Correct way to pronounce "nikon"?

[Pieter12]

Like Ikea and Zeiss-Ikon.

 

[Photo Engineer]

I have one of each, Nikomat and Nikormat.

 

[AgX]

I guess back then one could order an "r" from the service department...

 

[Theo Sulphate]

What is the meaning of the -mat suffix such as in Nikkormat, Yashicamat, Edixamat, Prakticamat?

 

[chip j]

Hah, trick question! The answer is that it wasn't pronounced, because in the home market those cameras were branded "Nikomat".

I can't take credit for a trick question--I'm just ignorant.

 

[markbau]

I've also heard people say Italian as "Eye-talian" But they say Italy properly, they don't say Eye-taly. Curiouser and curiouser

 

[chip j]

What is the meaning of the -mat suffix such as in Nikkormat, Yashicamat, Edixamat, Prakticamat?

And Focomat?

 

[markbau]

THAT does me no good--how is "sinar" pronounced??

I've only ever heard it pronounced Sigh-nah.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

When I lived in the US I had to get used to... Knee-sarn for Nissan ... Marzda for Mazda...

I've only ever heard it [Sinar] pronounced Sigh-nah.

My good man, you are non-rhotic! Similar to speakers from Boston (U.S.), who pronounce "park the car" as "pahk the cah" (to most American's ears).

That is, you (or a Bostonian) hear someone pronounce the "ah" sound and you interpret it as "ar" with a non-rhotic "r".

So, most people here would say Mazda is pronounced Mahzda - and to get that same sound, non-rhotics write Marzda, as did you.

When Mazda first came here, it was pronounced with a kind of nasty Maaazda sound. Just like Daaaaatsun, which became "Dotson", which became "Neeesahn".

 

[Oren Grad]

That is, you (or a Bostonian) hear someone pronounce the "ah" sound and you interpret it as "ar" with a non-rhotic "r".

So, most people here would say Mazda is pronounced Mahzda - and to get that same sound, non-rhotics write Marzda, as did you.

Ummm... "Mazda" spoken in Bostonian is "Mahzder".

 

[Oren Grad]

I can't take credit for a trick question--I'm just ignorant.

Nah, I'm happy to credit, regardless.

Anyway, Nikomat (ニコマート) is "Nee-koh-maato".

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Ummm... "Mazda" spoken in Bostonian is "Mahzder".

Oh, right. As in the country the good cigars come from: Cuber.

Here is a good explanation, with examples, of rhoticity:

https://www.thoughtco.com/rhoticity-speech-4065992

 

[reddesert]

What is the meaning of the -mat suffix such as in Nikkormat, Yashicamat, Edixamat, Prakticamat?

That something was automatic, by standards of the day. For the Yashica-mat, I think it's the auto frame counting and shutter cocking. For the Rolleiflex Automat, similar plus automatic film start sensing. For the Nikkormat, automatic aperture stop-down, and TTL open-aperture metering (the latter was pretty advanced for its time, I think). I don't know who started this; the Rolleiflex is the earliest of the ones named so far, I believe.

 

[MattKing]

I live in the province that is just north of the state that the locals seem to want to call "Warshington" - at least to these Canadian ears.
I've had a number of fun discussions with all sorts of (invariably friendly) people from "Warshington" about who speaks with an "accent".
And by the way, I too use closed captioning for programs like "Inspector Morse".

 

[Arklatexian]

As Kodak the name Nikon is made up. I assume already with international clientele in mind. So there seemingly was no certain pronunciation thought of.

Over here we pronounce Kodak other than at your side of the pond. And with AGFA, also made up, the own Agfa people pronounce it differently than in its "original" form...

Your statement regarding Kodak and AGFA. I have always heard that the word KODAK was a "made-up" word that could be pronounced in almost every language in the world while AGFA was the first four letters of A.G. Farben, the company that owned it and many other businesses. Ja oder nein?.......Regards!

Ummm... "Mazda" spoken in Bostonian is "Mahzder".

Sort of like "Cuber" as an ex-president from the Boston area pronounced it............Regards!

 

[Oren Grad]

As Kodak the name Nikon is made up. I assume already with international clientele in mind. So there seemingly was no certain pronunciation thought of.

