pronunciation advice

[MacLowlife]

Here's another one then. As someone who enjoys an occasional dram of whisky, it's often bothered me to hear bartenders pronounce the "ch" in Glenfiddich as you would in "church". But I've always thought the proper pronunciation was with a hard "ch" like I've just learned from this thread is the incorrect way to pronounce "loch". So am I to understand that it is in fact similar to the correct pronunciation of "loch"? And what about Sarah McLaughlin? Is her name pronounced differently because it's McLaughlin instead of MacLaughlin? Sorry if I sound ignorant, but I'm honestly curious, not trying to offend anyone.

I am not sure about Sarah, but I believe Glenfiddich is pronounced GLEN-LIV-IT.

[Jawn]

I am not sure about Sarah, but I believe Glenfiddich is pronounced GLEN-LIV-IT.

The little whisky-snob inside me just died a little.

[ASinclair]

I am not sure about Sarah, but I believe Glenfiddich is pronounced GLEN-LIV-IT.

Hey, now!

John, the ch sounds, to me, kind of like Ach and Ich in German.

[BCAC]

I am not sure about Sarah, but I believe Glenfiddich is pronounced GLEN-LIV-IT.

Nope. Totally different beastie. The ch Glenfiddich is pronounced the same as it is in Loch.

[M Rhys]

"Kinlaw" doesn't surprise me, in the USA South. ...

Agreed. I joined just to say, nearby Kinloch Plantation is pronounced, locally, kin - lahw, or kin-law (for Yankees.)

I'm sure, a couple hundred years ago, Master Kinloch's name rhymed with flint lock,
but the local "lazy" drawl, and strong Gullah community influence, has transformed the
word so that Kinloch now rhymes with Gullah. i.e. kin-lahw ... Gull - ah

But there is still Scot influence 'round these parts ... i.e. www.charlestonscots.org

[BadenochWolf]

Another Carolina user reporting in. The colonists here butchered non-English language and names in a way that makes outsiders' heads swim. Additionally I have some friends who seemed to have christened their bairn with every plantation-owning surname they could shake out of the lad's family tree. Young master Rutledge Talliaferro Hampton Kinlaw [last name withheld] seems to be bearing up under his very well under the weight of such a name, though everyone just calls him Tradd.

[bwat]

John, the ch sounds, to me, kind of like Ach and Ich in German.

Yep. When I speak German I use the voiceless velar fricative [x] (Scots 'ch') in "ich" but when in Hildesheim/Hannover I got told I spoke more like I came from another part of Germany (forget which). Sometimes you hear the Germans using [ʃ] (English "sh") for "ch" like in "Schottland" or even for "ich".

[Father Bill]

Yep. When I speak German I use the voiceless velar fricative [x] (Scots 'ch') in "ich" but when in Hildesheim/Hannover I got told I spoke more like I came from another part of Germany (forget which). Sometimes you hear the Germans using [ʃ] (English "sh") for "ch" like in "Schottland" or even for "ich".

... or another interesting pronunciation guide. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v...type=2&theater

[bwat]

Krankenwagen!!!! I do like the German language.

Back to Scots. I remember my first day as a student in Edinburgh. I wanted to take the bus to my student halls and I had to speak slowly so that the bus driver could understand me. There I was a Scot in Scotland talking to another Scot and he couldn't understand me. I was a wee bit shocked to be honest. Here are some others having problems with Scots and the scottish English accent:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCR1l9gYTLM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2sovaAAoeY