on pronouncing Nikon properly - in support of lost causes

[lex_jenkins]

<blockquote>

<p>"jim jones, i cringe whenever i hear..."</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Which confirms the impression I have that the only point to these too-frequent "How to pronounce Nikon/Nikkor" threads that have plagued every photography website since the interweb began is to tell us how wrong we are.</p>

<p>I often hear mispronunciations of English words by many folks who are not native to the USA and for whom English is a second language. It never makes me cringe or feel compelled to point out how wrong they are.</p>

[zlight_b]

<p>Lex, what you say makes sense, so for the last time, i will cease and desist. seriously. sincerely. my last comment on this thread -as some will and should indeed scream at me: "about bloody time you moron!"<br>

( i often hear the obvious mispronunciation of the word "pronunciation" (pronounced incorrectly as "pronounciation") )itself :) but then again, as many have correctly pointed out, pronunciations do change as societies and social contexts change - so I should not get hung up on getting "niikon" right!)</p>

[ken_i_h]

<p>zlight B. Believe me. Nikon executives couldn't care less whether it is "<em>ni</em>" or "<em>nai</em>". You read too much between the lines. It is just the brand name. <br>

There is a Swiss watch brand "Jaeger-LeCoultre", pronounced in French and the first part should be "jze jze lekultre (sorry for my poor pronunciation ciphers)", but Japanese call it "jagaa lukuruto". As with many cases, the non-human name is not universally pronounced correctly and that is life. No need to stick to the original one.<br>

nee-kon, nai-kon, ni-kon.... they are all fine with me....</p>

[zlight_b]

<p>ken, true! on the same point, in japan - mcdonald's = "makodonaldo"...(few would understand what i am talking about if i said mcdonald's :)</p>

[ruslan]

<p>The exact copy of this topic was already started some time ago. </p>

[ramon_v__california_]

<p>just go out and take pictures. enjoy the hobby.<br /> call your Nikon, "my camera" :-)</p>

[derek_stanton2]

<p>All my life, i've only heard one person pronounce it as Nick'-Kon, and she was a newbie to the whole matter of photography. Turns out, she may have been right.</p>

<p>But, in the Nikon commercials (in the US), it's pronounced Ny'-kon, as i've been saying it. The lenses, though, were called Nick'-korz. Go figure.</p>

[zlight_b]

<p>with english words, there are no longer really any "standard" pronunciations...mostly because english is obviously a global language - "route" being pronounced as "rowte" and "route"; tomayto vs. tomaato; today vs. "to die" (australia and new zealand); skedule vs. shedule for "schedule"; "lootenant" (US) vs. "leftanant" (Britain) for lieutenant; garaaaj vs. gareje for "garage"; "mon" for "man" in jamaica etc ad infinitum....it is not so much a question of english as a second or first language...even those who have it as a first language, use radically different pronunciations and intonations...<br>

but japanese is not a language that is in any way global....in the japanese language, the only pronunciation possible for "nikon" is "nikon" with a short "i"...but then again, i prolong this conversation way beyond it's natural life...</p>

[steve m smith]

<blockquote>

<p>But, in the Nikon commercials (in the US), it's pronounced Ny'-kon</p>

</blockquote>

<p>And in the Nikon advertisements in the UK it is pronounced <em>Nick - on</em>. Exactly the way I have always said it. looks like they change the way they think it should sound depending on the country they are selling to.</p>

[martynas_photo]

<p>NIKON. a simple way. it does help taking better pictures too :) no, really.</p>