How to pronounce Norbert Wiener's name

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How is this question abrupt? What sequence is it rupturing?
 
Well, I'd pronounce it "wee-ner" but if he pronounces it with the Polish pronunciation of his father's ancestry rather than with an American accent, it might be more like "vee-ner" but short and chopped rather than long and drawled out.
 
edward said:
Did der veenersnitzle come from Poland ? :devil:

The wiki article cited says his father was Polish and mother German, so I'm assuming his last name would have picked up his father's pronunciation, not his mother's.
 
In German you pronounce the second letter of 'ie' or 'ei'
 
mgb_phys said:
In German you pronounce the second letter of 'ie' or 'ei'

Learn something new every day.

I just wish it was something more substantial, but I'll take what I can get. :-p
 
Moonbear said:
The wiki article cited says his father was Polish and mother German, so I'm assuming his last name would have picked up his father's pronunciation, not his mother's.

But the article also says that his father was Polish-Jewish and many Jewish names tend to be pronounced using German (well, Yiddish) pronunciation regardless of the country of origin.
Just think of all the Russian-Jewish scientist (Lifgarbagez and Landau comes to mind), you don't use Russian pronunciation for their names.
 
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As Moonbear said, "wee-ner" is the correct pronounciation. I'm of German descent, I should know...:wink:
 
Equate said:
As Moonbear said, "wee-ner" is the correct pronounciation. I'm of German descent, I should know...:wink:

My mother vas from Germany, on the Polish side of the border now. A German would properly pronounce it "Vee-ner", as Moonbear also stated.

Now if you are from Michigan, it's obviously pronounced "wee-ner", as proven by the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HUJ4es4cYIU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HUJ4es4cYIU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
 
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OmCheeto said:
My mother vas from Germany, on the Polish side of the border now. A German would properly pronounce it "Vee-ner", as Moonbear also stated.

Nice try Om, :biggrin: but no, the mix up is likely because the city of Wien is also known as Vienna.

But it's ween, listen carefully to German mother tongues (Deutcher Mutter Zunge):

Cs1jgQJ5OQU[/youtube] [url]nONboKmXg20[/youtube]
 
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Andre said:
Nice try Om, :biggrin: but no, the mix up is likely because the city of Wien is also known as Vienna.

But it's ween, listen carefully to German mother tongues (Deutcher Mutter Zunge):


Thank you Andre. As my mother would say, you have made this so klar wie dicke Tinte. :rolleyes:
 
Boy, I didn't expect this to be a debate.

It seems most people here either agreed upon 'veener' or 'weener'

I just found this site:
http://www.waukesha.uwc.edu/mat/kkromare/main.html

According to the site, the correct pronunciation is 'vee nuhr'. I've no idea whether it's right. But some of the pronunciations of other obscure mathematicians seems correct (in particular, I asked for the pronunciation of 'Stieltjes' a few months ago).
 
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rsq_a said:
Boy, I didn't expect this to be a debate.

It seems most people here either agreed upon 'veener' or 'weener'

I just found this site:
http://www.waukesha.uwc.edu/mat/kkromare/main.html

According to the site, the correct pronunciation is 'vee nuhr'. I've no idea whether it's right. But some of the pronunciations of other obscure mathematicians seems correct (in particular, I asked for the pronunciation of 'Stieltjes' a few months ago).

It seems that that this site lives on a parallel word where all german "W" are pronounced as "V". Now let it be known that both German and English are Germanic languages and hence closely related. And as such, consonants are pronounced basically in the same way.

So if this mathematical expression thing wants to impose the German W as V, it has probably more to do with cultivating subculture and slang than reality and

Wilhelm Weber 1804-91 'vay buhr
Nope (in real life): Way buhr

Karl Weierstrass 1815-97 'vi uhr shtrass
Nope: (in real life) Why uhr shtrah ss
 
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Andre said:
Nope (in real life): Way buhr

Interesting.

He was called "Vey-bur" where I studied, although a few insisted on "Webber".
 
