Am I The Only One?

[rccatnap]

I've been listening to a lot of sports broadcasts this year and am astounded by the number of newsreaders and so called pundits referring to Colombia as Columbia. I'm sure they would kick up a fuss if somebody pronounced England as Englond. Has anyone else noticed this?

[murraymints]

Yes I did cat.......And it's Scots not scotch....that's a drink ! Ggrr..

[Aquariel]

I don't know why they would kick up a fuss - I think both versions are generally accepted, it's just a matter of personal preference.

[rccatnap]

Sorry Aquariel, I could not disagree more. It's a country for god's sake, not a trite aberration subject to personal preference, which by your inference rides rough-shod over the way the national population describes their national name. You might just as well say that if your name is Jane, its okay if I call you Joan. 'Personal preference' is a shallow excuse for not caring, or for general culpable ignorance. Murraymints knows exactly what I mean.

[agchristie]

What about Leechenstein or Lichtenstein lol

[Calibax]

I don't think it's quite the same rccatnap. We generally pronounce our neighbours across the channel as Fraans rather than Frrohns.
I think it's just a (regional?) variation the same way some people pronounce constable as cunstable.

[jeffa]

Wensdee. Febyouwerry. Liebree. Pleece. The list is endless!

[Graham-W]

Should we be calling all countries by the name the natives call them?
Polska, Espania, República Portuguesa, Italia or are we OK Anglicising them for our convenience?

[Peter Pedant]

Just as Espana - la lala la viva espana ! - has an English name ( toponym I think ) Spain

Colombia does: ( I spose it would be a topophone ) pronounced Columbia

and Helleniky - yeah I pronounce that 'Greece' or perhaps 'Greek'

and yeah should we go back to calling Cairo - al gah-heera ?

No please not - the /q/ in Arabic is well a /q/ or a hard /g/ ( see above - a bit country dialect I'm afraid ) or a glottal stop /'/ depending on where you are ( in Egypt )

[Calibax]

I believe that Ivory coast (Côte d'Ivoire) has in its constitution that it should only ever be referred to by its French name.

[jno]

how are you with Zhōngguó or Shqipëria?*

The Engish language has a name for every country, but it's not necessarily the same name, or the same pronunciation, as the locals use.

Having said that... when you actually see them in print, it's clear many people do think Colombia is Columbia. (Either way it's named after Christopher Columbus... whose name was actually Cristoforo Colombo in Italian and Cristóbal Colón in Spanish.)

*China and Albania

[Peter Pedant]

or jer-ben ? oops sorry that's Mandarin for Japan
I should say Ni-hon....

Lucky for you the characters are identical

[rccatnap]

Well that's started something hasn't it?
No, I would never insist on calling Paris, Paree!
I know of no Colombian who calls his country Columbia. Even my Argentinean friends are surprised at our apparent basic disregard of the simple courtesy of differentiating between a 'U' and an 'O'.
Also, I would not insist on being that pedantic Graham-W, I take your point.
The two words are generally familiar enough to be above any language considerations. It's just that they are two different places. Not differentiating between the two to indicate which place to which one is referring, is just plain laziness.

[rccatnap]

Sorry, the cat ran in with a mouse!
The last sentence should read, "Not differentiating between the two to indicate which place one is referring to, is just plain laziness.

[RATTER15]

I confess to also calling the place "Columbia" as well. Wrong I know, I wont be losing any sleep over it though.

[rccatnap]

Thank you for your honesty Ratter15. I have no problem with that.

[mightymouse]

It is and always will be COLOMBIA!!!! Columbia is a city in the USA, and British Columbia, I believe, is in Canada. Colombia is a large and very beautiful country in South America....many great cities....Bogota. Medellin, Cartagena, Cali, and Santa Marta, just to name a few.

Regarding pronunciation, how often do we hear the word "Escalator" pronounced as "Esculator"? Annoys the hell out of me!

Many well-known radio presenters guilty of this.

[jno]

It's just that they are two different places

well... in theory... but there isn't really a place we'd normally call Columbia. A few small and middle-sized towns in the States, but I think that's about all. If we're actually confusing it with anywhere else it's probably British Columbia.

[Quizmonkey]

Lot of fuss over nothing - both pronunciations (ka-lumbi-an, ka-lombi-an) are acceptable, according to Chambers Dictionary.

[Arksided]

I love phonetics even if they do politely say Engerlond I've called them worse.