Saturday, April 17, 2010
What if
Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano spitting all over Europe, is supposedly pronounced something like this, or this, or this. The first has zero connection with the spelling, the second seems closer, the third is probably authoritative.
Most newscasters are simply leaving it unnamed, which is a reasonable approach.
Well, what would happen if Klyuchevskaya Sopka in Siberia, and Popocatépetl in Mexico, both recently active, decide to erupt now?
Perfect storm of unpronounceables.
Especially old Popo ... If you say it in proper Aztec form, it ends with exactly the same sound as Eyjafjallajökull.
= = = = =
Sidenote: Icelanders really are weird. When I was doing acoustical tech work at Penn State, I dealt once with an Icelandic grad student who was analyzing the conversational style of Icelanders. She had recorded some kitchen-table discussions among her friends and relatives. Remarkably, Icelanders literally never stop talking. When three people were in the room, all of them were emitting words all the time, talking on both inhale and exhale to keep the words flowing. This sounds like an urban legend, but I swear it's true. I heard it, recorded it, and analyzed it.
¶ 3:09 PM
Most newscasters are simply leaving it unnamed, which is a reasonable approach.
Well, what would happen if Klyuchevskaya Sopka in Siberia, and Popocatépetl in Mexico, both recently active, decide to erupt now?
Perfect storm of unpronounceables.
Especially old Popo ... If you say it in proper Aztec form, it ends with exactly the same sound as Eyjafjallajökull.
= = = = =
Sidenote: Icelanders really are weird. When I was doing acoustical tech work at Penn State, I dealt once with an Icelandic grad student who was analyzing the conversational style of Icelanders. She had recorded some kitchen-table discussions among her friends and relatives. Remarkably, Icelanders literally never stop talking. When three people were in the room, all of them were emitting words all the time, talking on both inhale and exhale to keep the words flowing. This sounds like an urban legend, but I swear it's true. I heard it, recorded it, and analyzed it.
¶ 3:09 PM
