![]() |
#1 |
o saeclum infacetum
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 20,500
Karma: 224182110
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: New England
Device: H2O, Aura One, PW5
|
@?&®% Mispronunciations!
For a long time, I've rather wished that I'd started a list of egregious mispronunciations in audiobooks, but the thought was never sufficient motivation. My current listen, which I'll get to, has pushed me over the edge.
I identify three categories of mispronunciation:
It must be obvious how much this irritates me. One mispronunciation takes me right out of a book. Several have the power to send me into a simmering rage. I listen to a lot of non-fiction and I think that's part of the issue for me. For one thing, I think the incidence of mispronunciations is far higher, given specialized vocabularies and proper nouns. Unfortunately, with a novel I'd just abandon it, but with non-fiction if the book itself is worthwhile, I'll generally grit my teeth and keep on. Off the top of my head, I'll name Xe Sands, Johnny Heller and Cassandra Campbell among others as prime offenders. I'll never willingly listen to a book by them again. And the current narrator who has set off this diatribe is Malcolm Hillgartner. I'm listening to a book about the culture of the Depression ( Dancing in the Dark by Morris Dickstein). It's 24 hours long; I wonder how many times, in the course of a book about the Depression, I'll be forced to hear "afFLUence" and "afFLUent"? |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#2 |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 72,053
Karma: 307935764
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Norfolk, England
Device: Kindle Voyage
|
|
![]() |
![]() |
Advert | |
|
![]() |
#3 |
Wizard
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 1,613
Karma: 6718541
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Paradise (Key West, FL)
Device: Current:Surface Go & Kindle 3 - Retired: DellV8p, Clie UX50, ...
|
One I've encountered a few times would be a fourth class: A word that has multiple definitions each with different pronunciations and the narrator uses the wrong pronunciation.
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#4 |
o saeclum infacetum
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 20,500
Karma: 224182110
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: New England
Device: H2O, Aura One, PW5
|
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#5 |
o saeclum infacetum
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 20,500
Karma: 224182110
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: New England
Device: H2O, Aura One, PW5
|
|
![]() |
![]() |
Advert | |
|
![]() |
#6 |
Wizard
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 1,032
Karma: 12018368
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Canada
Device: Sony PRS-650, Kobo Clara
|
Aren't there sites on the internet where you can look up (listen up?) pronunciations? Or do the narrators have specialized reference materials?
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#7 |
Grand Sorcerer
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 7,356
Karma: 52612287
Join Date: Oct 2010
Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip
|
I am mellowing, I think; I'm finding that I'm less bothered by mispronunciations all the time.
For one thing, I have a much larger vocabulary of written words than spoken words, so for any less common words, I assume the narrator is correct and my mental pronunciation is incorrect. For another, I listen to a lot of British narrators, and with them I assume anything that sounds odd to my ear is simply a British thing. One book I listened to recently, The Second Line of Defense, about women during WWI, had a lot of early missteps. The narrator would say "confounded," when clearly the context indicated the word intended was "co-founded," and make other mistakes like this, using a word that was just a letter or two off. Either the text had spellcheck-ish typos, or the narrator wasn't paying attention to sense, or both. Happily, since it was a fairly long book, the narration finally settled down. (Or else I became engrossed enough that I stopped noticing!) |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#8 | |
o saeclum infacetum
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 20,500
Karma: 224182110
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: New England
Device: H2O, Aura One, PW5
|
Quote:
Frankly, I think the industry is getting away with a level of shoddy production that wouldn't be tolerated in a print book. It should be someone's job to listen to these things before they're foisted on innocent listeners. |
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#9 | |
Grand Sorcerer
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 7,356
Karma: 52612287
Join Date: Oct 2010
Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip
|
Quote:
This was a nonfiction book and did not require more than simply a straight reading--no dramatizing or vocal gymnastics. The narrator was adequate if not exciting, and I enjoyed the book. |
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#10 | |
o saeclum infacetum
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 20,500
Karma: 224182110
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: New England
Device: H2O, Aura One, PW5
|
Quote:
![]() It's a situation that probably occurs frequently, when the book and the audiobook are having a simultaneous release. I can't imagine that a professional narrator is supposed to say a misspelled word as written. Mistakes of that sort are harder and more expensive to correct, also. |
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#11 | |
Grand Sorcerer
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 7,356
Karma: 52612287
Join Date: Oct 2010
Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip
|
Quote:
Actually it's the person who does whatever you call the equivalent of proofreading for an audiobook who should have noticed the mistakes, checked the manuscript, and followed up. |
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#12 |
Guru
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 611
Karma: 12345678
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Canada
Device: none
|
I admit that I tend to assume that most pronunciation differences are a matter of different dialects and the fact that there is no one true way of speaking English (IMO).
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#13 |
Wizard
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 1,613
Karma: 6718541
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Paradise (Key West, FL)
Device: Current:Surface Go & Kindle 3 - Retired: DellV8p, Clie UX50, ...
|
It's somewhat rare, but does occur. One set of words that comes to mind are those spelled "lead" or start with "lead...". They can be the name of the metal or, or as a verb, refer to acts based on using the metal as in "leading", the placing of lead bars between rows of metal type to increase the line spacing. They can also refer to the act of "leading" a horse to water.
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#14 | |
o saeclum infacetum
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 20,500
Karma: 224182110
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: New England
Device: H2O, Aura One, PW5
|
Quote:
![]() Here's an example that I hear unfortunately frequently: the words mischievous and erudite. Some narrators throw in an extra "i", as in "mischievious" and "eriudite." Just wrong. Last edited by issybird; 04-26-2017 at 06:45 PM. |
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#15 | |
Grand Sorcerer
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 7,356
Karma: 52612287
Join Date: Oct 2010
Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip
|
Quote:
I've learned to accept the mispronunciation, but I hold the line on the misspelling. |
|
![]() |
![]() |