Recipe/food translations and pronunciation

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buckytom

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Mod. Edit: This post and following 6 posts have been moved to create a new thread. Please feel free to add queries and observations about the translation of ingredients into English and questions about pronunciations.

MypinchofItaly said:
Aubergine's bruschette
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Mypinch, what is the proper pronunciation of bruschette?

Is the "ch" soft, like saying shhh? Or is it hard, like saying "k".
 
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MypinchofItaly said:
"ch" is hard like saying K..
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First off, Tom - being from New Jersey - likely has heard different pronunciations from his Italian neighbors. There's an interesting article on that phenomenon here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/n...o-i-say-proshoot-and-purists-cringe.html?_r=0

You can do this better than I can, but here's the pattern to follow for English speakers of Italian words:

CH = K sound, EXAMPLE: Bruschetta = Broos-KET-a (English speakers tend to think of the German pronunciation, where "sch" makes a "SH" sound).
ZZ = TZ sound. Everyone knows how to pronounce "pizza".
GN = NY sound. EXAMPLE: Gnocchi = nyOCK-ee. <-- I hear chefs on TV calling these potatoey pillows "NO-kee" and it drives me crazy.
CC = CH sound. EXAMPLE: Focaccia = fo-KACH-ee-ah
CI = CH sound. EXAMPLE: Ciabatta = CHia-BA-ta
SC = SH sound. EXAMPLE: Prosciutto = pro-SHiOOT-o <-- I do hear people drop that middle i sound (including me when I'm feeling lazy)

e = is always pronounced at the end of a word. There is no silent E in Italian (or any other language except English, as far as I know).
 
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The Late Night Gourmet said:
First off, Tom - being from New Jersey - likely has heard different pronunciations from his Italian neighbors. There's an interesting article on that phenomenon here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/n...o-i-say-proshoot-and-purists-cringe.html?_r=0

You can do this better than I can, but here's the pattern to follow for English speakers of Italian words:

CH = K sound, EXAMPLE: Bruschetta = Broos-KET-a (English speakers tend to think of the German pronunciation, where "sch" makes a "SH" sound).
ZZ = TZ sound. Everyone knows how to pronounce "pizza".
GN = NY sound. EXAMPLE: Gnocchi = nyOCK-ee. <-- I hear chefs on TV calling these potatoey pillows "NO-kee" and it drives me crazy.
CC = K sound. EXAMPLE: Focaccia = fo-KACH-ee-ah
CI = CH sound. EXAMPLE: Ciabatta = CHia-BA-ta
SC = SH sound. EXAMPLE: Prosciutto = pro-SHiOOT-o <-- I do hear people drop that middle i sound (including me when I'm feeling lazy)

e = is always pronounced at the end of a word. There is no silent E in Italian (or any other language except English, as far as I know).
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I like your list about pronunciation English/Italian. Except for some words from Latino origin, you read Italian as is written. About the fin al e in some words, in English you say for example Linguin-I instead of LinguinE or Fettuccin-I instead of Fettuccin-E and when I was searching for @buckytom how to say bruschetta in Italian, I found a link where the english pronounce was bruscheta...i.e. right for Sch as K, wrong for the only one T..so, isn't bruscheta but brusKeTTa. I have also noticed that Spaghetti in english is spagheti, only one T.
Also in Italy we tend to "italianise" some english words, is quite difficult for us the pronounce.
 
Spaghetti is an Italian Word and I have never seen it spelt with 1 " t " in English ..

I have never eaten Spaghetti in a Spanish Restaurant either nor any type of pasta ..

Not advisable .. If one wants to eat Italian, there are several good Italian restaurants in Bcn and Madrid too ..

It is like pizza or sushi, they are same in all cities, the names are not changed ..

I am Catalan .. However, I believe you could be right .. Double LL and double RR are Spanish Letters .. Double "cc" or double " tt " Are Not, They are Italian ..

And there is No " G H " In Spanish ..

*** It is: Espagueti in Spanish .. 1 " t " and gh was changed to a "Gu " ..
 
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We don't speak real Italian, we speak Italian American. That is Italian which is butchered to fit our mouths, I guess.

I asked a coworker (who is fluent in Italian) about why she thought Americans chop the words up so badly, and she supposed that it was because there is so much syllabic inflection when speaking Italian that Americans start to over do it. It gets to the point of completely dropping off the last letter/syllable in order to give emphasis to the ones before it.

Some of the most bizarre are gahbahgoo, gavone, goomah, pro-shoot, and gahvahdeel.

Can anyone guess what the real word is in Italian? (Hint: 3 are foods, 2 are people)
 
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