From: G&P
Message: 62696
Date: 2009-02-01
Even within a language group, different dialect speakers will pronounce names differently. You should hear the Birmingham pronunciation of “ Birmingham ”. So it is inevitable that moving from one language to another, the native speaker tendencies affect the pronunciation. But it is also a matter of attitude. This may vary in other places, but in the English-speaking world, a too accurate pronunciation of foreign names would be considered an affectation (if it is not done as a joke). The BBC strikes a compromise, Anglicising enough for English speakers to understand. The result is often quite far from the original.
As for Prague , German Prag, years back I read an English novel translated into German, where the main character puzzled over a famous crossword clue from “The Times”. The clue was “Capital of Czechoslovakia” in 4 letters. Of course, in English, Prague has 6 letters, so it’s clearly a devious clue. In German, where Prag has 4, there was no reason for the angst and long worrying that the main character went through. German readers must have been so puzzled! (I won’t tell you the answer, so you get the chance to think, about it yourselves – if you’re interested.)
Peter