pronouncing Zdzislaw
Sam Keck
Does anyone else like the art of Zdzislaw Beksinski? He has done some
powerful surrealistic paintings. There are post-nuclear holocaust
scenes, strange crucifixions, and an image of a musician playing so fast
that he seems to have dozens of fingers.
Now here is the question. How should I pronouce "Zdzislaw"?
(Flawlessly? Ludicrously? Poly-consonantly? :) )
I am quite ignorant about things Polish. Nevertheless here is my quess:
Jislav (Ji'slav)
with "j" as in American English (\d\+\zh\), "i" as in "fit", "a" as in
"father", and with the accent on the first syllable.
How did I do? Over here in the USA we tend to mangle foreign words
anyway we please, but I prefer to know roughly how words are spoken back
in their home.
Sam
Leszek Andrzej Kleczkowski
: Now here is the question. How should I pronouce "Zdzislaw"?
: I am quite ignorant about things Polish. Nevertheless here is my
: quess:
: Jislav (Ji'slav)
: with "j" as in American English (\d\+\zh\), "i" as in "fit", "a" as in
: "father", and with the accent on the first syllable.
Almost perfect:-), but I would suggest you try "Sgeesuav" - this will
take care of all peculiar Polish sounds.
Leszek
---
Smart questions to stupid answers
Pisz z sensem - rob dwie spacje po kropce
Pyzol
you know him?).
Do not try to pronounce "Zdzislaw", you just c a n n o t do this! My
doctor, who is Polish, used to be Zdzislaw but after few years in Canada has
his name exchanged to Charles. Try "Charles" then!:):):)
Katarzyna Makowska ( try: Katarina:)
"Sam Keck" <ke...@dri.edu> wrote in message news:38710E38...@dri.edu...
> Hi
>
> Does anyone else like the art of Zdzislaw Beksinski? He has done some
> powerful surrealistic paintings. There are post-nuclear holocaust
> scenes, strange crucifixions, and an image of a musician playing so fast
> that he seems to have dozens of fingers.
>
> Now here is the question. How should I pronouce "Zdzislaw"?
> (Flawlessly? Ludicrously? Poly-consonantly? :) )
>
> I am quite ignorant about things Polish. Nevertheless here is my quess:
>
> Jislav (Ji'slav)
>
> with "j" as in American English (\d\+\zh\), "i" as in "fit", "a" as in
> "father", and with the accent on the first syllable.
>
Michel Couzijn
>Now here is the question. How should I pronouce "Zdzislaw"?
>(Flawlessly? Ludicrously? Poly-consonantly? :) )
Here comes an answer from a NON-Pole who tried to learn
how to pronounce this name as well. So handle my answer
with care! ;-)
I think of this name as having three syllables:
1. Z
2. dzi
3. slaw
Not that this approach is scientifically correct, but
it works anyway.
I pronounce it as follows:
1. ZH - as in the French 'genre' (NOT the English
pronunciation of 'genre'!). It is a sound with which
you can imitate bees. You should be able to maintain
this sound for a few seconds (so it cannot start with
a 'd'-sound). You should use your voice here (not
voiceless as in whispering). Enough about this seemingly
simple, but in practice difficult syllable.
2. GEE - as the English letter 'G' or 'O, gee!'. Only
don't make the 'ee' too long. This second syllable has
the word accent.
3. SWAHF - The vowel should sound as the vowel in 'heart',
so with a dark color (as opposed to the a in 'lag').
The REAL difficult thing is, of course, to combine
these three sounds:
ZH - GEE - SWAHF.
My advice is to start practicing GEE - SWAHF, and
when you can do that fluently, try including the
ZH as a starter. In a while you will be able to
overcome the difficult combination of the
first two syllables.
Have fun! And don't eat peanuts while practicing!
Michel Couzijn
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1NTEd
1. Polish _ Flawlessly.
2. ? _ Ludicrously.
3. Foreign _ Poly-consonantly (harmony is impossible)<g>
and, to add one more
4. Ambivalent _ Flawlessly (spell, if asked).
Cheers, I hope it'll help.
Ed
"Michel Couzijn" <cou...@ilo.uva.nl> wrote in message
news:387d7031...@news.xs4all.nl...