The Online Photographer: How Do You Say “Nikon”?

Every now and then someone or other takes the opportunity to slag off Americans for something they claim we do wrong. I just got an earful from one one about how correct they are to say NICK-on and how wrong we benighted Americans are to say NIGH-kon.

Well, both are wrong. Or right. How is “Nikon” pronounced in Japanese? Do the Brits (short “i”) say it closer to correct, or do we (long “i”)?

Oren, who speaks some Japanese, answers, “neither. ニコン is pronounced ‘neekon,’ with the ‘kon’ part much closer to ‘kohn’ than to the ‘kawn’ that we say here.”

Like this.

As Scott Daniel Ullman wrote about this question on rec.photo.equipment.35mm (top post at this link), Los Angeles “is of Spanish origin, and in Spanish, it is pronounced lohs-AHN-hay-lays. One might think that the only ‘correct’ way to pronounce the name of the city is the way in which it is pronounced in its language of origin. But, most Americans pronounce is laws-AN-jah-lis, and no one would think that this is a ‘wrong’ way of pronouncing the name. To complicate matters, almost every time I’ve heard someone from the UK say Los Angeles, he or she has pronounced it lohz-AN-ja-leez. This too is not the Spanish pronunciation, yet it too is not considered ‘wrong.’ In a three-way conversation about Los Angeles between an American, a Mexican, and an Englishman, all three of them would pronounce the word differently, yet they would all be pronouncing it ‘correctly.’ The reason for this is that it’s just an accepted fact that people from different places can have their own pronunciations for some words.”

Can we agree on that? NICK-on is not correct in Chicago. NIGH-kon is not correct in Sheffield. Both would sound foreign in Yokohama. Paraphrasing Scott, in a three-way conversation about Nikon between an American, a Japanese, and an Englishman, all three of them would pronounce the word differently, yet they would all be pronouncing it “correctly.” And all would know what the others meant, which satisfies an editor’s standard for clarity of meaning and avoidance of misunderstanding.

Lord knows there’s enough that Americans do wrong. But that’s not one of them. “It’s just an accepted fact that people from different places can have their own pronunciations for some words.”

Mike
(Thanks to Oren Grad)

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(To see all the comments, click on the “Comments” link below.)
Featured Comments from:

MikeK: “To borrow from the British comedian Stewart Lee, in a routine about an exchange with a taxi driver: ‘You can prove anything with facts.'”

Bruce: “A number of years ago, Adorama ran a series of photography lectures at their store in NYC. I attended a bunch of them and there were some really interesting speakers and topics. One of the last ones I attended was given by a guy who spent more time insisting on the ‘correct’ pronunciation of Nee-kon than saying anything of any value at all. I walked out in the middle since it seemed like he was never going to get on topic. What a douche!”

Mike replies: Wait a second…how exactly are you pronouncing “douche”?

Steve Jacob: “Any country that calls Leicester ‘Lester’ and Gloucester ‘Gloster,’ can’t decide how to pronounce ‘bath’ or conjugate the verb ‘to be’ in any of its many regional dialects*, and adopted a spurious letter ‘u’ in many words that did not previously require them, such as ‘color’ and ‘flavor,’ is probably in a weak position to dictate to anyone on pronunciation, spelling or grammar.

“An example of the most indecipherable English dialect…Geordie Lessons

“*West country tradition conjugates the very ‘to be’ thusly…

I be, you be, he be, we be, they be.

“And the negative:

I ben’t, you ben’t etc. (pronounced ‘beent’).

“Then you have Estuary English (South East) which adopts a similar simplification.

I is, he is, you is, we is, they is.

“Negative:

I ain’t, he ain’t, etc….

“And that only covers a handful of the 30 or so recognised regional dialects in England alone. One of the best books on the subject is Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson, who is American (of course).

“By comparison, having travelled around at least 20 US states, and only once getting slightly out of my depth in New Jersey, the general uniformity is striking.”