Re: Yogh in the news

Mark J. Reed wrote:

> On 1/15/06, Benct Philip Jonsson <bpj@...> wrote:
>> R A Brown  wrote earlier:
>>  >
>>  > Yep - in England, at any rate, /x/ is commonly pronounced [k]. The major
>>  > exception is the painter Van Gogh who is normally (tho not by me)
>>  > pronounced as though the last name were written 'Gough', i.e. /gQf/  ;)
>>  >
>>
>> I say [fAn 'xox] but have usually to "explain" it as [gog] to
>> other Swedes.  They are ignorant of Dutch spelling of course.
>
> Is Van Gogh's name really pronounced /gQf/ in the UK?  The usual
> American pronunciation is roughly  [v&n goU], with long O and the -gh
> completely silent.
For what it's worth, the pronunciation of his name here in Ireland
varies depending on who you ask between the American, UK, and /gOx/,
/gOk/, or /gQx/.

K.