Meet Bertie!

[dogwoodblossom.livejournal.com]

Hopefully this isn't too far OT, but I had to share. I have a new puppy! He is a black miniature poodle. I have been on the waiting list for him for over a year and the only name I ever really considered was Bertram. Bertie for short. Of course since I'm American and live in America, I can't actually pronounce it quite right without affecting a British accent, so everyone will always call him, "Birdie." But I have decided I am OK with that. My other poodle's name is Amelie, so I'm already used to having to over explain dog names to everyone in the world. I wouldn't think Amelie would be that hard but it is quite difficult apparently.

But yes, I wanted this puppy to be an affable, happy go lucky sort of fellow, which seems to be working out so far. He's quite noisy too. Perhaps a bit feistier and more demanding than his namesake.

As soon as he gets scruffy enough I'll give him a haircut and clean up those whiskers. No mustache for young Bertram. Surely a sartorial misstep for poodles.

For a registered name I'm thinking either Gigi's Smart Little Chap (Gigi is the breeder), or Gigi's Sunny Disposish. Not that it matters a whole lot, since he's getting fixed asap and thus shall forever remain one of nature's bachelors. Probably for the best since he keeps running headfirst into the furniture.

Comments

[charismaz.livejournal.com]

Awww he is so cute!! Sunny Disposish would be an amazing registered name.

(do americans really not know how to pronounce a crisp "t"?)

[dogwoodblossom.livejournal.com]

It's not the T that's the problem, it's the soft British R. If I called him Bert there would be no problem (except that I was calling him Bert). All I can think of to properly explain is that kind of silent h Helena Bonham Carter slips into the name in The King's Speech. Sort of Buhr-tee.

Whereas with my Pacific Northwest accent it's going to be a harder first syllable. Burr, like a shiver, or a seed that gets stuck in your side (or your poodle. By the dozens. I don't even know where in my yard they're coming from.) Or, Grr! Like a growl. With the emphasis heavily on the first syllable. So the difference between a T or a D afterwords is going to be negligible.

Or perhaps you're right and the T isn't quite crisp enough because I do feel I'm going out of my way a bit to throw emphasis on the T when I say it out loud. But I have to do the same thing with a D if I try a throw the consonant sound the other way.

But yeah, that coupled with the fact that Bertie is just not a common nickname here (which is sad because I find it charming) and his name is going to confuse people. At least spoken aloud. If they read his tag they'll get it. So he'll still have that over Amelie who, best case scenario gets called Emily. And I always think, "Yes! but with an A." Oh well. I have seriously been agonizing about this pronunciation issue for nearly a year. Maybe agonizing is a bit strong. But at some point everyone I know has had a version of the "Should I give my dog a name I know will be mispronounced forever?" monologue.

[charismaz.livejournal.com]

I was totally forgetting the impact that "r" could play on it. Whenever I want to do an American accent, I always start with repeating 'car' to get the r and a diphthong right. For some reason, I had got it into my mind that only British actors affecting an 'American' accent could mangle Bertie into Birdy.

Currently, me trying to do a Pacific Northwest accent with a crisp "t" has got me sounding like a sesame street character :/ British accent, all the way!

Out of curiosity, is Albert then pronounced with a "d"?

[dogwoodblossom.livejournal.com]

No, you can hear the t on the end of Albert. Heh, Albird. Although, if I say it more conversationally, "Oh Albert did blah blah," it would definitely be harder for a non-native to pick up on. But instead of Albird, it drops more to "Alber." The "t" is still there, but juuuuust barely. But that's also because the emphasis is gonna be heavy on the Al.

There's a really interesting essay on this sort of thing in the beginning of Stephen Fry's "The Ode Less Traveled."

[katelynna10000.livejournal.com]

It's alright- I say allot of words in a British accent for no reason. Like Dalek or TARDIS, or valet, for that matter. Everyone always thinks I'm mispronouncing the kind we use for a car, oh how wrong they are....and then there's every name in LOTR...ANYWAY

and also What-ho fellow Pacific Norhtwestian! (is that what we call ourselves?) It's nice to know I'm not the only one ^_^

and you could always say 'like from The King's Speech' if no one understands how to say Bertie. I don't think it sounds like Birdy at all- especially because my grandma's name IS birdy, lol

[dogwoodblossom.livejournal.com]

Whenever I say Birdy I think of John Ham in Mad Men. It seems like sort of a bizarre nick name but I like it. Also is there an American way to pronounce Dalek?

[katelynna10000.livejournal.com]

I think I've watched that show like once....

yah- but they always say it darlek, which is annoying...they just don't understand!

[derien.livejournal.com]

Most Americans do find it almost impossible to pronounce a crisp 't.' My friend Katy complains that Americans always mispronounce her name, she gets called 'Kady,' and when she tries to correct them they think she's saying 'Casey.'

[dogwoodblossom.livejournal.com]

I think the differences in regional accents are fascinating. Probably comes of watching My Fair Lady too often as a child.

[derien.livejournal.com]

I'm all for regional differences of accent, even if I think some sound dumb. ;) (Not my own, of course, mine has class. ;))

[dogwoodblossom.livejournal.com]

Hah. Once when I lived in Seattle (I live on the other side of Washington state so my accent is the same as Seattle's local) I was in a shop and a guy came in to ask the owner for bus directions downtown. He had a Scottish brogue so thick that I could probably only understand him from watching so much British television and even then I was a couple beats behind in translating.

The owner didn't know which bus this guy should take and I did so I started to explain that they just needed to hop on the 75 and it would take them straight there. The guy just stares at me with this ridiculous grin then slaps the store owner on the shoulder and goes, "Would ya listen to her accent!" It was sort of bizarre and hilarious. And I thought, "Hah, it's not just American tourists who do stupid stuff like that."

[derien.livejournal.com]

I had a Scottish tourist once make fun of the way I say the word 'lock.' I don't know any other way to say it! I've thought and thought about this one - apparently I can't hear the difference. I'm not talking about a loch, Scotty!

[trista-zevkia.livejournal.com]

When I was in Scotland, we were waiting for a bus. This elderly Scottish woman asked me where we were from. I wasn't thinking, and said 'Tennessee' not say, America or the US. She nodded and said we spoke wonderful English anyway.

[coffee-n-retcon.livejournal.com]

My mother always complains that Americans say budder instead of butter.