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45 sugabellisms:
I guess the problem with accents is due to the "interruption of rhythm" when pronouncing words from a foreign language. There is the tendency to "force" a foreign-sounding (to that language or dialect) word to flow with the established rhythm for that language.
That said, most people from foreign countries like Nigeria tend to show off that they've been to foreign countries and start speaking like they've never heard their own names before!
By the way, great blog! keep it up!
heyy sugabelly, d lastes post on my blog is dedicated to you! check it out--
http://naijadaydreamer.blogspot.com/
Yeah, that's B.S. It doesn't make any kinda sense @ all. People always do that, but what can I say? Sell out!!!! LOL
I concur with Vera mehn!! Rubbish and ingredients!!! forget categorical statements! d chick can PRONOUNCE her name!! she gave her son an Igbo name joo..I think it's the tendency to fit in and make it easier for the people you're around which like Vera said is BS!! they don't change the spelling of their Juan names to Wan so you know to pronounce it right...ok..this tirade is getting really long..
Oluchi is a beautiful name and should be pronounced right, how else do we know what your name means?
Beautiful blog btw Sugabelly (first time on here)
oluchi big ups to her 4 all she has done but she still has 2 remember she is an african woman. your name is your identity so that means it has to be pronounced right. queen elizabeth mess with her name just because she is in the midst of Africans! lets keep it real. by tha way...nice accent sugabelly
girl practise wut u preach...u use funetics so y r u not being logical bout how u speak instead of wastin ur time critisizin how other people xpress demselves 2 d general public. N again im sure u remember how to pronounce Nigeria d same way u did when u were in der aint it?
@Emotional Chik: First of all, I have ALWAYS spoken this way because my Mom grew up in England and I learned to speak by imitating her.
Second, I go to school in America, so that just increases the whole accent business with me. It's not Funetics or whatever you call it.
"Funetics" is when someone goes around saying things like "ferk" instead of "fork"...
And YES, I pronounce ALL Nigerian words the SAME way.
Accents aren't permanent, and it is possible for one person to have MULTIPLE accents like I do.
When I speak Igbo I speak it with an IGBO accent, and when I speak English I speak it with an English-American accent. Same goes for all other languages I speak.
ma point exactly! Girl i lived in London almost all my life n i school in america as well and when i talk to Nigerians, i have a real Nigerian accent so all this about imitating ur mom is ummmmmm lets call it B>S. if ur xcuse 4 talkin dat way is dat u skul in American n so on then i guess Oluchi has an xcuse as well so save ur judgements!
p.s-just like u imitate ur mom, Oluchi imitates d peeps who call her dat way.
@Emotional Chik: So you CLEARLY did not understand what I said.
When I was a baby and was first learning how to talk, I learned speech from my mother who had grown up in the UK. THUS, I began to speak ENGLISH with an accent similar to hers. This is the reason why I speak ENGLISH the way I do.
Now, I go to school in America, and this has impacted my speech a little. I am slowly beginning to pronounce certain ENGLISH words the American way.
HOWEVER, IGBO is a completely different language from English, AND more importantly, Igbo is a TONAL language. EVERY Igbo speaking person knows this.
If you TONE an Igbo word differently, the meaning of the word CHANGES COMPLETELY.
Now, I understand when children born abroad mispronounce Igbo words even though this is really no excuse if you have Igbo parents, but as WE ALL KNOW, Oluchi went to America as an ADULT meaning that her ability to pronounce Igbo words correctly had already fully formed.
THEREFORE, there is NO REASON for her to mispronounce her Igbo name. NONE WHATSOEVER unless of course, she is doing it intentionally.
I am twenty years old so I no longer imitate my mother in speech. However, the way I speak was in the beginning HEAVILY impacted by the way my mother spoke since I learned to say my first words from her. That being said, my accent has been formed and honed by different environmental influences since then. Since I speak multiple languages, I understand that each language has its own unique accent, and so I have multiple accents.
Oluchi is an adult, and especially because she went to America as an adult she SHOULD have multiple accents too. Assuming she knew how to pronounce her name in Nigeria, learning an American accent WOULD NOT have impacted her ability to pronounce her own name correctly.
Do you now understand what I am talking about?
