# How do you pronounce.....?!?!?!?!?!



## lkWinnipesaukee (Nov 25, 2007)

Let's get the correct pronunciations of:

Leica, Nikon, Zeiss,  Zenit,  Nikkor,  bokeh,  Tamron,  _et cetera_. 

I'll take a shot.

Leica=LIE-kah
Nikon=nee-kon (although I say neigh-kon)
Zeiss=ssICE
Zenit=tsee-nit
Nikkor=nee-KOR
bokeh=bow-kuh
Tamron=TAM-rin


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## LaFoto (Nov 25, 2007)

Leica is LIE*-kah (*like in "*to lie* on the bed")

Zeiss is ts-ice

bokeh is boh-keh (both syllables equally stressed with very closed vowels)


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## Sideburns (Nov 25, 2007)

all I know is that Bokeh is pronounced 
bow kay
That's why they added the H...cause technically it's spelled boke.


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## Alex_B (Nov 25, 2007)

lkWinnipesaukee said:


> Leica, Nikon, Zeiss,  Zenit,  Nikkor,  bokeh,  Tamron,  _et cetera_.



Being German is a clear advantage here. Most of them are pronounced as you would pronounce them in German :mrgreen:

Just catch a German and let him read them out aloud.


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## Garbz (Nov 25, 2007)

My take on phonetically saying:
Leica (LAY on the ground, - CAR)
Nikon (We are the knights who say NI, - CON as in con-artist) 
Zeiss (ZEISS as in the way a german would pronounce "this", or the way Americans call the letter Z with a few ss on the end)
Zenit (never heard this before but I'd say it like the SENATE)
Nikkor (NICKelodeon  - CORE)
bokeh (short sharp sounds BO KE)
Tamron (two names. TAM as in River Tam from the Firefly series or movie called Serenity, RON as in Ron from harry potter)
et cetera (et as in etc, and cetera as in etc)


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## ThePup (Nov 25, 2007)

lkWinnipesaukee said:


> Let's get the correct pronunciations of:
> bokeh=bow-kuh
> Tamron=TAM-rin



Funny, I always pronounce Tamron exactly as it's spelt...

According to photonotes dictionary, Bokeh is 'Bow-kay' - Like a bunch of flowers.  (Hyacinths perhaps?   )

http://photonotes.org/cgi-bin/search.pl?input=bokeh&submit=Search&which=a


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## Alex_B (Nov 25, 2007)

ThePup said:


> Funny, I always pronounce Tamron exactly as it's spelt...



By that you mean the American pronouniciation of that spelling, but there is also the English, the German , the Spanish, and so on ...


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## LaFoto (Nov 25, 2007)

Garbz, Leica is a German product, so believe me its pronounciation as I said: Lie (as in "to lie on the grass") and "car" (if you so want). But not "lay" as in "lay the table". No. Lie. Car.

And sorry, Garbz, since Zeiss is also a German product, also that word is pronounced as I said: Ts - ICE (like in "ice cubes"). It is so.

As to the Japanese words we would need to know the language to be really sure about the pronounciation. We Germans tend to pronounce the words just like WE would pronounce THAT kind of spelling, and English speaking people will certainly pronounce it like THEIR way of speaking THAT spelling...


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## Alex_B (Nov 25, 2007)

LaFoto said:


> As to the Japanese words we would need to know the language to be really sure about the pronounciation.



The German pronounciation of transcribed Japanese words is almost exactly the same as the Japanese pronounciation.


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## Mesoam (Nov 25, 2007)

i say "n-eye-kon"


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## Alex_B (Nov 25, 2007)

Mesoam said:


> i say "n-eye-kon"




that works for n-eye-key (Nike), but not for Nikon


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## Helen B (Nov 25, 2007)

Here's one list of pronunciations. 

http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/pronounce.html

Sigh-nar or See-nar - the conventional pronunciation by the naughty English is not always the pronunciation used in the country of origin.

Then there is Chimera  - they want their name to be pronounced 'shimmerer' rather than 'kimerah'.

