Exploring Pronunciation and Name Spelling in Different Regional Languages

Hi Kavitha,

A nice post, which makes good sense. Regarding Tamil Nadu, it is a matter of convenience in general. Thamizh is the exact English version, not Tamil. Since "ZH" is a very unique letter and difficult to pronounce as we need to fold our tongue to pronounce, Tamil is accepted by all. Gita is spelled as Geetha in the South, and there are lots of examples that can be given.

Thanks for sharing a good thought.

AVS

Dear Kavita/"Kavitha"

Its a very interesting and unique query.

In fact, I too had this curiosity for a long time till I started accepting it and loving it as an example of the wonderful diversity of our beloved country.

You see, my wife's name too, is spelt in this manner and continues to be; she was born in a Chennai hospital and the name was recorded with an additional H in her birth certificate. Her family is North Indian, her father worked in a Central PSU and was posted at Chennai at that time.

Now, I too feel that the extra H, softens the T sound and brings it more closer to hindi Ta sound.

With MNC's in India and people going overseas frequently, I think TH is better than just T.

If you are not convinced, just imagine being called or your name being read by a white American/European as KaviTa with a T sound resembling T in Tom.

Isn't it better to be called with a Th sound as in Thomas ??

Do revert back in case you still harbour objections/disagreement.

Warm regards.

Wow... I'll need to use my brains (which, may I add, has been sitting idle for some time) to answer this.

Firstly, Kavi Dear, nice question. I'm impressed! You seem like a totally different person in the other forum which I visit.

Coming back to the question, the "ख" sound can be pronounced with a soft accent which can be traced back to the "Pali" language. The "ग" sound is more of Dravidian origin and is more influenced by "Sanskrit."

The "Hindi" language has had its influences from other languages, including "Persian," "Urdu," and "mild Sanskrit."

"Tamil," on the other hand, has strong Sanskrit and strong Dravidian connections.

The way of pronunciation is very different for both languages. In the South, the alphabet "H" is pronounced with a dominant "ह" sound, whereas in the North, it is pronounced with a dominant "ह" sound.

Mostly, the spelling is based on "pronunciation." For example, North Indians can't seem to pronounce "छ" sound, instead, they say "ड" (Hey, no offense...) Hence - "गुड़िया" becomes "गुड़िया," and while writing in English, "गुड़िया" becomes "गुड़िया."

That fact is also true with South Indians when it comes to the "T" sound.

Yes, it's true that the name is our identity, and any mispronunciation or misspelled name can cause discomfort. My mentor (Chris - from Australia) has trouble saying my name... he just calls me "J" instead... ;)

Anything else, Kavithi??? Oops... I mean, Kavitha... Whoopsie daisies... I meant... Kavita... Wow... got that right now! :D

Dear Kavita,

People generally pronounce words in their own language correctly; however, they may have difficulty if the word comes from another language or dialect. As our member jitenra_patil has correctly pointed out, this is the reason for the emphasis on pronunciation in Voice-based BPOs as a "Native" - whether it be an American, British, or Australian process.

It is important to note that many languages lack certain sounds, so a similar sounding alternative is often used. In fact, many languages do not have the symbols to represent certain sounds.

The word "Kavita" is a Hindi word and is well represented and written in the Hindi language. However, the "Ta" sound does not have an equivalent in English or many other languages.

Some languages have very harsh or hard sounds, such as Russian or German, as you may have noticed in Hollywood movies where actors emphasize these harsher sounds to appear Russian or German.

In contrast, Japanese sounds are very soft - "very" soft, to be precise. The Chinese/Mandarin language has a pronounced nasal twang, as often heard in Chinese Kung-fu movies.

I was amazed to learn while studying the Russian language that it does not have the "H" sound. Instead, they use the "X" alphabet, pronounced as "Kha." So, "Harish" would be pronounced as "KHarish" in Russian.

In conclusion, it is important to be aware of such linguistic differences as HR professionals are expected to be very culture-sensitive, especially now that business knows no borders.

Keep learning!

Dear Sir,

You have given a good example, and I am convinced that I would prefer being called "kaviTHa" rather than "KaviTa," if it just softens the sound.

Here in India, when someone writes "KavitHa," even North Indian people, it can be hurtful. I encountered this here on CITE when most people commented on my posts addressing me as "kavitHa"... Hope you understand.

Otherwise, Shakespeare has rightly said, "What's in a Name."

:)

Once more, I have gone through your post, and the example you have given regarding pronunciation/accent in China, Japan, etc., is really convincing.

Dear All,

I have one experience regarding the same pronunciation. I have done my PG from TN, and my teachers used to pronounce Pharmaceutics as PharmaCeutics and my surname, Gupta, as GuptHa. It sounds different, but sometimes my friends used to make fun of it, saying that now I am past tense, that's why Gupt - Tha (Gupta now no more). In India, there is a lot of diversity in language pronunciation, and by the same, we are known to belong to UP, MP, Bihar, South India, or any rural area.

Regards,
Vikash Gupta

Good one... This discussion has gone a bit too far but has taken a good shape. I enjoyed everyone putting their bit and making it both knowledgeable and interesting.

To add to Shakespeare's "What's in a name" tag... It definitely means a lot especially to those who are misspelled/mispronounced with their names. And I am one of those. Most of the time people don't write/pronounce my name correctly as "Amresh". Instead, they call me "Amrish". In North India, people are used to pronounce simpler forms of names, such as "Rajinder" instead of "Rajendra", "Satinder" instead of "Satendra". If you go to Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, you may find people calling/writing names as "Binod" instead of "Vinod" and "Basu" instead of "Vasu". Also, "Paschim Vihar" of Delhi becomes "Pachhim Bihar" for them.

Nice threat for everyone, especially HRs.

-- Amresh Mishra

Dear All,

You may note that the difference is viewed by those speaking North Indian Languages. Every language has unique pronunciation, and letters were made for the same. In Tamil, there are four "Na" which are not in North Indian Languages. In Hindi, you have "Ga", "Gha", "Ka", "Kha", whereas in Tamil, there are only two: Ka or ga. Most North Indian languages were derived mainly from Sanskrit, while South Indian languages were from Tamil. So you may not find such issues among all North Indian languages or among all South Indian languages. The issue comes only when we write the pronunciation of one North Indian language in another South Indian language. Such issues are noticed among different languages in the world, and there is no uniqueness to Tamil.

That's what I wanted to know; whether it is just a region-based mispronunciation/accent or if there is something related to the regional languages and scripts.