| Author |
Topic:
The Vietnamese family name 'Nguyen'
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rsterling78
Registered:
May '02
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Date Posted:
5/15 10:17pm
Subject:
The Vietnamese family name 'Nguyen'
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The Vietnamese family name 'Nguyen' -- which, as I understand it, is derived from and roughly equivalent to the Chinese family name 'Ruan' -- is the most common surname in Vietnam.
In English, it is generally pronounced 'Win'. So, why isn't it spelled 'W - I - N'? Since it's just a transliteration of a name from a language that doesn't use the English alphabet, wouldn't this make more sense?
'Nguyen' looks like it should be pronounced something like 'NEG-OOH-YEN'.
How the blazes do you get 'Win' from 'Nguyen'?
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Darth_Guy
Registered:
Aug '02
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Date Posted:
5/15 10:18pm
Subject:
RE: The Vietnamese family name 'Nguyen'
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The pronunciation's actually a bit more complicated that "win."
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KnightWriter
Title:
Administrator Emeritus
Registered:
Nov '01
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Date Posted:
5/15 10:18pm
Subject:
RE: The Vietnamese family name 'Nguyen'
- Date Edited:
5/15 10:20pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
KnightWriter
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It's basically "Chun-win." Just how it is.
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Obi-Zahn Kenobi
Registered:
Aug '99
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Date Posted:
5/15 10:19pm
Subject:
RE: The Vietnamese family name 'Nguyen'
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I pronounce it with an initial, voiced, velar nasal.
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rsterling78
Registered:
May '02
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Date Posted:
5/15 10:25pm
Subject:
RE: The Vietnamese family name 'Nguyen'
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I'm sure there are nuances to pronouncing the name, but in the real world 'Win' is pretty much what you're going to get from the average English speaker. So why is the transliterated spelling so different from the pronunciation?
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Leoni_Don
Registered:
May '08
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Date Posted:
5/15 10:26pm
Subject:
RE: The Vietnamese family name 'Nguyen'
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There's about five Vietnamese kids in my school who have that last name. There not related though. Scary... jk
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rsterling78
Registered:
May '02
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Date Posted:
5/15 10:26pm
Subject:
RE: The Vietnamese family name 'Nguyen'
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Leoni_Don posted:
There's about five Vietnamese kids in my school who have that last name. There not related though. Scary... jk
I think about 40% of Vietnamese have this family name.
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GrandAdmiralJello
Title:
Emperor
• EUC
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Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
5/15 10:35pm
Subject:
RE: The Vietnamese family name 'Nguyen'
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There aren't just nuances to pronouncing the name, but there are also various different authentic pronunciations for it.
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DarthLassic007
Registered:
Nov '02
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Date Posted:
5/15 10:40pm
Subject:
RE: The Vietnamese family name 'Nguyen'
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Darth_nGuyen?
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jp-30
Registered:
Dec '00
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Date Posted:
5/15 10:41pm
Subject:
RE: The Vietnamese family name 'Nguyen'
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rsterling78 posted:
So, why isn't it spelled 'W - I - N'? Since it's just a transliteration of a name from a language that doesn't use the English alphabet, wouldn't this make more sense?
I agre, becoz evry word in english is speld foneticly to.
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rumsmuggler
Registered:
Aug '00
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Date Posted:
5/15 10:44pm
Subject:
RE: The Vietnamese family name 'Nguyen'
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jp-30 posted:
rsterling78 posted:
So, why isn't it spelled 'W - I - N'? Since it's just a transliteration of a name from a language that doesn't use the English alphabet, wouldn't this make more sense?
I agre, becoz evry word in english is speld foneticly to.
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DarthButt
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Jun '03
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Date Posted:
5/15 10:46pm
Subject:
RE: The Vietnamese family name 'Nguyen'
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Also because all Vietnamese words basically have one syllable. 
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GrandAdmiralJello
Title:
Emperor
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Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
5/15 10:52pm
Subject:
RE: The Vietnamese family name 'Nguyen'
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oh, and also:
Since it's just a transliteration of a name from a language that doesn't use the English alphabet, wouldn't this make more sense?
If the spelling was changed to be phoenetic, then it wouldn't be a transliteration anymore. 
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Vates Ιυλιαδις
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Tu regere imperio populos,Romanæ,memento;hæ tibi erunt artes;
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Leoni_Don
Registered:
May '08
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Date Posted:
5/15 10:52pm
Subject:
RE: The Vietnamese family name 'Nguyen'
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I've talked to my Vietnamese friend and they have like 4 a's, 4 o's, 2 v's, and 2 w's lol
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DarthButt
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Jun '03
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Date Posted:
5/15 10:56pm
Subject:
RE: The Vietnamese family name 'Nguyen'
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That's how they distinguish all their words, since some of them are spelled the same. If "á" is in a word, it completely changes the meaning than if simply "a" is in the same word.
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rsterling78
Registered:
May '02
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Date Posted:
5/15 11:00pm
Subject:
RE: The Vietnamese family name 'Nguyen'
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Okay, until I get a straight answer from somebody, I'm pronouncing the name 'NehGooYen.'
rsterling78: Hello there, Mr. NehGooYen.
Nguyen: Hi. Uh, if you don't mind, my name is pronounced 'Win.'
rsterling78: Sorry, if you're going to transliterate it that way, I'm afraid I'm going to pronounce it NehGooYen.
Nguyen: But that's not my name, rsterling78.
rsterling78: rsterling78? That's not my name. My name is Hiram Sergeyevich Kowalewski. It's just spelled 'rsterling78'.
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