How do you pronounce Nikon in your part of the world?

I was born in Japan and my mother and her family pronounce it Kneekon. My american family and friends pronounces it NYkon. I know it doesn't have an affect on our photographs but I'm curious. How is it pronounced in your part of the world?

Nikon with the I as in nIck.

 

So 'Nickon', I guess. UK.

I always pronounced in NYkon. But I'm from Nu Yawk.

In my area it's usually pronounced like "cannon".

In U.S. parlance, the "i" before a single consonant would be long. That's all I've ever heard. However, "Nikon" is derived from "Nippon Kogaku," and a vowel before a double consonant would be short.

 

The frustrating part about English is its inconsistency of pronunciation. German, Spanish and Icelandic are almost completely predictable (the last includes 2 archaic letters and 29 diphthongs).

 

In some quarters, Nikon would be pronounced DOA ;)

Here in Kentucky(US) it's NY-Kon.

If you're going to say the name right, the pronunciation of the second vowel is important too. It should not be pronounced as in the word "on". The correct way to pronounce that "o" is like the middle part of a long "o" in American English. I fear there is no word in American English that contains this sound, although there may be in some British dialects. The closest I can come up with is the word "or", but with the "r" removed. Imagine, if you can, saying "or" but stopping short of the "er" sound at the end. That's roughly how the "o" in Nikon sounds when a Japanese person says it, but the length of the vowel is quite short.

On the 23rd I was listening to the Nikon Z system launch, and the English translation clearly said "Nick-on" and I thought, right, the speaker and interpreter are not Americans.

 

Towards the end of the presentation, they had a female American professional photographer and a male British photographer presenting their work with the new Nikon mirrorless cameras. It was very noticeable that she said Zee 7 while he said Zet 7.

Zet?

 

Zed, if he's English.

I always heard NyKon because I only knew the name Nikon when I came to the US. Being Vietnamese and I think the new generation of Vietnamese pick up on American English more so they would pronounce NyKon also but I don't know back when I was in Vietnam how they pronounce it.

Personally I think Nickon is better because it came from Nippon Kogaku and i don't think anybody would pronounce Nayppon.

So it's Kneecorn then!

Who cares really?

Moog, as in synthesiser, seems to now be accepted as being pronounced like moon, and not moge to rhyme with vogue.

 

As for your hirsute popular music combo Zed Zed Top. They've almost single-handedly destroyed the traditional English way of pronouncing the letter Z - (rhymes with 'bed' by the way).

So it's Kneecorn then!

Who cares really?

 

Actually it's closer to Nickorn. ;)

he frustrating part about English is its inconsistency of pronunciation

 

As long as we're being picky;), it's the spelling that is the problem with English, not the pronunciation. [English-language spelling reform - Wikipedia]

 

But there is an argument that the present disjunction between spelling and local and dialectical pronunciation works like the characters do in Chinese -- regardless of how you say it, we can all arbitrarily agree to spell it the same.

 

You say NIGH-KON

I say KNEE-Kon....

Potato

Potahto

Tomato

Tomahto

Let’s call the whole thing off......

The think I like about the UK and Ireland is that I can almost speak the language. Pronouncing Dublin as "Dooblin" is almost second nature.

Potato

Potahto

Tomato

Tomahto

Let’s call the whole thing off......

 

I would like to know who says Po-tah-to. Besides Louis Armstrong.

"Who's Zed?"

"Zed's dead babe.... Zed's dead"

In the Paul Simon song "Kodachrome," he pronounces it more like Ny-cone, which is kind of odd. o_O

In Eastern Europe it's usually pronounced Neekon...

I was born in Japan and my mother and her family pronounce it Kneekon. My american family and friends pronounces it NYkon. I know it doesn't have an affect on our photographs but I'm curious. How is it pronounced in your part of the world?

I call it "NYkon" in the US but everyone says "Kneekon" in Asia. Think Nikon should come out with a statement: "No Kneekon, no Nikon Zed camera for you".

I call it "NYkon" in the US but everyone says "Kneekon" in Asia. Think Nikon should come out with a statement: "No Kneekon, no Nikon Zed camera for you".

I think that Nikon wanted to call themselves "Neekon" but the American called them NYkon so they let it go.

I think that Nikon wanted to call themselves "Neekon" but the American called them NYkon so they let it go.

Neekon is undoubtedly more easy-going than, say, Geoffrey who keeps reminding you "I am Jeff with a "G", or Kristen "I am Kristin with an "E"; or Eva who wants to be called Ay-va; Stephen who wants to be called Stefan... :D

Neekon is undoubtedly more easy-going than, say, Geoffrey who keeps reminding you "I am Jeff with a "G", or Kristen "I am Kristin with an "E"; or Eva who wants to be called Ay-va; Stephen who wants to be called Stefan... :D

Why would they want to offend their customers? I think they sell more Nikon in the USA than other countries. Call me whatever you want as long as you don't buy the Canon or Cannon or Kwanon (oops the Kwanon was OK as it sported the Nikkor lens and Nikon didn't make camera at the time)

Edited August 27, 2018 by BeBu Lamar

I think that Nikon wanted to call themselves "Neekon" but the American called them NYkon so they let it go.

 

Indeed, Japanese companies have no choice but to let it go. There is not a single famous Japanese company name that Americans pronounce correctly. Not a one! But they don't mind as long as we keep buying their products, and besides, the Japanese butcher American names, too.

 

Megudonarudo—I'm lovin' it!

I'm not fussy about Nikon, although I subscribe to the "Nick" pronunciation myself. I'd have slightly lower blood pressure if everyone would get that the creators of GIF intended it to be a joke (based on the cleaning product, I believe) and pronounce it like "giraffe" or "gin" rather than trying to re-derive it from graphics. Which if I'd not just got back from SIGGRAPH I might be calling "giraffics" out of protest.

 

If you want Brits to disagree, ask about "bath". Everyone except the locals pronounces Newcastle NEW castle (the locals say new CASTLE). We can all enjoy tourists pronouncing Loughborough ("can you show me the way to loogabaroogah?"), most people including myself struggle with with Welsh loss of vowels (Llansantffraed-Cwmdeuddwr and Llanwrthwl are both near my sister), and famously "fish" should be spelled "ghoti" ("rouGH", "wOmen", "staTIon"). But it's all fairly consistent so long as you remember which of thirty or so languages English borrowed the word from.

 

Those stateside who haven't seen it might enjoy this.