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How to say: O. Obasanjo

Host Host | 11:30 UK time, Friday, 11 August 2006

A guide to words and names in the news, from Martha Figueroa-Clark of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Pronunciation Unit.

"Today's pronunciation is .

"Our recommendation is ol-OO-sheg-uu(ng) ob-ASS-an-joh (-ol as in 'olive', -g as in 'get', -j as in 'Jack'), following consultation with the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Hausa Section."

(.)

Comments

  • 1.
  • At 12:38 PM on 11 Aug 2006,
  • Craig wrote:

Its all a little bit academic dont you think?

Yes. But how do you pronounce "Figueroa-Clark "

  • 3.
  • At 01:55 PM on 12 Aug 2006,
  • Oj wrote:

Not wanting to split hairs , but the Hausa service isn't the best place to consult on how to pronounce a Yoruba name. There are thousands of Yoruba living and working in London, and I'm sure if you checked, you'd even find some working at the ´óÏó´«Ã½!

And as to whether it was academic or not, I bet Craig and Ian would be surprised if a major foreign broadcaster regularly mispronounced the names of leading English public figures

  • 4.
  • At 11:05 PM on 15 Aug 2006,
  • David Marjanović wrote:

Strange. I saw him taking his oath of office on TV, and I remember hearing s, not sh, and the stress on the last syllable in both words. But maybe I confused stress and tone...

  • 5.
  • At 10:24 AM on 27 Oct 2006,
  • Toye wrote:

Funny bizzare, the Hausa service is definitely NOT the place to learn pronounciation of Yoruba names - phonetics are totally different. In same way as cockneys and glaswegians do not pronounce alike! C'mon Beeb - like Oj says, talk to your staff with Yoruba heritage & they'll come up with the goods!

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