Hey Sugabelly,
Your very mature for a 20 year old from the way you speak. You need to check out a new blog I'm doing with two people. www.touring-our-minds.blogspot.com
They cussed of our accents!! lol ..I grew up in the UK so what accent am i supposed to have ?
Hmm she may have pronounced it that way to make it easier for people to pronounce. I remember when I was in school they couldn't pronounce my surname as simple as it was and I would correct them and they would get it wrong again. I sha just left them but when I said it, I always said it the correct way!!
I love being Nigerian oh and at the same time I love my English accent and I love the fact that I can speak pidgin ( not a lot).
Lovely blog hope to hear more from you missy :-)
Okay so I was going to just not say anything buuuuuuut I decided I may as well express myself :)
Boo I hope you finished packing. Oluchi is a sell-out. Then again we're all sell outs to a certain degree and she may say her name that way just to make things easier for them {which I do all the time} so I can't really be too hard on her. When she's speaking igbo, like you boo, she probably {and you're right we don't know this for a fact since we don't know her but I'd like to assume that she} speaks it with an igbo accent. It's weird to hear her say her name like that as Nigerians since we know how to say it right or almost right but oh well...
Meanwhile Emotional Chik is obviously...very...um...emotional...It's not that deep b...No need to get on Sugabelly for criticizing Oluchi while you're criticizing her youknowwhatI'msayin?
x
Lol @ the huge discourse between yourself & emotional chik..
Calm down laydezz..
I guess it'd be showing around West Africa and perhaps, beyond. If people have had problems with her name in the past it only makes sense to adapt instead of dealing with the problem every time i.e correcting them. No one can pronounce my roomie's name with the intonations and what not, so she pronounces it like everyone would to prevent unnecessary huhs and pardons.
I don't think many young people pronounce their names with the correct intonations these days.
That bit about learning to speak from your mother, not so valid. You must know people who couldn't pronounce words properly or had "h-factors" or something in Year 7 but after a few years of intense interaction with their peers they began to appear somewhat refined. Simply put, your foundation is important but interacting with your peers would influence you more. Except of course, you went to day-school and cuddled with your mum every night as she read your bedtime stories.
Plus I think we've forgotten that Oluchi is a model. On ANTM Tyra always talks to people about speaking properly. They have to get lessons and stuff. I remember her talking to Danielle about losing her southern accent.
And remember that episode about choosing your names, if Oluchi attended one of these, they'd probably suggest that she pronounce it the other way as it easier.
I need to go to bed, my longest comment on blogger officially.
u sugabelly hypocrite. dis isnt hw u talked in loyola. no excuses pls.... b4 we open ur nyash
Aw, people cut Oluchi some slack! I think she was just annunciating. I mean she's been out of the country for about 11 years now and yet she still speaks with more of a Nigerian accent than Sugabelly! So she pronounced her name differently, I think she was just trying to make it easy for the people in other West African countries to pronounce which s totally fair. In fact, kudos to her for not over-Nigerianizing the thing!
Oh n before I leave, nobody makes a big deal when our Igo brothers named Ikechukwu prefer you to call thm Iyke (pronounce A-i-k). So why pick on Oluchi?
I'm more focused at the fact that she has even considered returning home to work. Makes me really proud of her!
Fatima
@tommy: did you hear me when I said I have MULTIPLE accents? When I went to school in Jos, (BEFORE Loyola) I spoke pretty much this way and they teased the HELL out of me. By the time I got to Loyola, I had learned a far more Nigerian sounding accent.
The truth is Tommy, you don't know anything about me from BEFORE Loyola so let me do the story telling. It's my story.
@Tenacious: I'm not picking on Oluchi. I simply used my experience with the WAFNTM ad as a basis for the question in my post which is have you ever changed the pronunciation of your name to make it easier for others?
@Ovay: Read my second reply to Emotional Chik. I said that while in my first year my accent was heavily influenced by my mom, environmental factors took over as i got older and began to interact with other ppl. One of those environmental factors was school as Tommy so kindly pointed out which lead to me developing a healthy Nigerian accent in addition to the two I had before (igbo being the second one). The more languages I learned, the more accents I developed, and what i'm trying to point out is that an adult with multiple accents should be able to turn them on and off e.g. when it comes to your name. there is nothing wrong with saying:
*BRITISH accent* Hi my name is
*IGBO accent* Nneka
I'm just saying. And besides, it's an open question I'm throwing out there. Have you ever mispronounced your name for these reasons?
