OT Van Gogh (was: 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?
Yes, really & truly (one also hears /gQx/, but that is not so common).

The usual
> American pronunciation is roughly  [v&n goU], with long O and the -gh
> completely silent.
That would not be readily understood here this side of the Pond.

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh) has:
{quote}
"Van Gogh" (IPA: /fæn xɒx/) is often pronounced in a completely
different way from the original Dutch (particularly in the USA),
something which can leave listeners confused as to who the speaker is
talking about.

     * The correct pronunciation of "van" is like the English word "fun".
     * The correct pronunciation of "Gogh" starts and ends with a
similar consonant sound to the Scottish word "loch", and also has a
similar vowel sound.

Asking a Dutch person for directions to the "van go" museum will usually
lead to a look of either confusion or contempt. A better approximation
of the correct pronunciation for non-Dutch speakers is "fun hokh".
{/quote}

--
Ray
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