Early final 12 months, I wrote about how I noticed I used to be mispronouncing the identify of ITA Airways. That began an enchanting dialogue within the feedback part, which made me understand that there are fairly a couple of airways the place persons are confused with pronunciation.
Typically this confusion comes right down to acronyms vs. initialisms, with the previous being abbreviations which are pronounced as phrases, and the latter being abbreviations which are pronounced as letters. So with that in thoughts, I figured it will be enjoyable to cowl a number of the airline names that folks wrestle most with.
Let me emphasize that I’ve no claims of being a language professional. For that matter, there’s typically a couple of acceptable solution to pronounce the identify of an airline, and it additionally is dependent upon whether or not you’re talking in English, or within the service’s native language. However that is supposed to be a common and fundamental information primarily based on how carriers select to market themselves.
With that in thoughts, let’s cowl a number of the airways that are inclined to trigger probably the most confusion…
ANA is pronounced “A-N-A”
Japanese Star Alliance service All Nippon Airways has the abbreviation “ANA,” and that’s typically sounded out letter by letter. So that you’d name it “A-N-A, and never “anna.”
Etihad Airwys is pronounced “eti-had”
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways’ identify shouldn’t be onerous to pronounce, for my part, however I do incessantly hear individuals mispronounce it. It’s pronounced as two syllables, precisely because it appears, “eti-had.” I incessantly hear individuals pronounce it as if there’s an “h” behind the “t” — “eth-ee-had,” and I additionally generally hear individuals begin the identify with an “i” sound, like “it-tee-had.”
EVA Airways is pronounced “E-V-A”
Taiwanese Star Alliance service EVA Air is meant to be pronounced as “E-V-A Air.” Personally I believe simply announcing it as “ee-vah” sounds a lot nicer, however that’s not the official pronunciation. That being stated, a number of individuals do nonetheless check with the airline as “ee-vah,” so odds are that folks will know what you’re speaking about in the event you pronounce it that means. For instance, it’s rather more widespread to sound out “EVA” than it’s to sound out “ANA.”
ITA Airways is pronounced “ee-tah”
Italian nationwide service ITA Airways is sounded out “ee-tah,” moderately than studying out the letters as “I-T-A.” That is additionally partially as a result of in Italian, the letter “I” is pronounced as an extended “E,” whereas the “A” in Italian is pronounced as a brief “A,” which explains why it’s pronounced this fashion.
JAL is pronounced “jah-l”
Japanese oneworld service Japan Airways has the abbreviation “JAL,” and usually that’s sounded out as one syllable. So that you’d name it “jah-l,” moderately than “J-A-L.” Now, some individuals nonetheless do name it “J-A-L,” however that’s not the way in which it’s pronounced in official advertising and marketing. It’s fascinating to see how ANA and JAL strategy this in another way.
Qatar Airways is pronounced “ka-tar”
Qatar Airways is understood for being one of many world’s finest airways, however how do you pronounce its identify? I suppose this comes down as to if you wish to pronounce the service’s identify in an Arabic-sounding means, or extra of an English-sounding means. I’m in no way an professional on Arabic, however typically the airline formally pronounces the service’s identify in two syllables, as “ka-tar.”
Some gentle deviations from which are advantageous as effectively, like relying on the place you wish to put the emphasis. One thing alongside the traces of “cutter” additionally isn’t the worst pronunciation, in the event you’re on the lookout for one thing easy to recollect. Simply keep away from the start of the phrase being alongside the traces of “kwah” or “kyu.”
SAS is pronounced “sass”
SkyTeam service Scandinavian Airways is often abbreviated as SAS. In Northern Europe (at SAS hubs), you’ll typically hear individuals check with the airline as “sass,” saying all of it as one syllable. Outdoors of the area it’s widespread to listen to individuals sound out the letters, “S-A-S,” however that’s not the official means it’s pronounced.
Backside line
It may be onerous for the typical particular person to maintain monitor of the names of airways. Whereas some airline names may be onerous to pronounce because of the phrases originating in overseas languages, in different circumstances it’s onerous to determine whether or not a service’s abbreviated identify is utilizing acronyms or initialisms.
The above are a number of the airways I see individuals most wrestle with, so hopefully that’s a helpful rundown of how one can go about announcing a service’s identify, primarily based on how they formally current themselves. In fact in lots of circumstances there are variants which are broadly used, and it’s not the top of the world in the event you don’t get the pronunciation proper.
What’s your tackle announcing the names of those airways? Some other airways I’m lacking that are inclined to trigger confusion?