@Miss Fly High: Off to check out your blog.
@Vera and Lolia: I kinda see what you mean
@RocNaija: LOL
@Ijaw: OMG you hit the nail on the head. This is sooo true!!
@Experience and Ty: you're right there are two sides to it. Americans do not intentionally mispronounce their names so why should we?
loila i bliv u cn leave a comment without mentionin ma name........ass kisser
Gilrs.Nigerian girls.Na waooo...I wish I could marry all of you here and put you in thesame house to understand why you girls are so full of jealousy. Let those who want to phonet phonet.live and let,s live. I do phonet sometime, it is the way, to show off here in Naija.It is part of the show and almost becoming our tradition ooo - i schools, churches, restaurants,and other social gatherings.Na wa for una ooooo...
So, you mean you girls don't speak pidgin English or what?
LMAO!! You know, funny enough, my sister and I were talking about this some time back. There's this meteorologist on one of our TV news stations here in Toronto, and she calls herself "Anika", so I'm like, oh, pretty girl, different name. Cool. Till I saw the umm, you know, headline thingy at the bottom of the screen (headline at the bottom of the screen...that can't be right, but whatever) and her name is..wait for it..Nneka! I'm like WTH is wrong with her? How does your name turn from Nneka to Anika?? Well I can see how, but HOWW??!!! sigh..it's whatever though...that is between her and her parents that named her..and the how many other Nigerians that have noticed it I guess..
@All4Naija: Of course I speak Pidgin! How could I not??? And when I speak Pidgin I speak it with a conc Nigerian accent :D
@He Says: Wow.. Anika from Nneka?? I never heard that one before. SMH
Sometimes you get into the whole accent thingy that when u name comes up it sounds foreign on your tongue if you say it the right way...
Then again, my name has been chopped brutally so as to be easier for peeps to pronounce..
But yea, when you are with your 9ja peeps, na pidgin which dey flow well well....
I get a kick out of teaching people to say my name correctly. it's not a bother actually. i can deal with the huhs and pardons. Why should I make an effort to pronounce their names correctly and then change mine to suit their laziness. Abegi.
@ Emotional Chik
Um..if I left a comment without mentioning your name then how would you know I was talking to you?
Meanwhile why would I waste my time sucking up to my sister of all people?
Smh...But like I said before, it's really not that serious...No need for name calling okay...x
@Emotional Chik: Less emotion; More objective discussion.
Dudette Seriously.
@Chayoma: Is that why you wrote your name as Cha-yoma? :) Because that's the way foreigners pronounce it right? lol.
@Poetically tinted: So damn true!! Sometimes I deliberately mispronounce American names for fun to let them see how annoying it is. And I keep repeating it when they correct me, then when they get exasperated I say "But all these American names are so weird and hard to say!" LOL
i have an english f.name, so i havent really had that problem (of tryin to switch back n forth b/w my naija accent and my yankee accent, but:
fun fact: more nigerians (in nigeria) mispronounce my surname than americans......
but i am an exception anyway....i totally get what you're saying....i have a friend called adeola who has to pronounce her name as A-DEE-OH-LA (stress on the la)....it's depressing but really funny as well....especially when the american kids try to correct me after i pronounce her name the right way....
As for Oluchi's wahala, i might get why she would pronounce her name differently for foreigners, but abeg, why is she forming for naija people?
ps: lol @ ur exchange wiv tommy about ljc....
People might pronounce their names differently to a foreign audience because if you pronounce it the right way, u might have to stand there and repeat urself 20x and they still would not be able to say it right. It's called shortcuts.
I bet Oluchi would not mispronounce her name in Nigeria because a typical Nigerian person would know how to say Oluchi properly. I don't think she is necessarily a sell out.
Right now, i go by the short form of my igbo middle name
(pronounced the male version; i can't shout) because it takes forever for people to learn how to say my Edo first name. Even if they remember it, they never say it right and i am tired of my precious name being butchered so i chose the next best thing. I could easily have gone by my 3 letter English name, but i'd rather not.
My dad was teasing me one day when he heard me tell some guys my Edo name. I tried to simplify it so i don't have to keep repeating myself. Am i a sell out? No! Would i pronounce it that way to a Nigerian? No!
