Bekele is officially pronounced "Buh-kuh-luh."

That's ruh-turd-uhd

Cronje wrote:

The Chicago Marathon media guide specifically advises against pronouncing it "Bah-kay-lay" or "Bah-kee-lee."

http://assets.chicagomarathon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2014-Elite-Athlete-Pronunciations-.pdf

Sounds like they know what they're talking about. Does anyone know Ethiopian languages well enough to confirm or deny?

This has been discussed to death.

There is a thread on this in 2013. If you want the answer to this look at bekeles name in Amharic. Then use IPA to find the pronunciation. The correct pronunciation, until bekele himself, one of his Ethiopian friends or a native Ethiopian comes along and says otherwise,

Is close to the most commonly used pronunciation.

I have a friend that was born in Ethiopia, and he loves to correct me when I say their names incorrectly. Bekele is pronounce Beck-ah-lay. I hope that makes sense.

Mush wrote:

I have a friend that was born in Ethiopia, and he loves to correct me when I say their names incorrectly. Bekele is pronounce Beck-ah-lay. I hope that makes sense.

Yep that's it. The second syllable is hard to approximate in English. B(schwa) Keh-lay, which is the standard English pronunciation, suffices for English speakers but is just slightly tweaked in Amharic as you've noted. One of those linguistic things that can't be done by non language speakers.

I mean to say that the previous posters "ah" is, as it is in Amharic, not as strong as the back open "aaaah" in english

Here's a handy way to avoid mispronouncing a non-English name. Ask several Englishmen how they'd pronounce it. That will give you several possible mispronunciations which you can then avoid.

Tacobellguydave wrote:

Mush wrote:

I have a friend that was born in Ethiopia, and he loves to correct me when I say their names incorrectly. Bekele is pronounce Beck-ah-lay. I hope that makes sense.

Yep that's it. The second syllable is hard to approximate in English. B(schwa) Keh-lay, which is the standard English pronunciation, suffices for English speakers but is just slightly tweaked in Amharic as you've noted. One of those linguistic things that can't be done by non language speakers.

Where's the stress? The first syllable?

Cronje wrote:

Tacobellguydave wrote:

Yep that's it. The second syllable is hard to approximate in English. B(schwa) Keh-lay, which is the standard English pronunciation, suffices for English speakers but is just slightly tweaked in Amharic as you've noted. One of those linguistic things that can't be done by non language speakers.

Where's the stress? The first syllable?

Second syllable. Definitely not the first. Schwa, by definition ("ə") cannot be the stressed syllable (I think).

I have an Ethiopian son and this is how he pronounces it.

He is always correcting me. I have a hard time pronounce my own son's name correctly. I can't roll my Rs.

I always sound like I am choking when I try to stress the second syllable.

Look, Americans don't even get simplest Kenyan names right. The accent in Lagat's name is on the first syllable, not the last.

Isn't there a video around with Kenenisa pronouncing it "Buh-kay-lay"? I mean, if there's one person who dictates how his name is pronounced, it's Kenenisa himself.

asdfoko wrote:

Isn't there a video around with Kenenisa pronouncing it "Buh-kay-lay"? I mean, if there's one person who dictates how his name is pronounced, it's Kenenisa himself.

Same guy here. Just found a video with him saying "My name is Kenenisa Bekele" in french. Take it as you may.

asdfoko wrote:

asdfoko wrote:

Isn't there a video around with Kenenisa pronouncing it "Buh-kay-lay"? I mean, if there's one person who dictates how his name is pronounced, it's Kenenisa himself.

Same guy here. Just found a video with him saying "My name is Kenenisa Bekele" in french. Take it as you may.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuf80lOyoV0

You, Sir, are a hero of these boards. May you enjoy bounteous Blessings

Mispronouncing names has no effect on elite EA's

Ask Goffrey

It's pronounced [ɡɑːd].

It's pronounced [god].

It's pronounced "Anbessa"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLg4j4gMzqA

Doclove wrote:

Mispronouncing names has no effect on elite EA's

Ask Goffrey

lol