He welcomed Antetokounmpo to the court with His last name can make your breath stink and your mouth dry, proffered a few exaggerated, jokey attempts, and then simply introduced him as Giannis. The way to pronounce Giannis Antetokounmpo is pretty simple, actually. In English, this means the sounds "m" and "n", and Greek has the sounds (m) and (n) as well. But when he was home with his family, he learned and lived the Nigerian way. Fast forward to 2021 and Giannis has signed the most lucrative contract in NBA history - a five-year deal worth $228.2m (170.1m). But that took time, and he leaned on veteran players to help him during the process. He is currently playing for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). On Tuesday night, Antetokounmpo's commitment to the city that . But now that he is an NBA superstar, more people are trying to say his real name, and many people are still getting it wrong. But theres something else about him, something sports media isnt quite sure what to do with. He is 6 feet 11 inches (2.11 m) tall and plays at the small forward and power forward positions.if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'stuffsure_com-box-4','ezslot_3',180,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-stuffsure_com-box-4-0'); Giannis Antetokounmpo was born in Greece to Nigerian parents. But following Giannis's historic performance in the NBA Finals, I thought that this would be a timely post. We explain why the change occurred. Now to the main event. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. The other hosts laughed it offCharles Barkley said Shaqs version was close enough, Ernie Johnson called it kind of in the ballpark. There was some more chatter about the pronunciation, which Antetokounmpo brought to a close with a tactful Just call me Superman. Later, Bleacher Report tweeted the bit with the crying-laughing emoji. Giannis Antetokounmpo is originally from Greece and his name is pronounced yah-NEEs ah-deh-toh-KOON-boh. It is not very often that my field, historical Greek phonology, and modern sports culture cross paths. judy norton children; court ordered community service california As a father to his newborn son, Liam, Antetokounmpo has learned how to turn it on and off. "First of all, the nickname is really good. Keep up. NOW WATCH: How basketball players get turned into video game avatars for NBA 2K. Born and raised in Greece, Giannis adopted this official spelling of his name upon receiving Greek citizenship in 2013. "Like, there's so many things that you're going to have in front of you that you've got to do, but you've just got to be able to balance your personal life with the Greek Freak life. As for the first name, even that is a point of contention as most feel it is pronounced "Yonnis," and others say it "Yonnie." According to Ruocco, both are correct, with the former used when. Well, to answer this, we need to have a little lesson in historical Greek phonology and scribal practices. "I have also gotten lessons from people who speak his [Yoruba] language.". A nasal consonant is basically one that you pronounce by letting some air flow through your nose. Sign up for notifications from Insider! Because Greek has no "y" sound, just the vowel. A random rearrangement of the letters in the name (anagram) will give Iegnasnni. In the world of words and the diversity of accents and local dialects, some words can be extremely hard to pronounce.Giannis Sina Ougko Antetokounmpo is a Greek professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association. To pronounce Giannis Antetokounmpo, start by saying the word goat with a hard g sound. Crowdsourced audio pronunciation dictionary for 89 languages, with meanings, synonyms, sentence usages, translations and much more. It left behind a bit of a remnant. As a matter of fact, both Gianni and Giannis are the equivalent of Johnny (being nicknames of Giovanni and Ioannes respectively, both of which are equivalent to John). He is 6 feet 11 inches tall, and his nickname is the Greek Freak. Thanks for signing up! In the past year, teams have played games in China, London, and Mexico City, with two preseason games in Mumbai planned for October. So how could Greek signify a "b" "g" or "d" sound after these letters changed? We immediately encounter an issue in pronouncing the very first letter in Giannis Antetokounmpo. Congrats! Antetokounmpo admits there are a few acceptable ways to say his last name, the result of inexact transliteration from the Yoruba version (ah-det-oh-KOON-boh) to Greek (where it became an-tet-oh-KOON-poh). Look no further than here for a few examples of some pronunciations of the name: While Giannis tends to be quite gracious about mispronunciations of his This resulted in a pronunciation like yah-nees. You can see this quite clearly in the spelling of a name like "David Beckham", which is spelled in Greek as , the English-letter equivalent of which would be. He is 6 feet 11 inches tall and his nationality is Greek. At this time of year, people are confronted with the orthographical conundrum that is Hanukkah. He was the Adriatic League Most Valuable Player in 2015. All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. Learning how to correctly pronounce Giannis Antetokounmpos name is a sign of respect for the player and his heritage. Since you have exceeded your time limit, your recording has been stopped. In any case, an interesting thing happened as a result of this change. The differences produce a name that sounds like it isspelled "Adedo-koonbo" and not the more popular pronunciation of "Antay-tu-koompo.". So, we can relax. He can handle the ball, shoot from anywhere on the court, and drive to the basket with ease. A passion for languages has led to a career facilitating communication between languages and between cultures. - 8:16 PM Dave Early . Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. But they eventually found their way onto a basketball court. synergy rv transport pay rate; stephen randolph todd. Giannis Antetokounmpo is going to need a minute. How to Choose a Dining Table - Tips for Selecting the Perfect Table for Your Space. Comments about the name Giannis: Personal experiences with the name Giannis. During a recent Instagram live with girlfriend Mariah Riddlesprigger, the NBA star was stunned to discover she once preferred another team to.. Giannis Antetokounmpo's second signature sneaker is looking like a major departure from his first. Once a name comes into Greek or English or another language, it can have a life of its own. Giannis played for the Greek youth national team, and he was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the 2013 NBA draft. Well, if you say certain sounds while touching your neck at the place of your vocal chords, you can feel if they vibrate or not. On opening night of the current season, the NBA had more than 100 active players who were born outside the U.S. from the second division of Greek basketball with a name that most Americans didn't know how to pronounce . Giannis Antetokounmpo was born in Athens, Greece. Subscribe to learn and pronounce a new word each day! Giannis Antetokounmpos nickname is a play on his last name. You have earned {{app.voicePoint}} points. During the playoffs, Ruocco was a guest on ESPN's "The Dan Le Batard Show," where he explained why he knows his pronunciation is correct, how he learned the name and the keys to saying it right. In Ancient Greek, you just spelled it with an iota . Giannis played for the Greek youth national team, and he was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the 2013 NBA draft. "The difference is that the T is actually pronounced as a D and the P in the end is actually a B," Ruocco told Le Batard. Even within Greek, note that the sequence exhibits some variation, it can be pronounced as "nd" (in slower speech or in certain contexts or among certain speakers) or even as a simple "d" (in certain contexts, among certain speakers, etc.). On May 11, Horst announced the reopening of the Bucks' practice facility on a limited basis. My first name means a ton to me, he said. Your email address will not be published. On the portni SOS portal, we are touching on a completely new topic - spelling, which is closely . Especially if youre a sportscaster and a not insignificant portion of your job is saying athletes names out loud. February 21, 2023. As the NBAs reigning Most Valuable Player, Antetokounmpo is one of the sports most prominent players. Well, given the fact that his Yoruba name has two stop sounds "d" and "b", each of these had to be represented in Greek with a two-letter sequence. Here, I'm going to take you through a bit of a lesson in historical Greek phonology to explain not just the pronunciation of Giannis's name, but also why it is spelled the way that it is and how it came to be spelled that way. Experienced in both Medical and Legal interpreting, Daniel has provided interpreting services in a number of modes and environments, such as: Consecutive Interpreting in court for witness testimony, Depositions/Examinations-Under-Oath, and medical interventions, Chuchotage during trial proceedings and Simultaneous interpreting in conference settings. The exchange was emblematic of a strange paradox. Unfortunately, this browser does not support voice recording. It's the first title for Giannis Antetokounmpo and the team's first in 50 years. So we end up shortening and mispronouncing our own names to accommodate other people, losing pieces of our heritage in the process (see the Dear Abby advice columnists recent recommendation that future parents eschew ethnic names altogether). Giannis surname is pronounced AHN-teh-toh-KOON-boh. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Giannis Antetokounmpo is a clear favorite to win MVP this season, but should he also pick up Defensive Player of the Year honors? You can see this quite clearly in the spelling of a name like "David Beckham", which is spelled in Greek as , the English-letter equivalent of which would be Nteivint Mpekam. To pronounce Giannis Antetokounmpo, say YAH-nis ah-deh-toh-KOOM-boh. No, Antetokounmpo told him with a weary smile, it wasnt right. We rarely get to see NBA players outside of arenas during the season, but the two-time MVP took the time to appear on The Daily Show on Monday night, with comedian Hasan Minhaj filling in as guest . Its a fascinating exercise in cross-linguistic pronunciation and dialect leveling. Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks) Say it: "Yonnis Antay-tu-koompo" In the Greece of the Greek Freak, that's how you would say his name. Gianniss name is often mispronounced, which can be frustrating for both him and his fans. 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