Today I'd like to talk about pronouncing my surname properly. After hearing my surname being taken round the back of the sheds and given a merciless butchering—twice—and inconsistently—on radio, I think I ought to say something.
I'm thinking that part of the problem is the rarity of seeing m and w together in the same word, so people tend to separate them:
mə'wɑm'bɑ <— this is wrong
[the upside-down "e" is an indistinct vowel sound and the apostrophes are syllable breaks]
But there's no need! Just go for it, and combine the two sounds: this renders my surname as two syllables.
mwɑm'bɑ <— this is correct
Hope this helps.
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