How to say: O. Obasanjo
| 11:30 UK time, Friday, 11 August 2006
A guide to words and names in the news, from Martha Figueroa-Clark of the Â鶹Éç Pronunciation Unit.
"Today's pronunciation is .
"Our recommendation is ol-OO-sheg-uu(ng) ob-ASS-an-joh (-ol as in 'olive', -g as in 'get', -j as in 'Jack'), following consultation with the Â鶹Éç Hausa Section."
(.)
Comments
Its all a little bit academic dont you think?
Yes. But how do you pronounce "Figueroa-Clark "
Not wanting to split hairs , but the Hausa service isn't the best place to consult on how to pronounce a Yoruba name. There are thousands of Yoruba living and working in London, and I'm sure if you checked, you'd even find some working at the Â鶹Éç!
And as to whether it was academic or not, I bet Craig and Ian would be surprised if a major foreign broadcaster regularly mispronounced the names of leading English public figures
Strange. I saw him taking his oath of office on TV, and I remember hearing s, not sh, and the stress on the last syllable in both words. But maybe I confused stress and tone...
Funny bizzare, the Hausa service is definitely NOT the place to learn pronounciation of Yoruba names - phonetics are totally different. In same way as cockneys and glaswegians do not pronounce alike! C'mon Beeb - like Oj says, talk to your staff with Yoruba heritage & they'll come up with the goods!