Bjork's name

[slashess]

okay, everyone in that thread was arguing about her name pronounciation.

I myself pronounce it "B-yerk" because in an interview she said it rhymes with "jerk". Also it means "Birch Tree". Doesn't "byerk" and "birch" sound alike?

[Rins-chan]

In German birch is called "Birke" and I think this sounds very similar to Björk

And yes, her name sounds a bit similar to jerk but the "r" is a bit different (from the version of pronunnciation I learnt at school)

ja ne

[Maxker]

In norwegian Björk or (Bjørk as we write) allso means "birch tree" , I pronounce it like: "Byork" or "Byerk"

[~K+]

I'm not sure what it actually is and have never heard anyone pronounce it, but I've always pronounced it as B-york.

[ohsixthirty]

I've always heard it pronounced as "Be-york."

[boogieordie]

Originally Posted by touchedstar

I've always heard it pronounced as "Be-york."

Me too. How anything that sound like "jerk" gets in there is beyond me. Maybe if you put enough inflection on it...

But yeah, I've only heard "byork"

[Halla]

these things are so difficult to explain

but here's what I think :

the 'ö' in björk's name is phonetically for english people written as 'oe' , so the I think the corrent way to phonetically spell björk in english is by-oe-rk.

It's like by-ork but with a a hint of the 'e' sound from jerk in it too. I think an english speaker will stress the 'BY' sound as in 'By-ork' , but a native will stress the vowel 'by-Ork'.

[Corybobory]

I've always said B-york too...

But the oe made me think of another possibility... lots of Scandinavian languages have rounded vowels not found in English, and œ usually represents a vowel pronounced like "eee" but with your lips shaped like an "o" (try it and see hehe)... it sounds a bit to the native English ear as a cross between the the 'oh' and 'er' sounds maybe? I dont know. I know nothing about Scandinavian languages and I'm talking out of my butt basically hehehe

[cybermoomba]

I've always thought it was "B-york" too. I've never heard anyone say it like "jerk" before. Sometimes I've hear people say it really fast like "B-ork"... I dunno

[Halla]

Originally Posted by Corybobory

I've always said B-york too...

But the oe made me think of another possibility... lots of Scandinavian languages have rounded vowels not found in English, and œ usually represents a vowel pronounced like "eee" but with your lips shaped like an "o" (try it and see hehe)... it sounds a bit to the native English ear as a cross between the the 'oh' and 'er' sounds maybe? I dont know. I know nothing about Scandinavian languages and I'm talking out of my butt basically hehehe

I think you're right , this is what I was trying to explain

It's 'Byork'.

[Corybobory]

Originally Posted by Halla

I think you're right , this is what I was trying to explain

Hooray! Rounded vowels rule. But I find them quite difficult to pronounce!

[PickleCookies]

Someone should make a sound clip, so we know what it sounds like.

Why didn't she just pick an easier name to pronounce?

[PickleCookies]

Atleast she's not asking for her full name: Björk Guðmundsdóttir

[ImpactBreaker]

Originally Posted by PickleCookies

Atleast she's not asking for her full name: Björk Guðmundsdóttir

LOL better stick to the basics (her first name) then

Originally Posted by PickleCookies

Atleast she's not asking for her full name: Björk Guðmundsdóttir

Atleast that's a plus.

I allways thought of it as, B(very very short beh)york.

it's tough x_x

..see? can't go wrong with "eevee" ^_~

^ I've always said it that way.
Or something like... instead of "york", "gork", lol iunno.

[[taskin.ayu]]

I've heard people say "B-york" as others have stated and that's what I call her too. xD