pronunciation of Celtics

[mcdh]

I'm always confused by this. Why is it Boston 'Seltiks', rather than 'keltiks'? And how to read Glasgow Celtic?

 

[sysyphus]

I don't know, of all the Scots I know, some say Keltic some say Seltic.

I beleive in the older days it was originally spelled Keltic.

However, the rules of English pronounciation state the if the letter 'C' is followed by the letter 'E' it takes the 'S' sound.

Just made things more confusing didn't I?

 

[MadScot]

No-one I know pronounces the Glasgow football team with a hard 'c' sound - it's always "seltic". (team officials when interviewed pronounce it that way too, as do all the Scottish and more generally British media, although the latter are not always a good guide to Scottish pronounciations)

The tribe, people, whatever, is always "keltic".

Therefore a Glaswegian with "keltic" heritage may support "seltic".

 

[Wolfe Tone]

Well Glasgow Celtic is pronounced Seltic. Both pronouciations are correct but they are used in different circumstances.

 

[philippe]

SELTIC but from the tribe its KELTIC.confusing

 

[Pellaken]

well, what do the celts call it? thats all that really counts.

 

[mcdh]

So we read seltics except for the celtic people. confusing.

 

[Vrylakas]

The Byzantines refered to the Celts as "Keltoi", and since the Celts were an illiterate people at the time it is highly likely the Byzantines based their pronunciation on the Celts' own.

 

[Pellaken]

pronounciation is not a clue. for instance, slavs pronounce my name "neek" and germans "nik"

 

[Knight-Dragon]

I have always thought they were all pronounced as 'seltics'. So which is the correct one?

 

[napoleon526]

The American baseketball is pronounced the Boston 'Seltiks'. I've never heard of the Boston 'Keltics', but that probably doesn't help.

 

[Richard III]

I've always wondered the same about "Macedonia" versus "Makedon" and "Makedonia"

 

[Citizen_K]

The Former Republic of Mass-edonia. At least, that's the way I remember the Olympic Sports Commentator pronounce it during the opening ceremonies

 

[Richard III]

Yeah, I've heard it pronounced that way for eons now, but I've also seen spellings that spell it as Makedon. So what I'm wondering is, do we call them Massedonians in English for the same reason that we call the Celtics the Seltics, or was it just that whatever Makedon references I saw were written by idiots?

 

[Pellaken]

as I said, its not important how WE pronounce, its imporant hopw THEY do. otherwise countries like Magarorszag, Hrvtska, Deutschland or Al Misr! (Hungary, Croatia, Germany, and Egypt for those of you that only care for english mis-uses of words)

 

[Ren]

I have been meaning to post this for ages

I believe it is Kelts, Keltics, whatever.

 

[VoodooAce]

Shouldn't this be in the Sports Forum?

Actually, I've always pronounced it with a 'K' when referring to the ancient people and a soft 'C' for the basketball team. Go figure.

 

[Citizen_K]

I don't think we should suddenly start trying to pronounce every foreign nation in their tongue. The English used to pronounce the capital of China Peking. Now we're supposed to pronounce it "Beijing." But in reality, "Beijing," as phonetically pronounced by us foreigners, means "background"--and Peking sounds more like the Chinese pronounciation of it anyway (harder consonants). The Chinese name for Sir Isaac Newton's College is something like Ning Hsiu. So why do we have to be the sensitive, ethnically empathetic ones?

I'm all in favor of going back to Canton (Guangdong), Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Burma (Myanmar), and Bombay (Mumbai).

Who cares if Dunkirk is missing a few "q's" in English? Who cares if we don't really have a name for "The Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia?" It's our language, and it's our right!
*fists of victory*

 

[floppa21]

MaSSadonia = Macedonia... Never seen or heard no Makedonia... How about Massadamia/Macadamia?

Keltic, not Seltic. Never heard Seltic anywhere but in reference to said basketball team. The Keltoi had some bloody religion, the Celtics had Larry Bird.

 

[mcdh]

Citizen_K,

I don't know where you learn the Chinese pronunciation, but Newton is translated in Chinese as something like NewDoon. The translation is actually very accurate.

As to Beijing, the new tranlation is definitely better. The beginning consonant is b, not p.

And Canton is Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong Province.