How do you pronounce van gogh name

But then I found an ever so British perspective. Something that drives British people absolutely bonkers is hearing an American "mispronounce" the name of Dutch post-impressionist Vincent van Gogh. Though not a big fan of the style of the piece, as an Irish English-speaker this is also the pronunciation I use.

There's an interesting note on the Wikipedia entry :. The pronunciation of Van Gogh varies in both English and Dutch. When I listened to the sound file file there, I was surprised it was so different from the 2 variants van go and van goff I've previously heard people debating.

There's a recent meme showing the artist not being able to wear a face mask properly, as you see it hanging from his remaining ear. This pronunciation has probably stuck due to its use in a lot of British humour. Consider this example:. The scene is the back yard of an art gallery. Two men come out of the gallery carrying boxes. Their delivery van has been driven away. How do you pronounce "Van Gogh"? You're probably saying it wrong, according to insiders at the launch of an interactive exhibition on the artist in London.

The "Meet Vincent van Gogh" experience on London's South Bank promises "breathtaking projections, interactive installations, state-of-the-art set-work and a compelling narrative" as it transports the viewer through the Dutch artist's life. But the audio guide for the installation, created by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, has raised a few eyebrows because it gives the artist's last name as "Van Go," the typical American pronunciation. In Britain, people tend to say "Van Gof. Martin Bailey, author of "Starry Night: Van Gogh at the Asylum," told CNN Style there are yet more variations on the name across the world -- and it even affected how the legendary artist signed his paintings.

The Dutch pronounce it with a guttural sound -- 'Khokh. Then it sounds pedantic if you insist on the Dutch pronunciation. His paintings are all simply signed "Vincent," and the artist is often named as Mr. Vincent or Monsieur Vincent in letters and documents.

Two stolen Van Gogh paintings are finally returning to public view after 17 years In a letter to his brother Theo in March , soon after Van Gogh moved to Arles in France, he explained that "in future my name must be put in the catalog the way I sign it on the canvases, i. Vincent and not Van Gogh, for the excellent reason that people here wouldn't be able to pronounce that name.

So what are we to do if Van Gogh is simply too hard to say? Bailey has a suggestion. My advice is that if you can make the proper back-of-throat sound of that kh of the Dutch ending, please feel free to do so.

This is one of the simpler questions. The convention is: The correct pronunciation of anyone's name is the way that they pronounce it. There is no English, French, Russian, etc. As in loch. English-born , as opposed to Scottish-born, people can learn to pronounce loch correctly with practice. As with any non native language speaker, sounds outside the native language have to be acquired with practice. Welsh presents the same problem for non native speakers.

Pronunciation should be correct, and it should be understood by your peers. These can be opposing demands. Correct pronunciation is useless if nobody else knows what or who you are talking about. In the case of Dutch words, I would add that you should pronounce a word in such a way that saying it doesn't cause you damage. Goch pronounced the same way that a Scottish person would pronounce Loch Ness, for example comes reasonably close to the correct way although many Dutch people would disagree.

It's definitely not like the gh in laugh or cough - but then lots of English people would have problems with the ch in Loch, so "van Gogh" with the same gh as in cough will be understood correctly by many. If Americans say "Go" like the gh in "though", that's slightly worse than the English "Cough" in my opinion - no consonant is worse than the wrong one, and I bet they get the "O" wrong as well. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top.

Likely the royals don't pronounce many of the examples the way you suggest. Similarly someone from Washington state is not going to pronounce things the way Texans do. We can also add in Canadians who use both "croissant" and "cwassnt" When I say many French words with an R I say it at the back of my throat so it has a more W-like sound. In addition I pronounce words of French origin the French way so for me foyer is "foy-ay" clique is "cleek" niche is "neesh" and Quebec is "ke-beck".

I'm sure if I showed those same words to someone from Britain and someone from the US they would also pronounce them very differently but they are French words so who is right? As a Dutchman, I'm really pleased to find this article. Sadly, the pronunciation is still not correct: the glottal -gh sound is also the sound of the first "g"! I'm from the U. I'm glad too. I just finished watching the documentary Vincent Van Gogh with Linus Roache, excellent, and noticed that there are different pronunciations, as well.

Has nobody yet addressed the pronunciation of "Vincent"? However the Dutch pronounce it? There are considerable differences between Britain and America when it comes to houses. The buildings in which we live drop subtle and not Who Am I? Professional British YouTuber, writer, and humorist who somehow convinced you to let him do this full-time. Perennially on a quest to uncover all of the memos that Britain and America lost in the Pond, something he tackles with reckless abandon over on his YouTube Channel.

Author Social Links Twitter. Finding America. Me and Tarah. Post Page Advertisement [Top]. American vs. You're probably saying it wrong, according to insiders at the launch of an interactive exhibition on the artist in London. The "Meet Vincent van Gogh " experience on London's South Bank promises "breathtaking projections, interactive installations, state-of-the-art set-work and a compelling narrative" as it transports the viewer through the Dutch artist's life.

The Meet Vincent van Gogh experience on London's South Bank offers an immersive look at the artist's life through projections and installations. But the audio guide for the installation, created by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, has raised a few eyebrows because it gives the artist's last name as "Van Go," the typical American pronunciation.

In Britain, people tend to say "Van Gof. Martin Bailey, author of "Starry Night: Van Gogh at the Asylum," told CNN Style there are yet more variations on the name across the world -- and it even affected how the legendary artist signed his paintings.

The Dutch pronounce it with a guttural sound -- 'Khokh. Van Gogh typically used "Vincent" to sign his paintings and letters, as it was easier for people to pronounce.