Indian phonetics in English

[Zoots]

Okay, this thing has been bugging me for quite some time now. First off.. in all probability, you'll relate to this thread only if you live in India or are of Indian origin like me.

See, most of the languages in India don't have any alphabet for W ... actually maybe none of them! Still, many people often put a 'w' in their name where it really should be a 'v'. Actually this is true even for Hindi words written in English.

Examples:
1. Aishwarya Rai (Bollywood actress/model): It should really be Aishvarya Rai. Cos there's no 'w' in hindi, tamil or any of the languages there!

2. Arshad Warsi (Bollywood actor): He should really be spelling his name as Arshad Varsi!

3. Swades (name of recent movie): It's Svades, damnit!

You see what I'm saying? How can you put a 'w' in there when there is no 'w' sound at all in the language???


Rant over. Sorry if I bored you to the deepest core with this stuff. Just had to get it off my chest.

 

[VertigoGal]

hmm. I have a few Indian friends, but none of them have W's in their names. I'll consult them on the matter when I start school a week from monday.

high school!

high school!

high school

 

[Se7en]

eat a cow, zoot alors.


EAT A GODDAMN COW.

 

[Zoots]

But cows are holy!!!


Personally I try to avoid beef cos I feel sorry for those dumb, tame, sad looking creatures. They just look so sad... all the time!

 

[Se7en]

Personally I try to avoid beef cos I feel sorry for those dumb, tame, sad looking creatures. They just look so sad... all the time!

 

[VertigoGal]

steak

 

[Zoots]

Actually, I just try to avoid red meat if I have other options.

Vertigo Gal... back to school, huh!!?? I feel soo old.

 

[shy]

There's no " W ", " Y ", " K " in Portuguese too!!!!!

 

[unosdostres14]

My parents were born in India.

It seems to me that they do have a W, but they don't have a V. Haha.... a lot of times when they say words with V they say Bh or B instead. Like vaishya is pronounced 'baishya'. Maybe it depends what part of India you're from. The south sidaz are pretty different from the people ova on da west side. haha.

 

[Zoots]

My parents were born in India.

It seems to me that they do have a W, but they don't have a V. Haha.... a lot of times when they say words with V they say Bh or B instead. Like vaishya is pronounced 'baishya'. Maybe it depends what part of India you're from. The south sidaz are pretty different from the people ova on da west side. haha.

Its still not Waishya!!! The rounded W sound just isn't there in Indian languages. That's why some people who obviously don't know any better pronounce words like Where, When, What and Why like.... Vere, Ven, Vat and Vy.

 

[VertigoGal]

. Vere, Ven, Vat and Vy.

I love red meat, but just I'm (half) Jewish and there's nothing better than bacon! we actually had pork for dinner last night.

 

[Se7en]

I'm Jewish and there's nothing better than bacon!

 

[Palace_Hero]

veddy veddy good

 

[starsgoblue]

Namaste, Zoots!

 

[Zoots]

Namaste, Zoots!

Good, there is no w in that word!

 

[starsgoblue]

My middle name is Hindi. It's "Devi" and I don't spell it "Dewi"

 

[Zoots]

My middle name is Hindi. It's "Devi"

Really!? How come? Any Indian links in your family tree or your parents just thought it was a cool name?


Oh.. and Dewi (Dooey?) is priceless!

 

[starsgoblue]

I'm not Indian and don't have any blood ties in my family. But my father was/is very involved in Hindi spirituality--he actually has lived over there for the past five years.

So yea, I've got a Hindi middle name as a result.

 

[unosdostres14]

I'm not Indian and don't have any blood ties in my family. But my father was/is very involved in Hindi spirituality--he actually has lived over there for the past five years.

So yea, I've got a Hindi middle name as a result.

That's pretty cool.
I'm Indian and I don't have a middle name :cries:

 

[xtal]

That's cool, stars.

You are one of the coolest and nicest people round here.

 

[Palace_Hero]

I'm not Indian and don't have any blood ties in my family. But my father was/is very involved in Hindi spirituality--he actually has lived over there for the past five years.

So yea, I've got a Hindi middle name as a result.

You are the coolest cat around.

 

[Zoots]

I guess there's no one else of Indian origin here or nobody knows what I'm talking about.

Oh well.

 

[unosdostres14]

Haha....you bumped this thread to tell everyone that no one knows what you're talking about.

 

[Zoots]

well... of course I hoped this would get the attention of other indians!



D'oh!, where the hell are you?

edit: of course I mean the person who posts with the screen name, D'oh! who I believe is from India.

 

[bono_gal]

hmmI have a few Indian friends, but none of them have W's in their names. I'll consult them on the matter when I start school a week from monday.

high school!

high school!
high school

high school

high school

high school



I'm a bit concerned I miss high school lol!

I left two months ago and know, its all gone, strange.

I just never want to grow up




College...
Next month


Exam results...
18 days

But I need them to get in there
Its all so confusing



Sorry for going off-topic

It is a bit strange the way words are spelt with a "w" when they should be spelt with a "v"


Luckily I took French in High School....

 

[martha]

My Indian art history professor was from Norway, and my Sanskirt professor was Australian.

I have no idea how to pronounce many of the Indian words I had to learn.

 

[melon]

So do the Hindi words incorrectly spelled with "w" make "w" sounds or "v" sounds like English would pronounce it?

I hope my question makes sense...lol.

Melon

 

[beli]

AcrobatSteve is Indian too.

There are many people from India here in Perth but I'm not one of them.

 

[Zoots]

So do the Hindi words incorrectly spelled with "w" make "w" sounds or "v" sounds like English would pronounce it?

I hope my question makes sense...lol.

Melon

Well... they really make 'v' sounds... they HAVE to cos there's no rounded 'w' sound in hindi. That's why it puzzles me as to why most people use w's instead!

But I have a feeling now that it's a case of where the letter 'v' is in a word. Because words like Devdas and Devi seem to be spelt correctly. Same with proper nouns/names like Raghav and Madhav. In these words the 'v' sound is much more prominent than in words where a vowel such as 'a' follows the 'v'. like Aishvarya or Svades. These are written in hindi with the 'v' alphabet but still get w's when written in English. Maybe cos the 'v' sound is not that prominent.

Sorry if you can't understand head or tail of what I'm talking about!

 

[foray]

So....... Diwali (festival of lights) is actually Divali?

Are you talking about just one Indo language or do all of them not have "w"?