Corey Mwamba

menu

How to say my name properly

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.

comments (0)

Sign in to comment using almost any profile.