Back to Pronouncing Oceania

[pacheco18]

To which "G" are you referring, the first or the second?

 

On reflection it is not a diphthong -- but the second g would be a hard G without the i - pronounced like "garbo" or "galaxy" -- so the "i" is "heard"

[Oceans&Rivers]

On reflection it is not a diphthong -- but the second g would be a hard G without the i - pronounced like "garbo" or "galaxy" -- so the "i" is "heard"

 

Perhaps you are suggesting that the "i" should be heard, but I maintain that the "i" is not heard; i.e. not in the way Frank Del Rio pronounces "Oceania" and not in the way Ray Charles pronounces "Georgia" in his performance that was uploaded to YouTube. (Whoever named Jorja Fox, the actress, perhaps cared more about pronunciation then spelling and decided to just spell the name phonetically, so that no one would add another sound or syllable).

 

How one should pronounce a word according to language rules is not how words are actually pronounced, especially in English, and if one is the namer (or singer), then they surely have the right to the pronunciation they wish.

 

Here is a list of names in English with counterintuitive pronunciations:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_names_in_English_with_counterintuitive_pronunciations

 

and here's another:

 

http://www.antimoon.com/forum/2003/2817.htm

 

 

That means you get to pronounce your first name however you wish, like French royalty or otherwise. ;):)

[Imagineer]

...LOL, some of you seem to be very full of your own opinions, why don't you get a hold of the person who named the company, FDR himself, and inform him he says it the wrong way, I don't imagine he's going to change it...cracks me up to see this ongoing "argument"...:rolleyes:

...as for the English language holding to any hard and fast "rules", there are so many ways the rules are broken it's beyond comical, ask someone trying to learn English as a 2nd language, and then ask them if that's the Giraffes' laughter in the rafters, or if it's tough to puff, or should you put on a hood to cover the holder on your shoulder...

 

cheers,

 

the Imagineer

[ebobh]

OK, all good fun, my dos centavos...

 

Since Oh-shee-an-ee-uh or O-shee-ah-nee-ah is now actually sailing to Oceania (the watery region loosely bordered by Micronesia, Polynesia, Melanesia and Hawaii- nee Ha-wa-e-e...- perhaps is it serendipitous FDR and most I've heard onboard pronounce it Oh-shee-an-a instead of the correct (really) pronunciation of the oceanic region in which it is sailing.

 

Since almost all of us refer to the large salty water areas as Oh-shuns, and not Oh-shee-uns, there will inevitably be variances in how folks might say it in any case. The island atolls in that region are pronouned (correctly) with -uh or -yuh at the end, so someone asserting the cruise line name should be treated similarly has a case.

 

I concur with the grammarians re the word construction, emphasis on penultimate syllables (these rules do exist, but in English are usually ignored suggestions like traffic signals in Rome) and also with those who prefer to vary it at their discretion. I especially like Ragnar's CA pronunciation, but I grew up in LA, so it's not my fault. If P&O had just released the name of their ship, how would we ever have had as much fun with this as we are having...

 

Regards, Bob H

[patnlcc]

You wouldn't call a girl named Maria 'Mara', or would you refer to California as 'Californa', so why not pronounce Oceania correctly which is oh-shee-an-ee-a ???

[GrammieK]

All of these explanations make me realllllly need a "Big "O" Martini"

[A Knitter]

You wouldn't call a girl named Maria 'Mara', or would you refer to California as 'Californa', so why not pronounce Oceania correctly which is oh-shee-an-ee-a ???

 

How did I (Maria) from California end up in this thread?:D

[Benita]

How did I (Maria) from California end up in this thread?:D

 

She is caught up with it because "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" We can sing it to the same Sound of Music tune and it would be "How do you say the cruise line Oceania (5 syllables)?" Uh-oh, it can also be "How do you pronounce the cruise line Oceania (4 syllables)?" Depends on how many syllables you want to use and how silly you are feeling.

[kelmac]

You had to remind me of the "Big O" martinis!!!! Are they the best or what???? I miss them along with the wonderful service we received on Nautica - Athens - Istanbul cruise.

 

Oh Aung....would you please bring a burger from WAVES for lunch in the cabana?

 

The big "O" means something else at my house!:rolleyes::) My in-laws are from Texas; I'm sure they could get seven or eight syllables out of that word "Oh she ana ee an nee a" -- that's for all ya all.

[ORV]

For what it's worth, in the Polynesia area, Tahiti etc, every letter in the word is pronounced.

[A Knitter]

She is caught up with it because "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" We can sing it to the same Sound of Music tune and it would be "How do you say the cruise line Oceania (5 syllables)?" Uh-oh, it can also be "How do you pronounce the cruise line Oceania (4 syllables)?" Depends on how many syllables you want to use and how silly you are feeling.

:):)

[ebobh]

Re Polynesian pronunciation, the glottal stop (the Okina, or elevated comma doohickey you see between the first and second i in Hawaii) is prominent in Hawaiian and Maori (which, incidentally, is pronounced as mao-ree, and not ma-o-ri) but not in Tongan and Samoan. Samoan is a variant of Hawaiian, which is what most folks hear most commonly of the Polynesian dialects; however, Tongan is a different base language, which makes it like Italian versus Spanish- related, but distinct. What it means for most of us is that we can freely pronounce Oceania in almost any way desired, and why Polynesia normally has a -yuh suffix even though some of Oceania's (the region, not the cruise line) languages separate vowels. Of course, though, Maria has only one true pronunciation hahahahaha...

 

Learning while traveling (or thinking about traveling) may be its greatest reward. Who ever thought phonics coud be so fun?

 

Regards, Bob H