I love ya, Obama, but must you keep saying "Tolly-Bon?"

[hlthe2b]

It is nearly as grating to my ears as Schwartzenegger's "Kah-lee-foh-neea"....


Ahh, that feels good to get that pet peeve off my chest...;)

[Skidmore]

1. That is how it is pronounced correctly.

[hlthe2b]

10. Even if you speak Urdu it is not:

http://www.forvo.com/word/taliban/

Scroll down from the English.

[FarLeftFist]

28. Sounds like Tolly-Bon to me

In arabic it is actually pronounced Tolly-Beni

[hlthe2b]

29. depends on the dialect. n/t

[Pisces]

2. How he has always pronounced the word. The correct way.

[hlthe2b]

15. No... it isn't

Even if he were going for the Urdu pronunciation it is wrong.

[louis-t]

3. Still better than 'nook-yeh-ler'

But I feel yer pain. Some stuff just gets on my nerves.

[Botany]

4. that is the correct way to pronounce it

just like he says Paukii STAN

[hlthe2b]

12. No... even if he were going for the Urdu pronunciation, it is not

http://www.forvo.com/word/taliban/

scroll down from English

[etherealtruth]

23. I wouldn't put too much stock in your link

It is possible that the link gives the "correct" pronunciation; however, the folk I know from the region pronounce it similarly to the way Obama pronounces it.

[FarLeftFist]

25. Uh, your link is saying TOLLY-BON

[backscatter712]

30. That's what I heard too. n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. That's the correct pronunciation. "Talla-ban" is Americanized

but incorrect.

[hlthe2b]

14. No, it is not... see the Urdu pronunciation in post above #12

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

19. The guy spealing Urdu said "Tolly-bon." Pretty close

to the way Obama pronounces it, and a long way from the American "Talla-ban."

[hlthe2b]

21. no...

I speak both passable Arabic-Egyptian dialect, enough Urdu to know the difference and a bit of Farsi. He is not saying tahley (tolly)

No one expects any President to pronounce important regional words in their relevant language or dialect... But, better he stick with the Americanized version where he is not a speaker of that language or dialect, IMO... Just a personal pet peeve as I said. It obviously doesn't make a difference to others, who thought it sounded correct, so there you go...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

22. In Afghanistan they speak Dari and Pashto.

How is it pronounced in those languages?

I listened again. Sounded to me like the Urdu speaker said "Tolly-bon."

[hlthe2b]

26. Urdu is also frequently spoken in Afghanistan especially...

along the Eastern regions bordering Pakistan. I don't know about Pashto and Dari, which clearly do predominate.

[otohara]

6. NitPick

And not the same...see post #1

[hlthe2b]

16. I said it was a personal peeve... but still wrong..

See post #10

[senseandsensibility]

7. Is that wrong?

:shrug:

[Taverner]

8. Tolly Tolly Tolly-Bon-Banana

Religious Police come an me wanna go home...

[Glimmer of Hope]

17. Daylight come and I wanaa go home

Come Mister Tolly Bon, Tolly Bon Banana
Daylight come and I wanna go home

Now this is what I will hear when he says Tolly Bon. Thanks!

[CatWoman]

20. great. now I have that stupid song stuck in my head!!

:rofl:

[midnight]

9. Does this sound better?

http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=taliban

[Poll_Blind]

13. Actually, it'd be kinda funny if the Ghost of Shah Massoud would sort of pop out...

..from behind the President and say the word for him each time. Barring that, I think the President's pronunciatory performance is beyond reproach.

PB

[hlthe2b]

18. that would be great....

:) But, trying to emulate the native language pronunciation for every relevant term in every relevant language is a near impossible task. Better he should maintain the Americanized version, if he is not an Urdu speaker, IMO.

[LooseWilly]

39. It is not an Urdu word. It is Pashtu, with an Indo-Iranian pluralizing suffix...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliban

"The word Taliban is Pashto, طالبان ṭālibān, meaning "students", the plural of ṭālib. This is a loanword from Arabic طالب ṭālib,<28> plus the Indo-Iranian plural ending -an ان (the Arabic plural being طلاب ṭullāb, whereas طالبان ṭālibān is a dual form with the incongruous meaning, to Arabic speakers, of "two students")."

If you speak Farsi you will know that the alephs in the word are pronounced as a long vowel, like the 'o' in 'tolly'... the lack of a 'yeh' between the 'l' and the 'b' means a wide variety of vowel sounds could appear between, allowing a transliteration of 'i' or 'e' as one prefers.

So, based on the spelling and the closer relation of Pashto to Farsi than to Arabic (not to mention the fact that Urdu is spoken more in Eastern India than in Afghanistan... as well as the fact that a large portion of Hindi vocabulary is borrowed from Farsi and so, I would bet, is a large part of Urdu vocabulary)... Obama's pronunciation would actually be correct.

I'd be curious to hear how you think it's pronounced... not to mention the reason you think the Taliban should be assumed to speak Urdu...

[Matariki]

44. Which, interestingly, according to your link is tolly bon

That's what I hear when I click on the Pronunciation in English button.

You seem to be nit-picking? Just showing off that you know Urdu?

[tularetom]

11. It's no worse than "Pocky Stahn"

And nowhere near as bad as Kuhleefohnia.

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. I'm glad you have nothing worse to complain about

:eyes:

[hlthe2b]

27. Oh, come now, proud2BlibKansan...

I said it was merely a personal peeve. Have I ever harangued you about venting a personal, if inconsequential peeve or otherwise treated you that way? Sorry I mentioned it. Damn....

[proud2BlibKansan]

43. LOL it just seems silly to me.

I don't mean to harangue you.

I was sitting in a meeting earlier glancing at my phone wanting information on the president's remarks tonight. Couldn't watch him on TV. And your thread was the first one I saw. I was just a mite irritated that it was about how he said what he said instead of what he actually said.

But I'll live. :hi:

[Obamanaut]

31. Have you sent your concern to the WH, or is it just to the readers here. nt

[hlthe2b]

34. I'll be sure and remember your response...

the next time you want to post a personal, if inconsequential pet peeve. Did someone call for a rude retort day on DU and I missed it? geebus

[Capitalocracy]

32. If you don't like how Obama says Taliban, then you want President Palin!

yeah

[hlthe2b]

33. Oh for gawd's sakes... Are you that big a sycophant...

that even that minor pet peeve expressed by another Obama supporter is enough to set you off. Get a grip. :eyes:

[Capitalocracy]

35. no, I just have a weird sense of humor. nt

[Bluebear]

40. Don't worry.

Most of us got it :)

[QC]

41. President Palin riding a pony with a magic wand!

Waaaaaaah!

[A-Schwarzenegger]

36. I heard a guy say "Tolly-bon" in the grocery store checkout line yesterday.

Or did I already tell that story?

[sharp_stick]

37. It kind of bugs me a bit

but nowhere near as much of a peeve to me as people pronouncing Eyeraq and Eyeran.

[hlthe2b]

38. you and I must think alike...

those are also among my major peeves. ;)

[jillan]

42. Hahahaha - you're cracking me up. He does say that.