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Correct Pronunciation

slimknyzer

By slimknyzer,
in Holland America Line

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igraf

igraf

Posted
Posted (edited)

That is true, but there often is a recognized proper pronunciation such as the Queen's English or High German.

 

I just asked my Dutch mother who grew up in Amsterdam, and she pronounces Zuiderdam as "sow der dahm" (not "damn"). "Zuid" means south and sounds a lot like the English south.

 

The letter "v" is soft and sounds a lot like the English "f", like the way the German "vater" is similar to the English "father".

 

igraf

 

 

 

... the Dutch have accents and even dialects depending on what part of the country they're from so you might get a different pronounciation from someone from the province of Friesland (the far north), Amsterdam in the province of Noord Holland in the west and/or the southern provinces of Brabant and Limburg. Even the inhabitants of the three big cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Den Haag (the Hague) have their own accents.

 

Prinsendam "Princen-dam" as in "Prince"

Statendam "St-ah-ten-dam" as in "say Aah"

Maasdam "Maahs-dam" as in "say Ahh"

Ryndam "Rhine-dam"

Veendam "Veyn-dam" as in "hey"

Rotterdam "Rott-ehr-dam" as in Rotweiler

Amsterdam "Ahm-ster-dam"

Volendam "Vohl-en-dam" as in "Foal"

Zaandam "Zahn-dam" as in "say Aah"

Zuiderdam "Zey-der-dam"

Oosterdam "Oasterdam" as in Toast but drop the "T"

Westerdam "West-ehr-dam"

Noordam "Nor-dam" as in More

 

Unquote

Edited by igraf
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SonnekeH

SonnekeH

Posted
Posted
Sounds more like zowderdahm to me, with the ow almost like the ou in out (and not the Canadian out). My guess is that very few non-natives will ever be able to pronounce it correctly.

 

come on now...enough is enough...there is NO Canadian out!

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igraf

igraf

Posted
Posted (edited)

As they say, Google is your friend:

 

http://forvo.com/word/koning/ (click on the blue triangles over on the left to hear the pronunciations)

 

The Dutch "ing" has perhaps a little bit stronger "g" than in the English "ing" sound, but it is not the infamous Dutch throaty "g" which is typical at the beginning of a word.

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

Is there going to be that 'hard G' in Koningsdam?

 

I know that Gouda [city] is actually pronounced something close to 'How-da', but it is more like a 'g-h' combination that only the Dutch can actually enunciate from the back of their throats.

Edited by igraf
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GeorgesGal

GeorgesGal

Posted
Posted (edited)

Seems to me Copper 10-8 had a tutorial on the pronunciations some time ago.

 

Are you out there Copper?

 

Got it!! See sticky Introduction to ships and classes of HAL fleet, scroll to post #13 and you will find Copper's primer on the pronunciations!

 

For the record, it's Zeyderdam.

Edited by George'sGal
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jtl513

jtl513

Posted
Posted (edited)
ridiculous
I think it's the Scottish that are more likely to say oot and aboot, and the Canadian way is more like oat and a-boat. Canada is a big country and I'm sure there's a lot of variation.

 

Go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_English and in the section titled Canadian Raising (about 1/4 way down the page) click on the three places where it says "listen" to hear the American out and the Canadian owt and oat.

Edited by jtl513
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AmazedByCruising

AmazedByCruising

Posted
Posted
Is there going to be that 'hard G' in Koningsdam?

 

I know that Gouda [city] is actually pronounced something close to 'How-da', but it is more like a 'g-h' combination that only the Dutch can actually enunciate from the back of their throats.

 

No need for the back of your throat in Koningsdam, it's just the G that turns an N into NG as in "King". (actually, Koning means King so Koningsdam="King's dam". Just a fun name I guess)

 

How-da is perfect except for the H which is pronounced "GGRRGGHHHHHG". :)

That G is not typical Dutch though, as it is exactly the same as the J in Spanish Juan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSzbu1kjnAI. So if you're comfortable with Spanish, Gouda is pronounced Spanish J-ow-da.

 

If you're not native Dutch, the UI in Zuiderdam is too hard I guess. Like I'll never be able to pronounce TH in "South" correctly. I hear SouS, SouF or SouT. You need to be at most 5 years old to learn SouTH.

