[tdf-discuss] Re: [tdf-discuss] How to pronounce the name (again, sorry)

Hi all,

Italo Vignoli wrote:

> I am not a native English speaker, but I think that "liberty" - which 
> has the same root of libre - is not pronounced as "laiberty". I have 
> heard many native English speakers pronounce libre, and they all 
> pronounce it the same way.
>
> On 3/30/11 8:37 AM, M Henri Day wrote:
>
> > What, pray, is «the English pronunciation of "libre"» ? If the first vowel
> > is to be pronounced as «aɪ» as in, say, «live», it differs vastly from the
> > customary pronunciation in almost all European languages - Germanic as well
> > as Romance - which is much closer to «iː», and can hardly serve as «the
> > reference for every language»....

I agree with both of you:

Even if  "library" is pronounced differently, I'd like to hear "libre" to be pronounced 
like "Libra", the zodiac balance sign. Unlike to "liberty", the "i" is a long vowel.

This is the most ambiguous pronounciation issue, so I think we should address it 
by providing a recommendation.

Pronounciation of the "b" might be different for some roman languages (turning to 
a "v" like "livre"), but that's hardly an issue, as it sounds quite similar.

Same non-issue with the "r" (rolling in different ways, not rolling at all): These 
differences are marginal in my eyes.

If the "e" is spoken or not depends on the speaker too: French people tend to skip it, 
others pronounce it.

I remember my first OOoCon when I found out that most speakers talked about 
"OpenOffice - dot - org" while I was used to "OpenOffice org" in German.
It didn't take long that I used the "dot" version in English, while I stayed without in 
German.

It will probably the same in your local community too: 

You will agree to one pronounciation once you met personally (on a fair or at any 
other event). Perhaps this version is not the one used by the majority of community 
members when they speak English. 

Don't think you *must* fit any "official" pronounciation. 

if we could agree on an English version with long "i" like "Libra" instead of  "ai" 
like "library", this would probably help spreading the word in a similar way, but any 
other example should be just an example.

Best regards

Bernhard




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