jim_stryjewski Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 I'm hoping for the definitive answer on how to pronounce Leica. I've been corrected when I've referred to it at "Lisa" (pronouncing the "C" as in the word "announce"). I've been corrected when I've referred to it as "Like uh" Pronouncing the C as more of a "K" as in the word "Cream" I bought a Digilux2 to goof around with and it will be here any day now. By the time it gets here I would love to know how to actually say the name of the company. hahah :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl_bretteville Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 The "Le" is as you pronounce the "la" in "latter"; "læ". The "ca" you pronounce like the "ca" in "car". Stick the 'i' in the middle and you get "Leica". - Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy_tok Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 like ca[r] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan flanders Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 According to Laney the name "Leica" was coined by combining syllables from "LEItz" (the manufacturer) and "CAmera" (the product). In German, the diphthong "ei" is pronounced as the "long i" (eye). This issue has been batted back an forth by non-German speakers since the camera's inception. One is inclined to view this query as "trolling", but in the interst of seasonal goodwill it being responded to as if it were a legitimate inquiry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_stryjewski Posted December 20, 2005 Author Share Posted December 20, 2005 Just to confirm, I have no interest in trolling or causing trouble of any kind. Based on Dan's note that EI is pronounced as a long I (eye). I'm hearing Leica to be pronounced. L-eye-Ca Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_m3 Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Leica USA 800-222-0118 Phone them and listen carefully when they answer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCL Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 The issue reminds me of the hobo who knocked on the farmhouse door, offering to do painting in return for a meal. The owner said "ok do the front and the porch in back". Three hours later the hobo again knocked on the front door and said "I'm done, but it wasn't a Porsche out back, it was a Mercedes.<p> LEICA pronounced in most of the world is Li(long i as in tripod)k(as in kat)a (as in uh). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_b._elmer Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 It might be helpful to consider the fact that the dog Laika was - as far as I know - the first living creature in space, and that Leica is pronounced exactly as the name of that courageous and now famous dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee hamiel Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Reminds of when my son & I were in Montreal for a hockey series & the car ads on TV said Mazda with a long a as in "maaazda" & in the US we're used to hearing "mahzda" Like ah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee hamiel Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Like Uh :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger_smith4 Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 In Japan, Mazda is Matsuda. They thought English speakers wouldn't be able to pronounce it. In Japan, Leica is "raika", though the Japanese r is a little different from the English one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_stryjewski Posted December 20, 2005 Author Share Posted December 20, 2005 The official answer can easily be had! Robert Morgan , dec 20, 2005; 04:00 p.m. Leica USA 800-222-0118 Phone them and listen carefully when they answer! Thanks Robert. Their computer answering system picked up and the name was said right from the horse's mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_levine Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 But the quesion now is: is "Leitz" pronounced "light-z" or "leet-z"?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin m. Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 They have livestock answering their phones? Good God, they are in bad shape! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCL Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Steve - the first according to German pronunciation rules. If the i & e were reversed, it would be pronounced Leetz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_mazzetti1 Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 I pronounce it EXPENSIVE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shah_vittapuras Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 This is a most interesting topic. My new Leica MP will be arriving shortly from ala carte production and I think I am going to like very much being here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hakon_soreide Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Of course the correct pronunciation is as the famous Russian dog, Laika. Interestingly, in Norway, some words tend to be Norwegianised a bit, and the standard pronunciation for a Leica here would be lay-ka, which would be using the word and transforming it into Norwegian rules of pronunciation, and I tend to call it that even though my German is rather good and I really do know what it's really supposed to be.<p> Now, I wonder how many people (apart from Germans, obviously) who pronounce Schneider Kreuznach correctly... Or what about Schneider Kreuznach Optische Werke GmbH? That makes the word "Leica" look like child's play in comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee hamiel Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Schneeder-Cruiseknock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_meeker Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Schn-eye-da® Croy-ZZ-knock, I believe. Regards, Frank M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_haller Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 LONG LIVE THE LEICA FORUM ON PHOTO.net !! Reading this concentrated world-wide intellectual nonsense it my favourite night-lecture - nothing can beat this content and I am sorry for everyone who doesnt know Leica stuff and their smart users... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy_tok Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Frank, almost right. But instead of "knock" try "nah". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry_lehrer Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Nok-- The gutteral "ch" sound has no equivalent in American English. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_neuthaler Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 My God! Remember Madonna: "like a [Virgin]" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brambor Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Partly because my dislike of the russian dog and partly because of Czech fonetics I pronounce Leica as Lei (as in princess Leia) and ca (like the name of the Jungle Book snake KA) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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