Pronunciation of the word

Question

Hello! Please help me find the pronunciation of the word "klais". Thank you!.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

What language is this from?

Clive

Ruslana · Answer

I've replied to your question here, anon:

Raindoctor · Answer

The word 'klais' rhymes with 'place', if you want to anglicize it.

In English, < ai > or <ay> is usually realized as /e?/ ( FACE set)). There are some exceptions, of course. Even among these exceptions, you can further systematize.

1. 'plaid' is pronounced as /plæd/
2. German names like Kaiser are pronounced with /a?/ ( PRICE lexical set)
3. 'quay' can be pronounced with /i/ (FLEECE set). One can stick with /e?/ here
4 Before r, /??/
5. < ayV> where there is no internal word boundary between y and V: here, you can hear sonorant gemination, followed by degemination. In southern states phonetics, this plays out differently.

Mary Hayashi, a California politician: /ha? 'æ?i/
Joe Arpaio, a sheriff from Arizona: /'??pa? ?o?/
bayou: /'ba? u/ (there exists another variant)
Maya: /'ma? ?/ (there exists another variant)
Zayin: /'za? n/ (there is another variant)
Kayak: /'ka? ?æk/

Elphx · Answer

Thank you!

CalifJim · Answer

raindoctorGerman names like Kaiser are pronounced with /a?/

It seems to me that Klais is a German surname, isn't it?

If so, it seems to me it would be /kla?s/.

CJ

Raindoctor · Answer

CalifJim It seems to me that Klais is a German surname, isn't it?If so, it seems to me it would be /kla?s/.CJ

Yeah, it is German. Just searched it. In German orthography, < ei > ,< ai>, , and = /a?/

In English at least, most of German names end up with < ei >. That's how many Americans kind of anglicized with a Germanism familiar to English speakers. For instance, from http://names.mongabay.com/
KLEISS had 304 occurrences in the 2000 Census, according the U.S. government records.
KLEIS had 663 occurrences in the 2000 Census, according the U.S. government records.
KLAISS had 194 occurrences in the 2000 Census, according the U.S. government records
KLAIS is not listed in that database.

If the name "Kaiser" were not a well known name, it would be pronounced like "Kay-ser". Henry Kaiser, Kaiser steel, Kaiser Aluminium, Kaiser Permanente, Kaiser Permanent, etc are very well known names.

< ei > is a popular and productive one: Klein, Heineken, Reinhardt, Fein, Oppenheimer, Schneider, Durkheim, Steinbeck, Einstein, O'Reilly, Anaheim, Heinz, leitmotif, apartheid, etc. In this sense, the guy with the last name Klais should change to Kleiss or Kleis, so that native speakers pronounce it correctly. If he is living Germany, no spelling change is required.

CalifJim · Answer

raindoctor... the guy with the last name Klais should change to Kleiss or Kleis, so that native speakers pronounce it correctly.

Good point. Let's let him know that the next time we see him.

CJ

Raindoctor · Answer

Here is a nugget from Wikipedia's article on German orthography: "ei: This digraph represents the diphthong /a?/. The spelling goes back to the Middle High German pronunciation of that diphthong, which was [ei]. The spelling ai is found in only a very few native words (e.g. Saite 'string') but is commonly used to Romanize /a?/ in foreign loans from languages such as Chinese."

Second, it is an irrational demand to force native speakers with foreign vowels, even if the names are foreign. In English, < ei > with /a?/ are: height, feisty, neither, either, heist, etc. Some of these English words share the same history as German words.

CalifJim · Answer

raindoctorSaite 'string'

What a coincidence. I just came across this one yesterday, in a musical score. The violin section was marked "G Saite", i.e., play this passage on the G string. I never even stopped to think that it was an exception in German orthography.

CJ

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