Murcielago- Proper pronunciation

I don't know to be honest - but in Spain recently (where the name is meant to come from) a colleague (Spanish) insisted it was pronounced:

Mur-thee-a-laa-go

Go figure!

 

Always heard it as Mercy-AH-leggo

 

I've always pronounced it:

Mercy-uh-laug(lagh)-O

 

deelmaker is correct. There is an accent on the "thee" part and that is the way they pronounce it at the factory.

So that people around here understand what I am saying I pronounce it as Mur-see-a-laa-go. With an slight accent on the "see" part.

aehaas

 

They speak funny in Spain, they pronounce their S as TH for some unknown reason.

The rest of us spanish speakers say Moor Si El Ago

It means Bat by the way

 

Look at where the written accent is.

I'm certain the correct pronunciation is close to:

Moor - see - EH - la - go, or

Moor - thee - EH - la - go.

 

And I would agree with you. Correct spelling w/ accento: Murciélago

 

Murcielago (the poster) has it right. the confusion is bc ppl are often hearing a spanish word said in italian; and the ppl of spain have a lisp sound on the where the C is "thee". as such, they are not saying it the way typical spanish speakers would...Mer ci L ahhhhgo"

 

In Spain they use the TH sound for the letter "Z" actually.

In the case of the Murciélago since there is no Z the proper pronunciation is exactly how you wrote it:

moor-see-EL-ago (however most people in the US pronounce it moor-see-el-AG-o)

 

I don't know about you all...but I pronounce it:

Mercy-el-law-go with the emphasis on the "law"

Not that my opinion matters. Just that its here.

 

True about the "S" beng pronounced as "TH". I saw one time that Domingo was explaining that his first name is actually pronounced PLAH-THEE-DOE.

 

just call it a Lambo!

 

just say Audi.....they'll get the picture.

 

In Spain they pronounce "Z" and soft "C" with the "TH" inflection.

Hard "C" (like a "Kah" sound) and all "S" are NOT pronounced with the "TH" inflection.

In Spain they refer to what we here in the US call "Spanish" as "Castilian" seeing as people speak other languages in the various provinces like Catalan, Basque, Galician, and Valencian (which is a dialect of Catalan). When a Spaniard comes to the Americas, the LatinAmericans refer to his accent as a "Castilian" accent.

It's sort of like comparing British English to American English.

Anyway, Pla"C"ido Domingo inflects his name as such because you spell it with a "C" not an 'S".

In the LatinAmerican Spanish, they don't make any differentiation - why? because the TH inflection is a recent evolution in Spain - it came about in the late 1700's in a movement to purify the Spanish language (i.e. not have it sound like French where whole parts of some words are not even pronounced) - if you go to the Andulusian region of Spain you'll note the accent there is very clipped and whole parts of words are swallowed up, and not the phonetically pure pronunciation you'll find from people in Madrid and the Northern parts of Spain.

Pretty cool linguistic history if you're into that sort of stuff.

My dad was a Spaniard, which explains why I know way more than I ought to about this random stuff. LOL

FYI, if you're not a Spaniard you should never use the "TH" inflection. Why? One. You'll sound like a spaz with a lisp - think of Sylvester the Cat. Two. to latinamericans you'll come off like a pretentious sot. It's the equivalent of a Hispanic immigrant coming to the US and then learning to speak English with a BRITISH accent. Not good.

I cringe every time I hear the guys at ESPN butcher golfer Jose Maria Olazabal's name with the "TH" but funny how they don't do it for fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia (in Spain his name would be pronounced Sehr-heeo Gahr-thee-a). Does Jose Maria force them? Or is it just some retarded golf announcer thing? Interesting.

If you think the Spanish accent is cool - you should hear how Argentines say "Murcielago"

 

but is it OWE-DEE or AWE-DEE, lol..

 

rebadged phaeton

*takes cover*

 

actually, i believe the chassis are different on the A8 and Phaeton, lol...

 

Actually, I want to say I saw somewhere it is pronounced:
moo-eth-e-a-lago.

Most people call it a Mur-see-a-lago.

 

God why complicate stuff, just pronounce it the right way, "moortheeElago", if you want to sound like in Castilla then a shhh sound close to a lisp at the "thee", and if you want to sound like an italian or a castellano speaker from the Americas then the "thee" part is like a "s" in english. Only a person from Castilla has the very heavy sort of lisp as you call it, the rest of Spain not so strong. My heritage is from the Basque country and the Canary Islands.

 

Well Mursee....

 

http://www.forvo.com/word/murci%C3%A9lago/

 

All the pronunciations are fine.