I don't have any interest in teaching most people how to say my name. I don't even pronounce it the way my parents pronounce it (they stress a different part of the name), i guess cos i don't speak the language. Bottom line is, i know how to say my name. It's not something u forget because u are now living in a foreign country.
I have met people who were genuinely interested in learning how to say my name right, and i sat there and taught them. Easy!
just stumbled here. mmph... well, all i can say is after reading this I bet oluchi wishes her name was olivia or something... that would be such a life-saver for her in this context:)
@sugabelly, I find it hilarious that you make a post about Oluchi pronouncing her name in a strange way, when your own diction is so remarkably inconsistent (note the way you pronounce 'education' - or words with a similar 'd' - and compare it with other words in your sentences).
I don't know why Oluchi chose to pronounce her name way that way, and from what I gather, neither do you.
Anything on the matter is pure speculation.
@Omo Oodua: First of all, my diction is perfectly fine thank you. I'm willing to bet I speak more correctly than you do.
Second, this is my blog and I am pointing out something that I found interesting.
You must have a HUGE chip on your shoulder if you think that the reason I made this post was to pick on Oluchi.
I asked a question based on an increasingly common phenomenon I have noticed among Africans that move abroad and Oluchi was a prime example of what I was talking about.
OK first off, people need to stop giving the excuse that it is easier for other people to say their names. This is the way it is. Never pronounce your name wrongly else i shall no you as a coward. I do not care what modeling agencies/classes have told you to do or not. If you tell people your name and they refuse to say it right then it is their cup of tea! All that matters is that you say your name right.
If you tell someone your name and they say it the wrong way, correct them and if they still do not get it say "well, you are still saying it wrong but at least you made an effort."
@Sugabelly, I am sure your diction is perfectly fine. The problem is with my own ears, doubtless. They detect an (imaginary) inconsistency in the way you speak. Coupled with some of the more interesting and colourful comments from people who knew you from back in the day, it's safe to conclude that I know exactly what's cooking here.
As for Oluchi, listen to your comments about her actions, and then listen to them without the bile. Whether or not you intended to pick on Oluchi, the overall effect came across as the venomous words of a woman suffering from chronic (perhaps incurable) 'bad belle'. Oluchi is having the time of her life - whether she pronounces her name 'OLU-chi' or 'Olu-CHI'. Get over it!
Regards,
OOO
@Omo Oodua: Think whatever you want to think. People move to other countries and develop accents all the time. I don't know why you think that I should have the same accent in America as I did in Nigeria, but frankly I don't care. If you think I have bad belle for Oluchi then that's your own warped little mind working. And you know what? If you don't like what I say on my blog? You don't have to read it.
@Sugabelly, point taken. I will exit your blog. Your response is the very lovely "if-it-does-not-fit-it-must-exit" strategy, which I often see deployed by the Nigerian government. Anyway, rest assured other people (many of whom once knew you - as we can tell from above comments on this post) are questioning you (and your apparent hypocrisy), as well as your unusual (and admitted) generalizations on the Africans vs. AA thread. I salute una and take my leave.
@Omo Oodua: Thanks for leaving. And I don't know which "Many" people you are talking about. ONE person claimed to have known me up there in the comments so if you're seeing many then maybe there's something wrong. And yes, you don't have to read my blog if you don't like what I say.
You made many wild generalisations as well, and to call what I said Beer Parlour statements was beyond ridiculous of you. There is NOTHING wrong with the way I speak and for your information when I pronounce Nigerian words I pronounce them the NIGERIAN way, however I may speak. I asked a simple question and you turned it into a huge brouhaha. YOU obviously have a hard stick up your butt about something. Because one person claims to know me you call me a hypocrite. You don't even know what my relationship with her was. For all you know I spoke five words to her all my life, but you just take something that someone said that you OBSERVED to be the gospel truth. I thought you were all up in arms about observable things. Who's the hypocrite now?
You don't know me, you don't know who my friends are, you don't know anything about me so do not come here and draw your "conclusions" about me based random bullshit. It won't fly. I never asked you to leave my blog but if you find what I say so disagreeable then maybe you shouldn't read it since it upsets you so much. Every other person that commented could see that I was asking a simple question with the Oluchi episode as a reference and example.
