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pnd3376534
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14 Jan 2011, 11:40 pm

Wondering why they pronounce Asperger's on Degrassi AsperJer's. It's filmed in Canada so...is there a different pronunciation in different parts of the world or something?



15 Jan 2011, 12:07 am

when I first heard of aspergers, thats the way I thought it was pronounced because I was familiar with the latin word "asperges" (a form of the verb "sprinkle") which is pronounced with a soft G. I prefer that pronunciation, which won't cause it to take on any negative disgusting food conotation.



ElfMusic
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15 Jan 2011, 1:03 am

Yes. There are decidedly different pronunciations depending on the location. In the United States, I have definitely heard it most often with hard G and the stress on the first vowel, pronounced as in "cat". Most of the folks from Britain on youtube and other video sites seem to prefer the soft G, but not always, and the first syllable is more often pronounced like the A in "father". I've even heard some speakers from the south hemisphere put the accent on the second syllable. If the original German is a guide, the first A would be like in "father" and take the stress, and the G would be hard- but also the E's would be pronounced (as opposed to being a syllabic "r") which sounds strange in most any variation of English.

So, yes. Every group of English speakers picked their own way to Anglicize a German name. I suspect some have made a conscious choice to avoid sounding like the clichéd "ass burger" joke on the American pronunciation, which was probably why the producers picked the pronunciation they did.

I'm curious how "Aspergers" is pronounced in different non-English languages (and which ones use that name in the description at all.)



Helixstein
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15 Jan 2011, 3:33 am

Here in New Zealand, the word is pronounced Asp-er-jers, similar to the way that the 'ger' in gerbil is pronounced.

I adore Degrassi: The Next Generation, and I find that it covers most issues that are relevant to teens.


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Dalton_Man321
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15 Jan 2011, 3:59 am

I knew a few people who would mispronounce it as "asparagus".


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pnd3376534
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15 Jan 2011, 2:12 pm

ElfMusic wrote:
I suspect some have made a conscious choice to avoid sounding like the clichéd "ass burger" joke on the American pronunciation, which was probably why the producers picked the pronunciation they did.

I'm curious how "Aspergers" is pronounced in different non-English languages (and which ones use that name in the description at all.)


That was my initial assumption, well, after wondering if I'd been mispronouncing it all this time! From the other posts there is different pronunciations of it, which is interesting. I didn't know that :D

I love degrassi also. I am not a teenager but I still love it!