonight.
Is he the only one who does these things? Or do the locals there do that? or is there some historical reason, like where the British were and what they were doing?
IIRC, he went with his roommate to Afghanistan, or some place far from here, when he was in college. Could that have had something to do with it?
Posters should say where they live, and for which area they are asking questions. I was born and then lived in Western Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis 7 years
Chicago 6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore 26 years
I noticed this during the campaign last year and he continued to do it tonight.
Is he the only one who does these things? Or do the locals there do that? or is there some historical reason, like where the British were and what they were doing?
IIRC, he went with his roommate to Afghanistan, or some place far from here, when he was in college. Could that have had something to do with it?
Posters should say where they live, and for which area they are asking questions. I was born and then lived in Western Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis 7 years
Chicago 6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore 26 years
Top answer
[nq:1]Have you noticed that Pres. Obama pronounces Pakistan as one might hear it in a foreign movie? But he pronounces ...
- [nq:1]Have you noticed that Pres.
- Obama pronounces Pakistan as one might hear it in a foreign movie?
- But he pronounces ...
- locals there do that?
- [/nq] He is not the only one who does these things.
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24 Answers
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[nq:1]Have you noticed that Pres. Obama pronounces Pakistan as one might hear it in a foreign movie? But he pronounces ... locals there do that? or is there some historical reason, like where the British were and what they were doing?[/nq]
He is not the only one who does these things.
There is a strong tendency for people to speak foreign words according to the pronunciation conventions of
He is not the only one who does these things.
There is a strong tendency for people to speak foreign words according to the pronunciation conventions of
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[nq:1]The name "Pakistan" had been invented in 1933 by students at Cambridhe University in England. As this was part of a move towards independence it seems, to me, most unlikely that British pronunciation styles would have been adopted: Rahmat Ali[/nq]
ObAUE Quote: "He was unhappy over a Smaller Pakistan than the one he had conceived in his 1933 pamphlet Now Or Never. Consequently, Rahmat A
ObAUE Quote: "He was unhappy over a Smaller Pakistan than the one he had conceived in his 1933 pamphlet Now Or Never. Consequently, Rahmat A
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[nq:2]The name "Pakistan" had been invented in 1933 by students ... British pronunciation styles would have been adopted: Rahmat Ali[/nq]
[nq:1]ObAUE Quote: "He was unhappy over a Smaller Pakistan than the one he had conceived in his 1933 pamphlet Now ... buried in Cambridge City graveyard." Are we to understand that he died of disappointment, or that the writer meant "Subsequently"?[/nq]
[nq:1]ObAUE Quote: "He was unhappy over a Smaller Pakistan than the one he had conceived in his 1933 pamphlet Now ... buried in Cambridge City graveyard." Are we to understand that he died of disappointment, or that the writer meant "Subsequently"?[/nq]
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[nq:1]There is a strong tendency for people to speak foreign words according to the pronunciation conventions of their native language and dialect.[/nq]
But mm's point is that Obama consistently does so with "Pakistan" but not with "Afghanistan," even when they're in the same sentence. I've been puzzled by this, too.
¬R
But mm's point is that Obama consistently does so with "Pakistan" but not with "Afghanistan," even when they're in the same sentence. I've been puzzled by this, too.
¬R
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[nq:2]Have you noticed that Pres. Obama pronounces Pakistan as one ... like where the British were and what they were doing?[/nq]
[nq:1]He is not the only one who does these things. There is a strong tendency for people to speak foreign ... "a"s in "Pakistan" and "Afghanistan". There might have been subtle difference between them but there was no "Short a" sound.[/nq]
at least in the origi
[nq:1]He is not the only one who does these things. There is a strong tendency for people to speak foreign ... "a"s in "Pakistan" and "Afghanistan". There might have been subtle difference between them but there was no "Short a" sound.[/nq]
at least in the origi
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[nq:2]There is a strong tendency for people to speak foreign words according to the pronunciation conventions of their native language and dialect.[/nq]
[nq:1]But mm's point is that Obama consistently does so with "Pakistan" but not with "Afghanistan," even when they're in the same sentence. I've been puzzled by this, too.[/nq]
Local pronunciation conventions are not necessarily con
[nq:1]But mm's point is that Obama consistently does so with "Pakistan" but not with "Afghanistan," even when they're in the same sentence. I've been puzzled by this, too.[/nq]
Local pronunciation conventions are not necessarily con
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[nq:2]He is not the only one who does these things. ... difference between them but there was no "Short a" sound.[/nq]
[nq:1]at least in the originals, Pakistan has two long a's ; in Afghanistan the first a is short, the other two long.[/nq]
I had detected that the first a in Afghanistan is shorter than the others, but I haven't listened to it closely enough to determine whether the sound
[nq:1]at least in the originals, Pakistan has two long a's ; in Afghanistan the first a is short, the other two long.[/nq]
I had detected that the first a in Afghanistan is shorter than the others, but I haven't listened to it closely enough to determine whether the sound
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[nq:1]Local pronunciation conventions are not necessarily consistent.[/nq]
Yes, I understand that Pakistan and Afghanistan are different places, and Urdu and Farsi are different languages. But have you ever heard an Afghan use a short "a" in "ghan" or "-stan" in either English or Farsi?
There's no fuzziness in this distinction. Obama says "Pakistan" and "Taliban" with vowels use
Yes, I understand that Pakistan and Afghanistan are different places, and Urdu and Farsi are different languages. But have you ever heard an Afghan use a short "a" in "
There's no fuzziness in this distinction. Obama says "Pakistan" and "Taliban" with vowels use
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[nq:2]Local pronunciation conventions are not necessarily consistent.[/nq]
[nq:1]Yes, I understand that Pakistan and Afghanistan are different places, and Urdu and Farsi are different languages. But have you ... and "Taliban" with vowels used in languages of that region, but pronounces "Afghanistan" with vowels used only in American English.[/nq]
Well, but if he got the vowels right, we wo
[nq:1]Yes, I understand that Pakistan and Afghanistan are different places, and Urdu and Farsi are different languages. But have you ... and "Taliban" with vowels used in languages of that region, but pronounces "Afghanistan" with vowels used only in American English.[/nq]
Well, but if he got the vowels right, we wo
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[nq:1]Well, but if he got the vowels right, we would be discussing how the "fgh" should be spoken.[/nq]
Well, we wouldn't have been marveling in the first place, though, at how he pronounces one name as if he's from there and the other as if he'd never been past the end of the Green Line.
I sing with a director who has a similar quirk. She says "soprano" with a short "a" but "alto" as if i
Well, we wouldn't have been marveling in the first place, though, at how he pronounces one name as if he's from there and the other as if he'd never been past the end of the Green Line.
I sing with a director who has a similar quirk. She says "soprano" with a short "a" but "alto" as if i
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