Andre said:
Nope: (in real life) Why uhr shtrah ss

I've never heard it (at two schools in two different countries) pronounced with a W and not a V.
 
Here you go:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wiener"
:wink:
 
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rsq_a said:
I've never heard it (at two schools in two different countries) pronounced with a W and not a V.

Well, we have just witnessed the mutilation of wiener, caught red handed, would you believe from somebody who spent years in Germany that Germans pronounce ALL W's as W and not as V?
 
Andre said:
Well, we have just witnessed the mutilation of wiener, caught red handed, would you believe from somebody who spent years in Germany that Germans pronounce ALL W's as W and not as V?

which part of germany did you stay in? are you talking about the Hochdeutsch (High German) version or a dialect version. Inhabitants of Hannover, for example, speak the closest form of Hochdeutsch (IIRC) whereas Schwaben speak, well, Schwäbisch. All with very very different pronunciations and grammar btw.

Personally, I would go for the Vaynuhr (maybe closer to Veigh-nuhr, but that would be from the plattdeutsch that I was surrounded by during my stay in Germany) pronunciation. But, it would probably be easier to look in you phone book or web directory, find someone of that name and ask them how they pronounce it :wink:
 
Andre said:
It seems that that this site lives on a parallel word where all german "W" are pronounced as "V". Now let it be known that both German and English are Germanic languages and hence closely related. And as such, consonants are pronounced basically in the same way.

I disagree:

English
v - vee as in very, vile
w - wa as in water, well
z - z as in buzz, zoom
s - s as in sail, sick

German (with english pronunciations)
v - f (vor -> for)
W - v (weiter -> veigh-ter)
z - ts (zu -> tsu)
s - z (sieben -> zee-ben)
q - ku
 
Andre said:
It seems that that this site lives on a parallel word where all german "W" are pronounced as "V". Now let it be known that both German and English are Germanic languages and hence closely related. And as such, consonants are pronounced basically in the same way.

I've studied German in high school and college, and have visited Germany several times. My wife has a Ph.D. in German and teaches it. I've never heard of German 'w' being pronounced like English 'w', always as English 'v', except in German names that have been Anglicized by immigrants in English-speaking countries, and that practice isn't universal.
 
I am reallyflabbergasted. But it's probably my Dutch native tongue

Now here is the prononciation as I remember it for the last oh 56 years or so, regardless if it comes from Bayern, Preusen, Nord Rhein Westfalen, Sasken

Equate said:
Here you go:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wiener"
:wink:

Now if that sounds like a "V", that would explain everything, but to for my ears it's the purest "W" I ever heard.

Also are these native tongues wrong? Have they no idea how to pronounce their own "Wien"?

Andre said:
Cs1jgQJ5OQU[/youtube] [url]nONboKmXg20[/youtube][/QUOTE]
 
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Equate said:
Here you go:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wiener"
:wink:

I hear a "W", no trace of a "V".
 
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lisab said:
I hear a "W", no trace of a "V".

Thanks, Lisa, I needed the reality check. I really wonder what the origin is of the W=V myth. First of all, I seem to observe that there is a minute difference in pronounciation of the English and the German W. In English one starts of with a rounded mouth as if one intends to say Ooh, but the moment the word starts, the mouth is quickly widened, so there is a hint of a Oo before the W, oo-water, pronounced slow and gently . Germans do not announce the w with an ooh. It's there straight away, no initial rounding of the lips: wasser. pronounced quick and staccato

So perhaps it might be this tiny difference that the English have the impression that the German W is a V. However there is a clear distinction with the real German V as in Vater, Vektor, Vergangenheit, viel, und so weiter.

Alternately it could have been Hollywood where it was decided perhaps that some nutty professor mutulated the language by making V out of W's (volt?). So obviously science thought it should pick it up by banning the W altogether.

However the Germans are completely unaware of these Anglosaksian complications and continue to happily talk with W for Wasserfall, Weiss, Wochenende, Wunderbar und so weiter.
 
Oh, and thanks, Andre. I can't get Wiener Blut out of my head now.
 

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