How to pronounce "Schleich"

[BlueKrono]

I always pronounced the name as "Shlike". Is that correct?

[Libraraptor]

I always pronounced the name as "Shlike". Is that correct?

@indohyus : It was a pleasure meeting you in person via ZOOM. Repetition recommended 

@BlueKrono : No, that is actually wrong. It´s not the same as in "Munich". But it is difficult for an English speaking person to produce the palate tones "soft ch" and "hard ch". They haven´t grown up with it, since it does seldom (never?!) appear in English. Actually, I don´t find an example, to be honest. Maybe you say "shellshocked" and pretend you habe a speech defect, pronouncing the "sh" with an open mouth (lips broad and relaxed as if you´re grinning excessively) and letting the air hiss, passing a tongue, whose forefront lies broadly and relaxed in the lower jaw, while rising its backside at the same time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rnPFloFiX0

[BlueKrono]

I always pronounced the name as "Shlike". Is that correct?

@indohyus : It was a pleasure meeting you in person via ZOOM. Repetition recommended 

@BlueKrono : No, that is actually wrong. It´s not the same as in "Munich". But it is difficult for an English speaking person to produce the palate tones "soft ch" and "hard ch". They haven´t grown up with it, since it does seldom (never?!) appear in English. Actually, I don´t find an example, to be honest. Maybe you say "shellshocked" and pretend you habe a speech defect, pronouncing the "sh" with an open mouth (lips broad and relaxed as if you´re grinning excessively) and letting the air hiss, passing a tongue, whose forefront lies broadly and relaxed in the lower jaw, while rising its backside at the same time.

@Libraraptor That is interesting! I only speak English, Spanish and Portuguese fluently, but I'm also learning Arabic. That sound is somewhat similar to the way you would pronounce "rr" in Portuguese and very reminiscent of Arabic's "kh" sound like in the word for five - "khamseh". You're right, we don't have any words like that in English, not even loanwords, of which we have many. I took phonetics in college, so it's cool learning sounds and languages that are so different from English. I know almost no German, but it's interesting that there are such different sounds, seeing as how they are such closely related languages. When it comes to pronouncing scientific names like dinosaurs correctly a PhD once told me since Latin is an extinct language there's really no totally correct way to pronounce them. Not sure if others would agree...

[DinoToyForum]

An interesting mini-topic, deserving of its own thread for ease of future reference, I think! 

[stargatedalek]

I used to pronounce it "Skuh-laich" or "Skuh-lay-ch"*, but someone at my yardsale told me it's pronounced "Shuh-leck". *I'm used to romanization of ei being "eyy" as it is in Japanese.

*edit*

When it comes to pronouncing scientific names like dinosaurs correctly a PhD once told me since Latin is an extinct language there's really no totally correct way to pronounce them. Not sure if others would agree...

The problem is that binomial names aren't made exclusively in old Latin. Some use "new Latin", Greek, and many combinations of the three. Not to mention all of the animals named after peoples, places, or cultural elements in every language, or the rise of Chinese in nomenclature.

[Halichoeres]

Interesting, I'd have pronounced the ending "ch" as in Scottish "Loch." So is this correct?

[ʃlaɪ̯ç]

Working from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_German_phonology
The ç phoneme is not part of my standard repertoire but [ x ] is so I find that if I concentrate I can make it happen.

[PumperKrickel]

Funnily enough there are several videos about this from Schleich themselves and all of them are technically wrong, so it doesn't seem to matter.


This mildly unsettling video demonstrates the german way of saying it.
https://youtu.be/UNGA_lqugd4

[Gwangi]

I used to pronounce it "Skuh-laich" or "Skuh-lay-ch"*, but someone at my yardsale told me it's pronounced "Shuh-leck". *I'm used to romanization of ei being "eyy" as it is in Japanese.

That's how I've always pronounced it. Shuh-leck.

[Stegotyranno420]

Interesting, I'd have pronounced the ending "ch" as in Scottish "Loch." So is this correct?

[ʃlaɪ̯ç]

Working from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_German_phonology
The ç phoneme is not part of my standard repertoire but [ x ] is so I find that if I concentrate I can make it happen.

Same here, though it was more due to some other German words with /ch/ such as "Buchen", rather than Scottish "loch".
But German is not one unified language, as there is a lot of varieties, with slightly varying orthographies, based on my personal experiences.

I always love it when the forum starts talking about linguistics

[GojiraGuy1954]

I always say it "Sch-leik"

[Newt]

I'm always surprised at how soft spoken German sounds; when I try to sound out German as I think the orthography indicates, it sounds like I'm imitating a train derailment.


I too was in the "Shlike" camp. I'll try to improve my pronunciation, even if I never have reason to speak the name Schleich out loud.

[bmathison1972]

I've always pronounced it like @Halichoeres but then again I have never really conversed with anyone about it since I've only met one other person in this hobby in person.

Maybe we should pronounce it as 'Sch-lick', cuz when you look at some of their figures, you say, 'ick'!! (just kidding of course).

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

I always said "Shlike" and never thought anything of it until I saw this thread. Wow, I am glad to know at least, it doesn't look like a 2 syllable word to me, but then again "Troodon" doesn't look like a 3 syllable word and yet it is.
I've been thinking about them recently as well as I was buying their DC comics figures.

[Creature]

I've been wondering about this recently, so thanks for the discussion!

[Fembrogon]

Interestingly, Schleich's own website seems to promote the "Sh-like/Sch-leish" pronunciation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvOo-yi4NYw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY8AS0yi3kI

[Bowhead Whale]

You have to pronounce it "Schlihhh". In german, the letters "ch" are pronounced "hhh".

[Stegotyranno420]

I wouldn't use the trigraph hhh but I get what you mean, you are referring to the voiceless velar fricative, represented IPA symbol [ x ], similar to the J in Spanish mujeres, KH in Mongolian khaan, ch in Old English Cnicht. A very raspy h or alternatively a very "weak airy" K, but not aspirated as in Anicent Greek χειρός(cheiros)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiceless_velar_fricative#Occurrence
As mentioned before, there are some varieties which do it differently.

[Bowhead Whale]

I wouldn't use the trigraph hhh but I get what you mean, you are referring to the voiceless velar fricative, represented IPA symbol [ x ], similar to the J in Spanish mujeres, KH in Mongolian khaan, ch in Old English Cnicht. A very raspy h or alternatively a very "weak airy" K, but not aspirated as in Anicent Greek χειρός(cheiros)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiceless_velar_fricative#Occurrence
As mentioned before, there are some varieties which do it differently.

 Exactly. And if I described the sound as hhh, it is because I didn't know how else to describe it.