Perhaps you need to examine your issues and deal with them. This is a blog, not your damn thesis so if you want a full bibliography then go get it your damn self. I do my research and I know what I say to be generally true. Of course it isn't the truth that every single person lives, but then again, what is?
If you want to disagree with me, you're welcome to, but don't be stupidly insulting. The fact that I let the comments that you and other trolls like you sit on my blog for everyone to read when I could so easy delete them should tell you that I'm all for open discussion. Stay if you want, go if you want. If you have anything meaningful to say we're happy to hear it but if not then bye.
@ Sugabelly: ever considered a legal career? Just curious..
You'd be amazing in court..
@He Says: LOL. My mom is a lawyer (she doesn't practice) but no, I don't think law is for me. Too many DUSTY books :) I love books but I hate the ones that break your back
@sugarbelly. Why are you so fond of emm...in your speech?
OMO: "as your unusual (and admitted) generalizations on the Africans vs. AA thread."
SUGABELLY: "I do my research and I know what I say to be generally true."
did you know that according to the most recent statistcs hispanics have the highest high school drop out rate? do you know that black americans actually have about the same high school high graduaton rate as whites but "the department of Justics Policy posted flawed fata? and that africans make the same amount of money ad black americans? you MEDIAN is higher but your PERSONAL income is the same. median is a broad term meaniing the number in the middle.
example 10,0,9 the median is zero.
you say,black americans have been centuries and you think africans have surapsses them?
get some laws passed that benefit blacks, invent over 10,000 inventions, come up with over 23 musical genres, get you some african owned banks and hotel franchises, own almost HALF of property in a city like the Roberts Brothers in St. Louis, get a gdp over trillion dollars,
have some african (hbcu) out perform some department at harvard,yale, and standford. didnt know that did you? the media didnt broadcast how some of those hbcu's was whipping ivy league ass.
tata
I see both sides of this argument. But no, I don't think Oluchi is a sell-out either. My non-Nigerians have a hard time pronouncing my name & I too have a hard time pronouncing many foreign names.
I knew someone called Siobhan from Ireland. I couldn't pronounce her name for the life of me, but she didn't take offence. Soon she started saying her name the way I said it her whenever she called my cellphone so I would know it was her. After many years of friendship, I was able to say her name right = "SHIVAUGHN"
Another example, my profs always have a hard time saying my name...basically every non-Efik person has a hard time saying my name. So I pronounce it in a very non-Efik way; but in truth that is the ONLY way they would be able to say it. Only one Ukrainian man I met in Philly last spring was able to say my name the proper way on first sight. It was an amazing miracle. Go figure.
So there...we all acquire accents somehow when we migrate. Some more easily than others. For example, I can do a thick country accent & I didn't grow up in texas & my Father is not a Cowboy. I had 2 roommates from Connecticut in undergrad. My Nigerian accent is still intact. And my Canadian/Northern US accent is not waning either.
Hmmmmm...... Na wa o!
I notice it's always the same folks that reject (more like insult) Sugabelly's viewpoint. The constant -ve pattern across posts actually discredits your opposing viewpoint folks. If na beef abeg talk am make we hear!
To the issue...
I also understand the matter from yours and Oluchi's side. I have a common Igbo name that's constantly mispronounced where i reside. To foreigners pronounce my name in a way they'll catch on to fast, that is leaving out the double-daggered igbo tonation at the beginning. Asides that no big different from the way I pronounced it back in Nigeria, a way that didn't go down well with some of my ogbo 'sisters' that must have thought me incompetent to bear that name, maybe because I haven't 'dined and wined' (indeed) with the Eze like them. *hisses*
I actually found Oluchi's pronouncaition funny but was she speaking to a strictly Nigerian audience? Maybe not. I see your point too though.
My FIRST comment here. I must say I'm impressed with the content of your blog. Some deep sturvs you gat here!! I sure had less crucial things on my mind at age 20.lol. I'll keep coming.
@Immani: So i see your point about whether or not she was addressing a strictly Nigerian audience. However, I personally believe that noone should ever deliberately mispronounce their name for ANY reason.
I'm glad you like my blog. I pretty much just write about personal stuff. It's really a hodge-podge of my life and random stuff that interests me.
LOL@ having less crucial things on your mind at 20. Well some of us haven't been that lucky even though we wish.
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