Monday, September 25

call center translation

I thought it was just me, but after conversations with several friends, I've determined that others have trouble understanding the Indian wersion of English, too (call centers, etc.). With that in mind, I was on a call this morning and noted these misbronunzeations .. berhabs dis jart will be useful to others.

When listening to (studying?) "Indian English", I often detect a German influence (V vs. W) while the Mandarin influence appears at other times (short/choppy words):

the most common problem is switching [V] and [W]:
avare -> aware
ewaluate -> evaluate
less moo wahn -> let's move on
tventy -> twenty
ve -> we
veb zerfer -> web server
VIN-dose -> windows
vurked -> worked
WEHR-shun -> version
another common problem is with the letter [P] which often becomes a [B]:
BEEK-cher -> picture
berhabs dis jart -> perhaps this chart
BRAK-tee-kuhl -> practical
broblem -> problem
bro-NUN-ze-ay-shun -> pronunciation
durn da beige -> turn the page
eem-pah-tint -> important
sbark -> spark
next, they have problems with the [TH] sound, often morfing it into a [D]:
alldoe -> although
deese -> these
dirty -> thirty
dis is -> this is
dree -> three
drew da dore -> through the door
tohw-sense -> thousands
miscellaneous:
BAY-zis -> basis
BOKE-zis -> boxes
CHOON-ing -> tuning
coe-ing -> going
DAYGA-luke -> take a look
doan half -> don't have
kyde -> guide
quynt -> couldn't
TAYK-nee-cal -> technical
wod -> what
zekkund dry -> second try

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

heres a few more:
tek-nee-shian- technician
internet without any silent letters: and for my life i cant say it the way you guys say it.

cant think of anything else, too drowsy..

:DD germans,, lol,, id never thought anybody vud think ve'd sound like germans. but yes i guess v do have that "v" thing.
i remember how my english teacher irritated with our pronouncisations talked in "I"nglish that day. she started with "the whole wide Vurld", had us all cracked up

Anonymous said...

hole vide varuld(uh) , to be more precise.

yeah i think im trolling, id better bugger off

Gene said...

here's one I can't get out of my mind:

Pop Tarts -> Bob Dards