(no subject)

[darchildre]

I have been listening to the audiobook of The Nine Tailors while knitting recently (because sometimes, I want to listen to something and don't have enough brain for Dante) and, okay, it is a quite good audiobook. I have one small thing I want to complain about, but also it is a British audiobook and so possibly, this is another dialectical divide thing, like the time I complained about the pronunciation of Irene Adler's name in the BBC radio series and was later told that "Eye-reen-ee" is a perfectly normal way to say that in England.*

Anyway. The Latin word "jubilate" comes up several times over the course of The Nine Tailors and every single time the narrator, who is quite good in all other respects, insists on pronouncing it with a 'j' sound. It grates on me horribly because I have been a choral singer all my life and have sung the word "jubilate" more times than I can count. As far as I know, there is no 'j' sound in that word (or, y'know, in Latin - I mean, the sound probably exists but not as that letter**).

Is pronouncing it with a 'j' sound a thing they do in England or can I feel justified in yelling at the narrator every time?



*I maintain that I am still correct about this, as Irene Adler is herself an American.

**I mean, the letter 'j' is super young comparatively, right?

Comments

[nostalgia]

I remember being "WTF?" about that pronunciation of Irene Adler's name in Granada!Holmes! I have literally never heard anyone in the UK say it any way other than "eye-reen"!

[darchildre]

Okay, now this conversation is full of all kinds of conflicting information! Thank you, though.

[nostalgia]

Maybe it's old-fashioned? (And why don't I have a Granada!Holmes icon what an oversight on m part.)

[nostalgia]

For what it's worth it's "ee-ray-nay" in Spanish?

[out_there]

Huh. I'm Australian, but I've only ever heard it as "Eye-reen".

Mind you, we used to sing jubilate like jubilee, with a definite J at the front. How do you say it? You-bilate? Huh.

[darchildre]

Yeah, all the choral church Latin I've been taught has a 'y' sound for the 'j' - "yoo-bee-lah-teh" and "yay-soo", etc. I knew there were variations on Latin pronunciation but I hadn't come across this one - interesting.

[sfred]

I have lived in England all my life (in Yorkshire and in the south east). I know/have known a couple of "Eye-reen-ee"s, and tens of "Eye-reen"s - I would default to the latter and have always assumed that for Adler.

I don't think I would know how to pronounce "jubilate" without the "j" sound. I grew up in Baptish churches in northern England and have heard the word a lot, primarily in songs, primarily pronounced by people who don't know Latin or formal choral singing.
Do you pronounce it more like "h" or more like "y"?

[sfred]

(Oh, I see you have already answered my question.)

[syntheid]

If it's meant to be the Latin pronunciation then yes it shouldn't have a 'j' sound in it, since Latin doesn't have that sound. It was an 'i' letter/sound used that eventually evolved into a 'j' over time.

[darchildre]

It's part of a longer Latin phrase inscribed on a bell, in the book. (The bell is named Jubilee, which may have led to the confusion on the reader's part, as to my only moderately educated ear, he handles the rest of the Latin just fine.)

I'm glad to know that I am justified in my annoyance at his getting pronunciation wrong.