Best,
Helen


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## Alex_B (Nov 25, 2007)

Helen B said:


> http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/pronounce.html



Great list... most are accurate, some are... well, let us say "close"
*Voigtlander - FAWCHT lahn der

*but this is not really one of the easiest anyway


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## skieur (Nov 25, 2007)

Mesoam said:


> i say "n-eye-kon"


 
So do all the Canadian photographers I work with or encounter.

skieur


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## shundaroni (Nov 25, 2007)

Though I was corrected in high school when I took two years of Japanese (and that correction was validated in college during four years of German), I refuse to pronounce "Nikon" as "Nee-Kon". Here in the states, I (and most people I encounter) give the "I" an "eye" sound. 

After further thought, that hard "I" has a more dominant, masculine sound to it, and "Nee-kon" sounds sickly. The last thing you need when competing against a brand named after a large, loud gun, is a diminutive name. 

As for the other words, I'm pretty much on board with everyone else, though some of the sounds have been Americanized. For instance, we really don't have a "ts-" sound for "Zeiss" like there is in German. So it takes the American "zzzz" sound, which is a bit more drawn out. Zz-ice.


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## Alex_B (Nov 25, 2007)

shundaroni said:


> For instance, we really don't have a "ts-" sound for "Zeiss" like there is in German. So it takes the American "zzzz" sound, which is a bit more drawn out. Zz-ice.




Yes, but this is often the case that names are mispronounced. And we are trying to find the correct pronounciation, not the most common mispronounciation 

_Edinburgh_, _Salisbury _and _Dartmouth _are usually violently mispronounced by 
Germans, not to speak of the French ... but still there is a more or less correct pronounciation (in all its local variations of course).

Or take _Milngavie _near Glasgow :mrgreen:


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## frXnz kafka (Nov 25, 2007)

I think, for application purposes at least, the way the people around you pronounce a word is more important than the actual pronunciation.

For example, I've never met any that didn't pronounce Nikon with an "eye" sound. If I started saying Nee-Kon, I'd be sure to get some weird looks.


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## Alex_B (Nov 25, 2007)

frXnz kafka said:


> If I started saying Nee-Kon, I'd be sure to get some weird looks.



Which does not hurt, does it? 

For those words for which I know the pronunciation, I try to do it right. No matter if I get strange looks by Germans, Americans, Brits, or whomever... I even enjoy it and people usually know what you mean. Sometimes they even start thinking.


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## LaFoto (Nov 25, 2007)

So.....................!
All those who plan to travel to the Germany Meet-Up next year in May (in six months from now!!!), get prepared to us saying "Nee-kon", whenever we speak the word. And please, train your faces already. And don't give us funny looks THEN. You are being warned: Nee-kon is our way of pronounciation :greenpbl: 

And Ts-ICE.

And Lie-car. Heehee


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## shundaroni (Nov 25, 2007)

I'm going to say that the "correct" pronunciation is defined by regional standards. Those pronunciations may not be the original ones, but introducing strange sounds to a dialect in an effort to conform to the original language might just hedge on being pretentious. Haha.

But, that's generally the case when someone has to preface a correction with the phrase, "Well, _technically_..." 

I think there is definitely a difference between "correct" and "original" though. Unless, of course, Nikon has only copyrighted the pronunciation "Nee-kon" and Zeiss "Ts-ICE."


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## Alex_B (Nov 25, 2007)

OK, lets put it this way, my name is Alex(ander) in the German pronounciation. This is my name, and there is only one correct and/or original way to pronounce it.

Of course, however, I will never complain if people pronounce it English  or even French. I really don't care. And when speaking English myself  I even happen to pronounce my name English.
So it is certainly acceptable and OK and does no harm, but it is not correct strictly speaking.


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## Alex_B (Nov 25, 2007)

shundaroni said:


> but introducing strange sounds to a dialect in an effort to conform to the original language



If you know the pronounciation, then that will not happen, then you will just pronounce it approximately right 

Of course I would not advise anyone pronouncing brand names like Voigtländer correctly because for most that would end up in utter failure


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## Stranger (Nov 25, 2007)

American here, I also go with N-eye-con


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## pantherlax (Nov 25, 2007)

In Japanese its pronounced:
Ni-kon.
bo-keh, which is right, but the pronouciation should techinically be spelled "bo-ke" with an accent thing over the "e", like how they have it in Pokemon. lol.

I think. I'm Japanese and fluent, but more in English...


