correct way to pronounce my last name?
Posted September 7th, 2007 by sves
hello im just wondering if someone can phonetically spell the way my last name is supposed to be pronounced or upload a audio file. I really apreciate it!! Im I always think its funny when people with german lastnames say them completly wrong and I dont want to be one of thoes people with my name anymore. It's Vesely , thanks again
I would agree that 'veh seh lee' is essentially the way to pronounce it. Remember that each 'e' is pronounced in the same way - 'eh.' Also note that (at least in Slovak, and I think probably Czech too) the emphasis is always on the first of the three syllables and the 'y' would be slightly drawn out.
Around here I have heard it as a previous writer indicated (or close) Vess-uh-lee with the accent on the first syllable. One family here anglicized the name by changing the V to a W and pronouncing the result Wesley.
There is a related word in Russian, spelled similarly though pronounced differently, that means the same thing.
It seems to be a "misspelled" version of a Hungarian name, the word for "Danger"! If you live in an English speaking country, it's common for the odder features of spelling to be changed to suit the new situation. Therefore, it's difficult to know how exactly your name in its current guise ought to be pronounced. But the original word is "Veszély", pronounced very like VESS-ay ['vese:j]
I have a similar problem, living in Finland with an English name. I have to pronounce it phonetically for a Finn to know how to write it, nothing like the way it should sound!