How to pronounce Mario He's last name?

[tomker]

Seems like everybody has their own take on this. I've heard:

"He" as in the English pronoun (i.e., "he shot the ball") ... this is the one I've heard most often
"He" like "Hey!" but without as much of the -y sound at the end
"He" as in "H-eh?" ... kind of a Canadian flair

This would be an unusual combination of letters in German and I don't know how most Germans or Austrians would attempt to pronounce it.

But... if he's of Chinese background, "he" (rising tone) is a common Chinese surname. It's hard to write this phonetically, but maybe "h-ueh?"
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This seems like the most likely pronunciation to me but I've never heard anybody pronounce it that way.

 

[Cornerman]

Seems like everybody has their own take on this. I've heard:

"He" as in the English pronoun (i.e., "he shot the ball") ... this is the one I've heard most often
"He" like "Hey!" but without as much of the -y sound at the end
"He" as in "H-eh?" ... kind of a Canadian flair

This would be an unusual combination of letters in German and I don't know how most Germans or Austrians would attempt to pronounce it.

But... if he's of Chinese background, "he" (rising tone) is a common Chinese surname. It's hard to write this phonetically, but maybe "h-ueh?"
Here's a link to Google Translate and you can click on the icon of a speaker to hear it:

Google Translate

Google's service, offered free of charge, instantly translates words, phrases, and web pages between English and over 100 other languages.

translate.google.com

This seems like the most likely pronunciation to me but I've never heard anybody pronounce it that way.

Such is the problem with trying to pronounce an Eastern name to a western audience. I do know that he’s OK if it’s pronounced like hey or he by Western tongue. But it’s closer to hey according to him from when I interviewed him on this. Unfortunately, I like to call him
The He-Man. It won’t stick.

I can barely pronounce my name let alone trying to explain how to pronounce it.

 

[Oze147]

"He" as in "H-eh?" ... kind of a Canadian flair

I think that's what comes closest to the german pronounciation.
But we Austrians are known for germanizing foreign names, so it might be the Chinese version, that is how it should be.

 

[Justaneng]

I’m American but spend half my time in China so my brain goes to the Chinese “h-uh” (said as one syllable), however my brain pronounces “Mario” the same way I’ve pronounced it since playing Nintendo as a kid so I’m probably wrong on both accounts.

 

[kingwang]

Chinese news sites list his last name as 何: https://www.sohu.com/a/139902940_449815

Here's a video of how 何 is pronounced:

If you pronounce it like like hug without the g, I would count that as close enough.

 

[Cornerman]

I think that's what comes closest to the german pronounciation.
But we Austrians are known for germanizing foreign names, so it might be the Chinese version, that is how it should be.

The German influence makes sense.

 

[tomatoshooter]

Such is the problem with trying to pronounce an Eastern name to a western audience.

Yeah, there are certain noises the Anglo mouth can't make. And some sounds we don't really distinguish are considered totally distinct to other cultures.

 

[nataddrho]

I think that's what comes closest to the german pronounciation.
But we Austrians are known for germanizing foreign names, so it might be the Chinese version, that is how it should be.

Did German experience a vowel shift similar to English due to world events of the late Middle Ages, since it is yet another language that uses a Latin alphabet but is not a derivative of Latin? Or was your dictionary just updated properly to reflect the modern pronunciation unlike English?

I invented a poem for my Brazilian wife to showcase how weird English is.

It is called, “The Pilot”:

The skies
disguise
this guy’s
disc eyes.

Fin.

 

[Cornerman]

Did German experience a vowel shift similar to English due to world events of the late Middle Ages, since it is yet another language that uses a Latin alphabet but is not a derivative of Latin? Or was your dictionary just updated properly to reflect the modern pronunciation unlike English?

I invented a poem for my Brazilian wife to showcase how weird English is.

It is called, “The Pilot”:

The skies
disguise
this guy’s
disc eyes.

Fin.

Linguistics got me through college. Not that I ever pursued it.

In the linguistic umbrella of Indo-European languages, English is under the Germanic line. Spanish and Italian fall under the Latin languages. Germany use Roman letters due to the expansion of Christianity

The Great Vowel shift definitely was English, as England, Scotland and Ireland (I don’t know enough about Wales) don’t follow the normal vowel sounds. I never heard German having such a major shift as German vowels still sound like other European vowels, but add other vowel sounds with umlauts and dipthongs. So I suppose the diphthongs might be counted, but weren’t ever discussed as part of the Great Vowel Shift in my linguistic classes a lifetime ago. The Shift was all about English. It’s why we have long vowels and short vowels.

Incidentally, the vowels in my last name should be pronounced as most Europeans would pronounce them. Especially the Spanish. I tried years ago on the internet to describe it. I failed miserably.

 

[tomker]

Yeah, there are certain noises the Anglo mouth can't make. And some sounds we don't really distinguish are considered totally distinct to other cultures.

I think any English speaker should be able to pronounce the Chinese syllable "he"... the problem here is that the romanization of Chinese ("pinyin") is only vaguely phonetic.