Cyberspace has certainly reduced the margin for error…

Colloquialisms used to take a long time to integrate into the local vernacular. For example, the Americans drove the British out of the colonies in 1789, but according to personal letters exchanged between the two countries that have been noted by historians, it took until the 1830s before comments were made that noted a clear difference. in the accents between them.

Local dialects will always be a fixture in geographic cultures. However, as more and more of us travel both in cyberspace and in the real world, basic pronunciations are becoming a problem.

I just noticed this again in the sports world, when a national broadcast featured recent NCAA basketball favorites Gonzaga University from Spokane, Washington. Locals insist that the name be stated as ‘Gon-ZAEG-ah’, but inevitably, sportscasters elsewhere prefer ‘Gon-ZAHG-uh’ until corrected by locals.

However, the name Gonzaga has been a part of Italian history since the 13th century, and anyone who has studied or been exposed to it from that much deeper context knows that the correct pronunciation is ‘Gon-ZAHG-uh’. Ludovico Gonzaga not only established his family’s dynasty over the Italian state of Mantua in 1328, but his family became a cultural and military force in that area for nearly five centuries.

You’ll even notice that the University of Spokane has an extension program in Italy and still firmly maintains its preference for colloquial pronunciation. Trust me, in Europe it’s called ‘Gon-ZAHG-uh’. However, Spokane campus alumni, from Bing Crosby to John Stockton, learned to refer to their alma mater as ‘Gon-ZAEG-ah.’

This raises the age-old question of proper pronunciation etiquette, of course. Do we go with the traditional and accurate version of a proper name if we are aware of it or with the colloquial preferences that, for some reason, took root in a certain area?

Another classic example is Notre Dame. The correct French, of course, is ‘Noht-ruh Dahm’. Use the Americanized version anywhere else in the world at the risk of being punished like a hayseed. And yet, the South Bend, Indiana-based Jesuit university obviously prefers the local pronunciation.

The universalization of products poses the same problem. For example, the German beer ‘Löwenbräu’ is pronounced ‘LUH-ven-broy’ everywhere except in English-speaking countries and the Swedish furniture store, IKEA, is universally pronounced ‘ee-KAY-uh’. Try pronouncing them the right way and you’re likely to be met with a blank stare or seen as a snob. But what have you done except say the name accurately?

Of course, in commercialism, it is the end result that dictates the pronunciation. There is no better example than the legendary German shoe magnate, Adi Dassler, who used his own name as the basis for his corporate image. While most of the world refers to his sneakers as ‘AH-dee-dahs,’ Americans somehow found a way to call him ‘Uh-DEE-duhs.’ Go figure. However, Dassler never cared. Dollars are as easily spent as any other currency.

Other famous names have been the subject of colloquialization in their own right. In hockey, Teemu Selanne is a Finnish star who has been in the NHL for quite some time. He may have come to North America as ‘TAE-moo SAY-lah-nuh’, but any hockey fan on the continent will know him only as ‘TEE-moo Seh-LAH-nee’.

Sometimes, we even see the metamorphosis from universal to colloquial pronunciation in front of our very eyes. In baseball, Bill Mueller has been a solid Major League Baseball player since his debut with the San Francisco Giants in 1996. At the time, he used the traditional German pronunciation of his last name ‘MYOO-luhr’. However, at some point, he decided and subsequently announced that it was better to say his last name out loud as ‘Miller’. Who knows why? What does one do then? Correct someone on how to say their own name?

Actor Jake Gyllenhåll has Swedish roots. His surname literally means ‘Golden Path’ and should be indicated as ‘YEE-lehn-hole’. Americans find it easier to say ‘JEE-lehn-hall’. I’ve never seen anything to indicate where Jake stands on the subject. He’s probably too busy being talented and rich.

That’s why I find it hard to criticize anyone who uses either pronunciation. It is a matter of context as to who is right. As the famous breath mint commercial says, they both are.

My rule of thumb is simple. In any situation, if there are more of them than you and pronunciation becomes a volatile topic, they’re right. Otherwise, universality prevails.