Nike

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Riglos

#149283 Wed, 19 Oct 05 01:40 AM

Hi people!

The topic of today's lesson was "Brands", so while my students and I were going over different expressions and vocabulary related to this, this question came up: Why is it that Americans pronounce "Nike" (the brand) as /naiki/, while here in Argentina we pronounce it just /naik/ (without the final /i/ sound)? Is there any reason for this being so? If there's not an agreed reason for this, could you just come up with some suggestions?

Thanks a lot!!

Mara.

PS: Sorry, but I don't have phonetic symbols on this computer! Wink [;)]

Riglos

Joined on Thu, Sep 15 2005

Full Member (169)

Expressions, Phonetics, Vocabulary

Clive

#149286 Wed, 19 Oct 05 02:11 AM

Hi,

Why is it that Americans pronounce "Nike" (the brand) as /naiki/, while here in Argentina we pronounce it just /naik/ (without the final /i/ sound)?

I don't know, so let's guess. Perhaps Americans, with /naiki/, feel they should give it a 'foreign' pronunciation. Perhaps people who say /naik/ are just trying to anglicize the sound, guided by analogy to an English word like 'like'.

Here in Canada, I hear people saying it both ways.

Nike is actually a Greek word. She was the goddess of victory, in war, in athletics, etc. My understanding is that the classical Greek pronunciation is actually 'neekay'. I never hear anyone saying it that way.

Then again, if you want to extend the discussion, there's the Nikkei, the Japanese stock exchange. Japanese readers, how do you pronounce that?

Best wishes, Clive

Clive

Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004

Canada

Veteran Member (21,191)

El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo

Analogies, Pronunciation

Riglos

#149299 Wed, 19 Oct 05 02:48 AM

Thanks a lot for your insightful comments, Clive!

Now, I was wondering if the reason weren't one of closeness or affection, i.e., as "Nike" is an American (national) brand, and certainly, one of the brand leaders, I thought that Americans may want to show or express a certain liking or closeness through the addition of the sound /i/, as they do with other words to evince this type of feelings:

E.g. cutie/cutey, kitty, sweetie, even Tweety (the fictional Warner Bros. character). All these words show a feeling of closeness or affection towards the object.

I know that the pronunciation of the sound /i/ at the end of all these words comes from their very spelling, which is different from that of "Nike", but couldn't this be done by extension?

Maybe, some Canadians say /naiki/ as well for their country's nearness to the US, where they hear it pronounced that way.

What do you think about this, Clive?

Riglos

Pronunciation, Spelling

paco2004

#149320 Wed, 19 Oct 05 04:00 AM

Clive wrote:
Then again, if you want to extend the discussion, there's the Nikkei, the Japanese stock exchange. Japanese readers, how do you pronounce that?

Ahaha… I have never imagined one might mention "Nikkei" in talking about "Nike". We Japanese pronounce "Nikkei" like "Nick quay [kèi]".

By the way, OED says the exactly same thing Clive said here. It is likely Nike had been pronounced as "nigh-key" before the sneaker maker began to use it as their brand.
Nike
[naiki:] (Gr. νίκή :victory.)
1. In Greek art: a winged statue representing Nike, the goddess of victory.
[1867, H. M. Westropp, Handbook. Archæol]. Nike—Victory. Victory is represented in a short tunic, with wings, and usually carries a palm. She is also represented writing on a shield, and frequently sacrificing a bull. [1924 A. D. Sedgwick, Little French Girl] She's a Nike … on the prow of a Greek ship. [1960, R. Carpenter Greek Sculpture] The running Nike is an interesting study in formal drapery. [1968, V. Ehrenberg From Solon to Socrates] There are the figures of a number of winged Nikai.

paco

paco2004

Joined on Wed, Nov 17 2004

Senior Member (4,095)

In Japan today even dogs are learning how to bow-wow in English.

Numbers

Clive

#149339 Wed, 19 Oct 05 05:44 AM

Hi Riglos,

E.g. cutie/cutey, kitty, sweetie, even Tweety (the fictional Warner Bros. character). All these words show a feeling of closeness or affection towards the object.

I very much doubt this, in this case. I think it's a huge stretch too far. Nice try, though! I can't think of any brand-name or company where people use this form of affectionate reference.

Best wishes again, Clive

Clive

Anonymous

#289427 Sun, 05 Nov 06 08:28 AM

We live in England, and some of us say naiki, but everyone says its naik. But the Nike coporation pronounce it naiki.

Anonymous

#324940 Tue, 06 Feb 07 04:53 AM

Ya. Same here

Anonymous

#393007 Tue, 17 Jul 07 01:36 AM

i personally pronounce it NiKee, but im sorry to say the other way annoys me sometimes.
I am almost 100 percent sure that it is the correct pronunciation, since nike inc. got its name from Nike the greek goddess of victory, and that name is pronounced the same as the above mentioned. =)

Anonymous

Pronunciation

Anonymous

#457812 Fri, 28 Dec 07 12:06 PM

Nike/Naik. I'm English, I don't understand why anyone would want to add the "e" sound to that word. Nike, Pike, Trike, Like. Pikey? Trikey? Likey? No! x

Anonymous

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