Pronunciation of 'Huawei'

Hibou

unread,

Apr 15, 2023, 3:35:14 AM4/15/23

to

Given the doubts about this company and its relationship with the
Chinese government, I suggest 'Who-are-we?'

Peter T. Daniels

unread,

Apr 15, 2023, 8:46:39 AM4/15/23

to

On Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 3:35:14 AM UTC-4, Hibou wrote:

> Given the doubts about this company and its relationship with the
> Chinese government, I suggest 'Who-are-we?'

Just like "Myanmar," it is not three syllables. English phonemes:
/wawey/ ("wah- way")

Dingbat

unread,

Apr 15, 2023, 11:40:31 PM4/15/23

to

whah way.
>
Reminds me of a meeting I had with a High Performance Computing
administrator at Harvard. I was pronouncing the brand name Tyan as
[tjAn]. He 'corrected' me and said it's Tie-Ann. It doesn't sound vaguely
like a tire iron when the Taiwanese brand owner says it!

Peter T. Daniels

unread,

Apr 16, 2023, 9:28:03 AM4/16/23

to

On Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 11:40:31 PM UTC-4, Dingbat wrote:
> On Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 5:46:39 AM UTC-7, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> > On Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 3:35:14 AM UTC-4, Hibou wrote:

> > > Given the doubts about this company and its relationship with the
> > > Chinese government, I suggest 'Who-are-we?'
> > Just like "Myanmar," it is not three syllables. English phonemes:
> > /wawey/ ("wah- way")
>
> whah way.

Indistinguishable in most of AmE, which is what the radio people
who do stories about it speak.

> Reminds me of a meeting I had with a High Performance Computing
> administrator at Harvard. I was pronouncing the brand name Tyan as
> [tjAn]. He 'corrected' me and said it's Tie-Ann. It doesn't sound vaguely
> like a tire iron when the Taiwanese brand owner says it!

? "Tire iron" is four syllables, "tie-ann" is two.

Dingbat

unread,

Apr 16, 2023, 10:47:00 AM4/16/23

to

I didn't say it sounded 'exactly' like tire iron; I said 'vaguely'.

'Fire!' has one syllable when General Dyer says it in the movie Gandhi.
It sounds vaguely like the 2-syllable pronunciation.

Dingbat

unread,

Apr 16, 2023, 10:50:38 AM4/16/23

to

On Sunday, April 16, 2023 at 7:47:00 AM UTC-7, Dingbat wrote:
> On Sunday, April 16, 2023 at 6:28:03 AM UTC-7, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> > On Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 11:40:31 PM UTC-4, Dingbat wrote:
> > > On Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 5:46:39 AM UTC-7, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> > > > On Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 3:35:14 AM UTC-4, Hibou wrote:
> >
> > > > > Given the doubts about this company and its relationship with the
> > > > > Chinese government, I suggest 'Who-are-we?'
> > > > Just like "Myanmar," it is not three syllables. English phonemes:
> > > > /wawey/ ("wah- way")
> > >
> > > whah way.
>
> > Indistinguishable in most of AmE, which is what the radio people
> > who do stories about it speak.
>

... but not all of AmE. The judge who swore me in as a US citizen
clearly distinguished <wh> from <w>.

Peter T. Daniels

unread,

Apr 16, 2023, 12:55:03 PM4/16/23

to

The contrast is extremely limited. Upstate New York and (unspecified)
"Southern" states, plus Scotland. This adds Ireland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronunciation_of_English_%E2%9F%A8wh%E2%9F%A9

My college choir director, who was from Schenectady, was astonished
to learn that the distinction did not exist for almost any of the chapel
choir members. (I'm not sure why I have it.)

Dingbat

unread,

Apr 16, 2023, 1:47:27 PM4/16/23

to

An Englishman named Lester Morris had the distinction.
Not of Scottish or Irish origin. Apparently not highly educated;
he had been a Routemaster driver and a Rolls Royce chauffeur.
He pronounced it as the approximant counterpart of <qu>.
An unvoiced approximant that is, unlike most approximants.
The judge, in contrast, was breathy; she preceded it with at
least a trace of an <h>.