Syllable placement can be a fun game to play. The sounds are the same, just different emphasis.
How Latakia is Pronounced in Syria
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I once heard an NPR broadcast from the port city of Latakia (I think it was Terry Gross doing the interview but couldn’t swear to it) and the native speakers in that city all pronounced it Lah-TOCK-eeya. For whatever that’s worth.
But I clearly remember trying to explain to a German in Munich that they were saying it wrong - they kept saying Muenchin or something garbled like that. And don’t even get me started on how they pronounce Germany.
?????????
But I clearly remember trying to explain to a German in Munich that they were saying it wrong - they kept saying Muenchin or something garbled like that. And don’t even get me started on how they pronounce Germany.
?????????
Pronouncing names the way the locals supposedly do shows that you're smarter than the people who, in their ignorance, pronounce it the common way. So Afghanistan is now Off-gone-ee-stawn, Chile is now Cheel-ay and Puerto Rico is now Pwair-to Rico. Funny, no one calls France Frawnce for some reason. Too pretentious?
Must be related to my late Stepmother.
Are you Ricky Gervais? And your idiot friend being the “idiot abroad” - Karl Pilkington??
Tobacco is kind of amazing in its ability to produce different results on different soil, so there is that. Additionally, the mastic tree has been over-harvested for centuries, which is what I believe initially led to Syria limiting its use for making Latakia tobacco.
The funny thing about Karl is he's not stupid but he is an idiot at the same time. Personally I think Karl is somewhere on the spectrum. By the way the show he starred in after that is one of the most underrated dramadies (it's a comedy but it's got a strong element of drama basic life drama, enough that even if you don't find it funny it's still a compelling and interesting show), it's called Sick of It. But no I am not even remotely famous even though I took the advice of R. Gervais literally (no I didn't do that). Karl is more lost in Karls round head then down right stupid. But my favorite Karl moments is when he gets something half right but at the same time it's not because he really understands it. Like on the podcast he made a comment about why machines are made to sound the way they do. And Stephen and Ricky teased him about it saying no they just sound the way they do. Well a lot of times machines are engineered to sound a certain way, usually if the sound is already organically associate with the machine working a certain way. Vacuum cleaners are a good example. They can make them closer to silent easier then what they sound like, but that makes people feel like they're not working right or not strong enough. Karl was right about that one but also totally wrong at the same time.Are you Ricky Gervais? And your idiot friend being the “idiot abroad” - Karl Pilkington??
And no Karl seems like a genuinely sweet guy like he cares about being a good person. My idiot is a total jerk. The idiot I am thinking about once told me that all cops are bad bad horrible people because they can arrest you and take away your freedom. Not that they abuse the privilege but that if I killed someone for no reason the cops are still bad horrible people for taking my freedom away by arresting me. And that it's because they can do that which makes them bad. I couldn't even explain that anyone really has that same ability. (which means I didn't get to the next part that having laws reduces how easy it is for random people to intentionally take my freedom). Seriously I came up with the term stupid with a caveat for him because just like Karl I had to explain "that yeah he's real, not exaggerating anything". Like yes he really said that the 2nd amendment means that if Osama Bin Laden went to a gun store in America and tried to buy guns for terrorism (openly, like asked to buy the best ones for terrorism) that if the guy said no way to selling them he should go to jail and have the key thrown away. Yes a real human person argued that with full sincerity.
From what I've been told, the world's love of latakia tobacco deforested the place, basically using a high-value resource to make a low-value product. A shame if it's true.
Since the object of language is communication, I think we have to go with usage, so in English it is usually something like Lat-a-KE-a. I'm sure the Syrians barely recognize that pronunciation, and it would be fun to learn to pronounce it the Syrian way, and practice it. But when in English speaking company, I think the recognizable form works best.
After centuries of rivalry, the English pronounce many or most French words using English phonetics. I think this used to be hostile rivalry, but today, it's just familiar English, with nothing bad meant. Likewise, broadcasters in the U.S. often break into real Spanish, or dialects from other Spanish speaking countries, using the sounds in Spanish that don't occur in English. That's a good flourish of bilingualism, but often the English speaking audience doesn't know what's being said, or how a proper name might be spelled.
So i'll probably continue to pronounce Latakia "wrong" from a Syrian prospective, so my English speaking audience will know what I'm saying.
After centuries of rivalry, the English pronounce many or most French words using English phonetics. I think this used to be hostile rivalry, but today, it's just familiar English, with nothing bad meant. Likewise, broadcasters in the U.S. often break into real Spanish, or dialects from other Spanish speaking countries, using the sounds in Spanish that don't occur in English. That's a good flourish of bilingualism, but often the English speaking audience doesn't know what's being said, or how a proper name might be spelled.
So i'll probably continue to pronounce Latakia "wrong" from a Syrian prospective, so my English speaking audience will know what I'm saying.
Blaming others, need to be right, admitting mistakes are all personality traits and have nothing to do with intelligence (IQ).
My post wasn’t about blaming others it was about admitting the limits of your knowledge. It may be a coincidence that I know intelligent people with a high degree of metacognitive ability who recognize they can learn from others.
Regarding the notion that admitting mistakes is not related to intelligence- you are probably right. But it has been my experience that their is a sort of Dunning–Kruger effect such that some people with low ability or knowledge overestimate their ability or knowledge and are unwilling to admit their limitations. Personality and social context certainly play a big role.
Likewise, in my work at colleges and universities, I have met many "smart" people with absolutely no idea how limited their exposure to the real world is. They grossly overestimate the ability of their innate intelligence to carry them through situations of which they have little understanding or personal experience. They assume they are correct, despite evidence to the contrary, and further assume that other "smart" people hold similar positions and opinions as they do. They denigrate those people that they do not understand. It would be comical, if it wasn't so disturbing!
I feel the same way about Karl. He’s a good person, just lost in his own head. Ricky and Stephen make fun of him, but it’s not ever malicious, or mean. Just three childhood friends.lol it is scary how some people think, tho. I’m just glad that your idiot doesn’t own a gun store!lol
When I go to other countries, the damned fools pronounce my name however the hell they want. I could care less how people over yonder call Latakia. We got our own language and way of saying thangs, and they'll just have to tolerate it. 
You know... There's probably someone in Africa that has met someone from California that pronounces pecans, Pee-Cans... and he is on some forums saying, "people in America call pecans (Pee-cans)." The idea makes me crack up. I amuse myself. Sorry
Oh my God yes. I have stories about that guy. The sad part is I think I know why he's such an idiot. One of his brags is about how he quit drinking several times and didn't need to go to rehab and just went through the D.T.s. When he told me that the light went off. Sad part is the guy used to be a friend but went from a light hearted idiot to a serious idiot who used to be fun to argue with to that thing so many people including myself suffer from these days (myself included) of taking their opinion too seriously and thinking that just having the opinion is going to change the world.
I've seen him argue with people including myself when he couldn't figure out that the person is agreeing with him on the thing.
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