Why is the most common Vietnamese surname written as "nguyen"? I know it's not actually pronounced "win", but it's not pronounced nuh-goo-yen either. So what is the origin of this transliteration? Is it French? Googling finds nothing... it's like everyone assumes that English is the native language of Vietnam, and that's just the way they spell it.
Someone please explain "Nguyen"
- Thread starter mercanucaribe
- Start date
i dont believe the average english speaking person will be able to pronounce this word properly. the way its spelled is nowhere near the way is pronounced.
blackangst1
Lifer
- Feb 23, 2005
- 22,902
- 2,359
- 126
so how is it pronounced? I've never heard anyone pronounce it...don't know anyone with the name...
its kind of a mushed "Nyu-eeng."
then again im pretty whitewashed and i tend to mispronounce things.
to ricochet... no viets arent
then again im pretty whitewashed and i tend to mispronounce things.
to ricochet... no viets arent
Kind of but mashed into 1 Syllable, and not the new part. More like Ng-eeng.
Also the spelling is Vietnamese, that is how it is spelled by Vietnamese people.
Ah, that cleared it up:
Nguyen Thuyen, a poet of the 13th century, is believed to be - if not the inventor - the man responsible for spreading and popularizing chu nom . In this system, Chinese characters were borrow-ed and altered; they resembled Chinese characters, but were often unintelligible to the Chinese themselves
Now it's so clear. It started a long, long time ago and didn't really make sense then, either. But since the nonsense lasted so long, it must continue, and that nonsense makes sense in itself.
Hi, my name is Patricia and I'm from East Jabip. Since my native language uses characters that look nothing like English letters, I must transliterate the name into a similar English word, so I chose "Patricia". But the P and A are silent, the T is pronounced like a B, the I like a U, and the C I A like T U S. Sort of sounds like "Brutus" in English. Oh, and my last name is McKenzie and uses no letters.
Hope that makes sense to you.
Hope that makes sense to you.
Ricemarine
Lifer
- Sep 10, 2004
- 10,507
- 0
- 0
1 syllable.
Some pronounce nyueen (exaggeration is the key).
Vietnamese pronounce wuyeeen
Sounds slurred, but hey.
Try to say my last name, Duong.
Only a few people can actually say it who aren't vietnamese.
Nam Dialect Viet say the name
Quyen almost identical to Nguyen. Very hard to tell them apart, assuming same accents and tonal markings.
Quyen almost identical to Nguyen. Very hard to tell them apart, assuming same accents and tonal markings.
AgentUnknown
Golden Member
- Apr 10, 2003
- 1,527
- 5
- 81
Nguyen is my last name. The name is famous now. No white person can pronounce it correctly. Just because u can't pronounce it, or b/c so many ppl have the same last name doesn't mean jack. Fvck all those who are frustrated by the name and think it should be pronounce a certain way. screw yourselves
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