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SonnekeH

SonnekeH

Posted
Posted
No need for the back of your throat in Koningsdam, it's just the G that turns an N into NG as in "King". (actually, Koning means King so Koningsdam="King's dam". Just a fun name I guess)

 

How-da is perfect except for the H which is pronounced "GGRRGGHHHHHG". :)

That G is not typical Dutch though, as it is exactly the same as the J in Spanish Juan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSzbu1kjnAI. So if you're comfortable with Spanish, Gouda is pronounced Spanish J-ow-da.

 

If you're not native Dutch, the UI in Zuiderdam is too hard I guess. Like I'll never be able to pronounce TH in "South" correctly. I hear SouS, SouF or SouT. You need to be at most 5 years old to learn SouTH.

 

Howda is not even close to perfect, and neither is Jowda. Not even close. Only someone Dutch born and taught Dutch from birth can prononounce Gouda correctly. Same with Zuiderdam. And people are right...it is pronounced "dahm"

The Dutch pronounce "th" as t....and it is tis and tat and sout and nort....the "th" sound is very difficult for Dutch born speakers to master. It is true that the younger you are the easier it is to learn another language, and to lose your accent. I was 15 when I first started to speak English. I have lost my accent completely. My older brother never did, he was 16.

I now speak Canadian English, but I have NEVER heard anyone here say "oot" and "aboot"..........true, I haven't met ALL Canadians.......maybe he, or she, is out there somewhere! Tanks for listening....

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AmazedByCruising

AmazedByCruising

Posted
Posted
Howda is not even close to perfect, and neither is Jowda. Not even close. Only someone Dutch born and taught Dutch from birth can prononounce Gouda correctly. Same with Zuiderdam. And people are right...it is pronounced "dahm"

The Dutch pronounce "th" as t....and it is tis and tat and sout and nort....the "th" sound is very difficult for Dutch born speakers to master. It is true that the younger you are the easier it is to learn another language, and to lose your accent. I was 15 when I first started to speak English. I have lost my accent completely. My older brother never did, he was 16.

I now speak Canadian English, but I have NEVER heard anyone here say "oot" and "aboot"..........true, I haven't met ALL Canadians.......maybe he, or she, is out there somewhere! Tanks for listening....

 

 

I'd think J-ow-dah is pretty good (provided the Spanish J) and my former (English) girlfriend would pronounce it perfectly. But she couldn't even hear the difference between schuur, deur and zuid. At least one Dutch person says Sink for THink (

), which is more common than Tink, I fink.
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jtl513

jtl513

Posted
Posted
I now speak Canadian English, but I have NEVER heard anyone here say "oot" and "aboot"..........true, I haven't met ALL Canadians.......maybe he, or she, is out there somewhere!
Possibly in Nova Scotia? Where are you?
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GeorgesGal

GeorgesGal

Posted
Posted
He is in Indonesia on the Amsterdam's World Cruise. He usually doesn't post on CC while he is working on a dam ship.

 

Hi, Peter! I knew he is working right now, but thought perhaps he might be off duty. In any event, I did a search and came up with what I needed! ;)

 

Donna

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SonnekeH

SonnekeH

Posted
Posted
I'd think J-ow-dah is pretty good (provided the Spanish J) and my former (English) girlfriend would pronounce it perfectly. But she couldn't even hear the difference between schuur, deur and zuid. At least one Dutch person says Sink for THink (
), which is more common than Tink, I fink.

 

tes, I sink you may be right...and sought for thought...but definitely tis and tad for this and that. I like your references to schuur, deur and zuid...all different pronunciations, but so close!

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serendipity1499

serendipity1499

Posted
Posted (edited)
Seems to me Copper 10-8 had a tutorial on the pronunciations some time ago.

 

Are you out there Copper?

 

Got it!! See sticky Introduction to ships and classes of HAL fleet' date=' scroll to post #13 and you will find Copper's primer on the pronunciations!

 

For the record, it's Zeyderdam.[/quote']

 

ummm..:confused:Looks like you have not read the other posts in this thread?

 

My post No. 23 quotes Copper 10-8 tutorial & Host Walt's post on the pronunciations...:D;)

 

However as mentioned by Copper, you will get different pronunciations depending on where you are from in both Holland & Belgium..

Edited by serendipity1499
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  • 3 months later...
clivep

clivep

Posted
Posted

We've just returned from the Zuiderdam. I'd read beforehand that it was pronounced Zeyderdam but none of the crew seem to have been told this as the captain and others were pronouncing it Z"EYE"derdam.

 

It souded a bit like the "Zoi" part of Zoidberg from Futurama.

 

Also rather like the locals in Somerset pronounce Cider.

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