Not quite. As many photographers who have been around for a while will know, Nikon started as Nippon Kogaku (literally, Japan Optical Industries). The company explains the origin of "Nikon" as follows:

1946

Nikon brand name is adopted for small-sized cameras

When deciding what to call a compact camera developed to meet the strong demand for domestically produced cameras, the company came up with the tentative name "Nikorette" to express compactness while building on the "Nikko" abbreviation of its Nippon Kogaku name at the time. However, due to opinions that this was a weak-sounding name for a product destined to be a major future player, the company used the Nikko base and added an N to the end which creates a more masculine impression in the Japanese language, and thus the official Nikon name was born.

https://www.nikon.com/about/corporate/history/chronology/1946/index.htm

 

[Arklatexian]

I live in the province that is just north of the state that the locals seem to want to call "Warshington" - at least to these Canadian ears.
I've had a number of fun discussions with all sorts of (invariably friendly) people from "Warshington" about who speaks with an "accent".
And by the way, I too use closed captioning for programs like "Inspector Morse".

That's interesting, we always heard that it is the U.S. Midwest (Iowa, etc.) that pronounced "wash" with an "R". Maybe Washington State was settled by Mid-Westeners. And folks say I talk "funny"...........Regards!

 

[Oren Grad]

Sort of like "Cuber" as an ex-president from the Boston area pronounced it............Regards!

Aye, though note that around Boston, Canader is spoken about more frequently than Cuber.

 

[mshchem]

In Oklahoma, we say warsh instead of wash, wrasslin instead of wrestling, pin instead of pen, rut instead of root, ray road instead of railroad, yonder instead of there, and good instead of well. We also observe the plural you as ya'll. As far as cameras go, we mostly stick with the common U.S. pronunciations, with the exceptions of SLR's and DSLR's being referred to as Professional Cameras and large format as Old Timey Cameras.

It could be worse. If you play guitar, you say tremolo instead of vibrato and vibrato instead of tremolo. Sheet music is also called Greek.

There's a bit of Iowa here too. I graduated from George Warsh-ington high school, crick instead of creek, eastern Iowa occasionally say use's instead of your. I can hear Minnesota and Wisconsin traits in Iowans. A lot of Southeast Iowans sound almost southern , tarr instead of tire etc.

I always wanted to talk with a Scottish accent. Never going to happen.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

I live in the province that is just north of the state that the locals seem to want to call "Warshington" - at least to these Canadian ears.
...

Now I'm totally confused. I do live in Washington and the only time I've heard "War shington" with a distinct "r" sound (as in the word "war" or "wart") is from areas like Wisconsin. Are you saying you hear a distinct "r" sound - as in the word "war" or "wart"?

In threads like these a big part of the problem trying to describe what we say or hear is that we are not using IPA symbols to describe the consonant and vowel sounds.

I almost got into a heated argument with a friend whose daughter's name is Dawn and whose son-in-law's name is Don. He insisted both names sounded identical (he pronounced both names as "Don").

 

[MattKing]

Now I'm totally confused. I do live in Washington and the only time I've heard "Warshington" with a distinct "r" sound (as in the word "war" or "wart") is from areas like Wisconsin. Are you saying you hear a distinct "r" sound - as in the word "war" or "wart"?

Yes - we hear that "r" very distinctly.
Not from everyone of course, but from a lot of people we encounter when we cross that longest undefended border that is about 48 blocks from where I live.
We ourselves tend to pronounce it "Wahshington".

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Yes - we hear that "r" very distinctly.
Not from everyone of course, but from a lot of people we encounter when we cross that longest undefended border that is about 48 blocks from where I live.
We ourselves tend to pronounce it "Wahshington".

Very interesting. I pronounce it /ˈwɒʃɪŋtən/, as provided by the sound link here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_(state)

I've never mastered the Canadian "ou" sound as in "house" and "out". I don't know how you do it!

I think the most mispronounced camera name is Voigtländer because English speakers don't realize "V" sounds like their "F", that "oi" is not a dipthong (as in "boy"), and they treat "ä" as simply "a".

So to hear it (YouTube link): XJwU6ffXuec

 

[markbau]

Now I'm totally confused. I do live in Washington and the only time I've heard "War shington" with a distinct "r" sound (as in the word "war" or "wart") is from areas like Wisconsin. Are you saying you hear a distinct "r" sound - as in the word "war" or "wart"?

In threads like these a big part of the problem trying to describe what we say or hear is that we are not using IPA symbols to describe the consonant and vowel sounds.

I almost got into a heated argument with a friend whose daughter's name is Dawn and whose son-in-law's name is Don. He insisted both names sounded identical (he pronounced both names as "Don").

When I first moved to the US I would introduce myself as Mark, almost always the reply would be “nice to meet you Mac”. Aaron always sounded like Erin to my Aussie (most Americans say Oss-ee) ear.

 

[AgX]

And Focomat?

Indicating automatic focusing.

 

[MattKing]

I've never mastered the Canadian "ou" sound as in "house" and "out". I don't know how you do it!

It is the sound you (might) make when you stub your toe - "ow"