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## ZedU54 (Nov 25, 2007)

...I'm American, too, but I am one of those people who tries to remember where a name comes from and pronounce it accordingly.  Although I, too, am used to the Americanized pronunciation of 'Nikon', I wouldn't have a problem pronouncing it the other way.  You would also hear me pronounce 'Zeiss' with the beginning ts-sound, because it is, after all, a German name, and I can speak passable German.  (In the same vein, but outside the realm of photography, you would also hear me pronouncing the brand name 'Braun' as in German, in other words, similar to 'brown', rather than the Anglicized 'brawn'.)  And 'Zenit', being Russian, I would pronounce something like 'ZEH-neet' (or perhaps 'ZYEH-neet'). 

...'jeder Topf hat seinen Deckel'...


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## plentygood (Nov 25, 2007)

I'm American and I've always thought it was n-eye-con because that's even how the commercials here say it, but I guess that could just be an americanization they realize they can't defeat.


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## castrol (Nov 25, 2007)

N-eye-con. 

Changing that would get me the same looks as when I attempt to use the
words, boot and bonnet.


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## Alex_B (Nov 25, 2007)

castrol said:


> N-eye-con.
> 
> Changing that would get me the same looks as when I attempt to use the
> words, boot and bonnet.



I just wonder why you are all so afraid of looks! :mrgreen:


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## jstuedle (Nov 25, 2007)

Alex_B said:


> I just wonder why you are all so afraid of looks! :mrgreen:



Alex, if your avatar has A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-g to do with your appearance, then "looks" wouldn't be an issue for me either.


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## JerryPH (Nov 25, 2007)

skieur said:


> So do all the Canadian photographers I work with or encounter.


 
Yup, same as I always heard it here. In Japan, I heard it only pronouced as "NEE-KON" and "NEE-KORE". Since it is their product, I've kinda adopted that way now.


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## Aquarium Dreams (Nov 25, 2007)

Helen B said:


> Here's one list of pronunciations.
> 
> http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/pronounce.html
> 
> ...



Great link.  I have the worst pronunciation of anyone I know.  After repeatedly looking up pronunciations in the dictionary, then failing to remember them, I just started pronouncing everything phonetically.  At least once a week someone quizzically echoes a word I've just used and I explain that I probably pronounced it wrong, and then I spell it out.  It's a wonder I can communicate with humanity at all.

As long as we're on this subject, does anyone know how to pronounce the last name of the Mexican photographer, Tina Modotti?  I usually pronounce it muh-DOE-dee, but I have no idea if that's right.


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## RyanLilly (Nov 26, 2007)

Alex_B said:


> OK, lets put it this way, my name is Alex(ander) in the German pronounciation. This is my name, and there is only one correct and/or original way to pronounce it.
> 
> Of course, however, I will never complain if people pronounce it English  or even French. I really don't care. And when speaking English myself  I even happen to pronounce my name English.
> So it is certainly acceptable and OK and does no harm, but it is not correct strictly speaking.



I work at a Brazilian restaurant and
many Brazilian waiters I know frequently introduce themselves by the american English pronunciation of their names;  it's just easier for stupid yanks to pronounce, and  I doesn't confuse the customers who are under the impression that Brazilians speak spanish. lol. 

example.

Roberto
in Portuguese= Ho-bear-toe

Renato= Heh-nah-toe


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## DSLR noob (Nov 26, 2007)

Studying Japanese for 3 years I can tell you boke (bokeh) is pronounced bow-keh. "Keh" being like a laugh (heh heh heh) only started with a "k" instead of "h". Or the bold part of this "eh*e*m" like when clearing your throat, once again, only with a K.


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## RyanLilly (Nov 26, 2007)

DSLR noob said:


> Studying Japanese for 3 years I can tell you boke (bokeh) is pronounced bow-keh. "Keh" being like a laugh (heh heh heh) only started with a "k" instead of "h". Or the bold part of this "eh*e*m" like when clearing your throat, once again, only with a K.



My brother-in-law is fluent in Japanese and I would tend to agree with this pronunciation.

Now that I think of it, He is Fluent in *Japanese, German, and English*. I think I will forward him the list of words and see if he can settle any disputes.


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## Josh66 (Nov 26, 2007)

I took Japanese in high school (I suck at it now), so I know how Japanese words are supposed to be pronounced, but I still say Nikon wrong.

