Re: CHAT: new names (was: Re: Bopomofo and pinyin)

Daniel:
> I have in fact a similar question. My mom's maiden name was
> _Sagelid_ and I could change my surname to it if I wanted to.
> My grandfather came up with it because every other guy where
> he lived had _Johansson_ as surname.
>
> It's very nice in Swedish, but how does it sound for a non-Swede?
> And how'd y'all pronounce it (if you didn't know I was Swedish)?
/'seIdZlId/. Or, if known to be nonenglish, /'sA:g@lId/. I suppose if
you could concoct some Greek etymology, _sagelis, sagelides_ for it
and then it would be /'s&dZ@lId/, with derived forms such as _sagelidal_
/s@'dZelIdl/.

In Livagian: [sagElid@], fall tone on sa, lo tone on the rest.

BP:
> May I perhaps use you fellas as Guinea-pigs for a name that I and my
> wife-to-be consider taking when we marry?
>
> How would you pronounce _Ryttervik_ in your various natlangs?  Especially:
> where would you place the stress?
/'rIt@v@k/. RP /'rIt@vIk/.

FWIW
(1) If it was properly English it'd be /'rIt@wItS/ or /'rIt@wIdZ/,
_Ritterwich_.
(2) In Livagian it would, if thus spelt, be [r@ j@ t'@ t'e r@ vi k'@]. with
lo tone on all vowels. A phonologically licit string, but not a possible
word.
(3) [irrelevant remark about Ytterbium deleted]
(4) I learn from Lars that what in my head had always been /'m&t@s@n/ is,
englished up a bit, /m@'ti@s@n/, so I might sort of hazard a wild guess
that all foreign lgs work alike and try [ryt:'ervik].


My wife & I considered changing -- anglicizing -- the family name to
_Rocester_, /'rOst@/. She was all for it, but I was wiser about the hassles
name changes cause, & vetoed it, tho I liked the idea. [I'm a fan of
choosing one's own name, & take credit for nurturing at least 2 friends'
name changes through the phase where others exhibit outraged recalcitrance,
but experience has shown me that endless hassles arise when one is known
under multiple names.]

--And.