I blame Nike for it.  Do you say Nai-Key or Nee-Kay?


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## RyanLilly (Nov 26, 2007)

O|||||||O said:


> I took Japanese in high school (I suck at it now), so I know how Japanese words are supposed to be pronounced, but I still say Nikon wrong.
> 
> I blame Nike for it.  Do you say Nai-Key or Nee-Kay?



Nike's are made in sweatshops in Bangladesh or where ever the hell the cheapest nearly-slave labor can be found, so who knows how it should be pronounced.


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## Josh66 (Nov 26, 2007)

RyanLilly said:


> Nike's are made in sweatshops in Bangladesh or where ever the hell the cheapest nearly-slave labor can be found, so who knows how it should be pronounced.


Nike is the Greek goddess of victory, it's pronounced Nee-Kay (ní&#720;k&#603;&#720, but I never hear it pronounced that way.  I'm pretty sure that when they started the Nike shoe company that's what they had in mind (victory...sports), but I guess they didn't like saying it that way.


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## Jbs (Nov 26, 2007)

LaFoto said:


> Garbz, Leica is a German product, so believe me its pronounciation as I said: Lie (as in "to lie on the grass") and "car" (if you so want). But not "lay" as in "lay the table". No. Lie. Car.



It was also in eurotrip! :greenpbl:


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## Garbz (Nov 26, 2007)

LaFoto said:


> Garbz, Leica is a German product, so believe me its pronounciation as I said: Lie (as in "to lie on the grass") and "car" (if you so want). But not "lay" as in "lay the table". No. Lie. Car.
> 
> And sorry, Garbz, since Zeiss is also a German product, also that word is pronounced as I said: Ts - ICE (like in "ice cubes"). It is so.
> 
> As to the Japanese words we would need to know the language to be really sure about the pronounciation. We Germans tend to pronounce the words just like WE would pronounce THAT kind of spelling, and English speaking people will certainly pronounce it like THEIR way of speaking THAT spelling...



Yeah I know. That would be common sense, but the way I mentioned is how it's predominantly pronounced here in Australia. German was my first language 

That said I find it strange that Americans pronounce Japanese words in the way they do. The Japanese do not have a "Bow" sound in their vocabulary as far as I can remember from years of studying it. That one is definitely said Bo as in Bob, and Ke as in Keg, in the land where the word came from.

Weird that Australians can pronounce the Japanese correctly, but get the German horribly fouled up.


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## 'Daniel' (Nov 26, 2007)

Leica=LIE-kah - same
Nikon=nee-kon (although I say neigh-kon) I say Ni (as in nickel) con as in (con artist that stole your nickel)
Zeiss=ssICE
Zenit=tsee-nit - zen (as in the art of) it as in ....it.
Nikkor=nee-KOR - I say it as it reads.
bokeh=bow-kuh - never said it
Tamron=TAM-rin - Tam-ron :S


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## Alex_B (Nov 26, 2007)

O|||||||O said:


> Nike is the Greek goddess of victory, it's pronounced Nee-Kay (ní&#720;k&#603;&#720, but I never hear it pronounced that way.



ní&#720;k&#603;&#720; , that is how you pronounce it over here ...  The godess and the shoes ... however for the shoes i think the american pronounciation is correct since they are american, aren't they?


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## Alex_B (Nov 26, 2007)

RyanLilly said:


> My brother-in-law is fluent in Japanese and I would tend to agree with this pronunciation.
> 
> Now that I think of it, He is Fluent in *Japanese, German, and English*. I think I will forward him the list of words and see if he can settle any disputes.



I am fluent in *English *and *German*, and I had some *Japanese *girlfriends who did help me with Japanese, does that count?


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## Alex_B (Nov 26, 2007)

jstuedle said:


> Alex, if your avatar has A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-g to do with your appearance, then "looks" wouldn't be an issue for me either.



that was mean! .... but funny :lmao:


But this explains why there are no people on my shots ... they just run away!


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## LaFoto (Nov 26, 2007)

Alex_B said:


> ... and I had some *Japanese *girlfriends...


 
Wow. Even in the plural! More wow!


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## (Ghastly) Krueger (Nov 26, 2007)

Alex_B said:


> But this explains why there are no people on my shots ... they just run away!


 
I swear I read "there are no people on my _shorts_"... which would fit also.



Aquarium Dreams said:


> As long as we're on this subject, does anyone know how to pronounce the last name of the Mexican photographer, Tina Modotti? I usually pronounce it muh-DOE-dee, but I have no idea if that's right.


 
Spanish pronounciation is quite easy. Vowels sounds are almost always the same. There is almost always one sound per vowel.
a as in... animal
e as in Mexico
i as in Italy
o as in Bob
u like... well, boob (u is the only vowel with a phonetic exception... when it is placed between a g and either an e or an i, the u goes mute and gives the g a soft sound, like in geko. If there is no u between a g and either e or i, the g gets a harder sound... like an English h in "hello". It is also used between q and either e or i... the u also goes mute in this case)

See, easy. Same for consonats, but I will not list them here.

So Modotti is also quite easy, both o's as in Bob, m and d as in English, the double t as in Tim and the last i as Italy.

Now, to be honest, I don't think it's an Spanish name because of the double t.


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## skieur (Nov 26, 2007)

LaFoto said:


> So.....................!
> All those who plan to travel to the Germany Meet-Up next year in May (in six months from now!!!), get prepared to us saying "Nee-kon", whenever we speak the word. And please, train your faces already. And don't give us funny looks THEN. You are being warned: Nee-kon is our way of pronounciation :greenpbl:
> 
> And Ts-ICE.
> ...


 
Since German is one of my languages too, I will go with "TS-ICE" and Lie-cah but Neyekon.

skieur


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## DSLR noob (Nov 26, 2007)

Garbz said:


> The Japanese do not have a "Bow" sound in their vocabulary as far as I can remember from years of studying it.



yeah they do if you mean bow as in bow tie or crossbow or bow and arrow but not bow as in bow wow


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## DJDarknez (Nov 26, 2007)

lkWinnipesaukee said:


> Leica=LIE-kah
> Nikon=nee-kon (although I say neigh-kon)
> Zeiss=ssICE
> Zenit=tsee-nit
> ...


 
Well, even though I'm teh n00b, I'll give this a shot.

Leica: lie - ka
Nikon: ni - con
Zeiss: z - eyes
Zenit: zee - nit
Nikkor: ni - core
bokeh: bo - que
Tamron: tamron


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## Aquarium Dreams (Nov 27, 2007)

(Ghastly) Krueger said:


> Spanish pronounciation is quite easy. Vowels sounds are almost always the same. There is almost always one sound per vowel.
> a as in... animal
> e as in Mexico
> i as in Italy
> ...



AAAHHHH!!!  So confusing!!    No, she was originally from Italy.  If I imagine an Italian pronouncing it, it sounds something like, "moe-DOE-tee," but since that Italian is originally from my imagination, he's not really Italian.  And I'm back where I started, isolated from humanity by my inability to pronounce words correctly.


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## (Ghastly) Krueger (Nov 28, 2007)

Aquarium Dreams said:


> AAAHHHH!!! So confusing!!
> ...And I'm back where I started, isolated from humanity by my inability to pronounce words correctly.


 
Sorry if the explanation was too complex.

Try it like this if you want to pronounce it like we do in Mexico:
mo-DO-tee (both O's like in Bob)

That should do it.


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## Joxby (Nov 28, 2007)

If Nikon = Neye - con
Canon must be Cay - non
from this day forth, I shall be saying Cay - non...like an idiot..:meh:

You say tomaydo, I say.....err.....tumarrto....lullz


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## osirus (Nov 29, 2007)

skieur said:


> So do all the Canadian photographers I work with or encounter.
> 
> skieur



i say 'n eye kon'  too..

as do the nikon comercials that are always on tv..


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## shaunx (Nov 30, 2007)

hey i am sorry that i dont know how to explain....:hail:


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## Sw1tchFX (Nov 30, 2007)

Canon=Cay-known



lol j/k, you can't _not_ pronounce canon incorrectly.


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## Joxby (Nov 30, 2007)

Thought that about Nikon..
because the "a" in Canon is somehow less ambiguous than the "i" in Nikon..

I feel about 12 for even caring..


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## Alex_B (Nov 30, 2007)

The Japanese say "Nee con" (as you would pronounce Nikon in German) but "Canon" (As you would pronounce "Cannon" in English).

First hand info from Japan this week


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