4 ms·

Pronunciation is no longer “folks wagen” but “faults wagen”. The classic German ironic sense of humor.

pinguin7 6y ago
Not really. Volt is pronounced like a soft w, not like an F. But they must have known that people won't know that, so you still have a valid point.
zwieback 6y ago
"V" can be randomly soft or hard, "Volk" is pronounced like "Folk" but "Volt" like "Wolt". THere's no real equivalent sound in English, I think. But, yeah, I've owned several VWs and electrical wiring is usually faulty so I'll go with Faultswagen as well.
- beckingz 6y ago
  woltswagon? Is that the correction pronunciation now?
  - zwieback 6y ago
    Yeah, that's very close. The German pronunciation would be halfway between the English F and W sound.
  - dpkonofa 6y ago
    No. Since this is for the US division, the pronunciation would be "Voltswagen".
- dunefox 6y ago
  > but "Volt" like "Wolt". Not really, it would be pronounced like the v in Vincent, not Wincent.
  - zwieback 6y ago
    Yes, that's it
- saberdancer 6y ago
  Volt uses "W" sound instead of F, because Volt comes from the name of Italian physicist Allessandro Volta. Italian sound for V is W or english V. Are there proper German words that don't read V as F? I've been lead to believe German is strict with phonem/letter combination.
  - bot1 6y ago
    Vagina
  - zwieback 6y ago
    Excellent question, running through a few options in my mind "Version and Variation" come to mind. I'm not sure those qualify as a proper German words, probably not.
    - tomjakubowski 6y ago
      Is my understanding correct that loan words are usually pronounced according to the donor language? (e.g. "das Handy") I seem to remember V is special somehow too, for historical reasons. If I am reading Duden right, Version is directly a French loanword: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Version https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Version while Variation is "influenced" by French: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Variation https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Variation
lmedinas 6y ago
I always thought the NA pronunciation was "Walks Wegon". xD.

Not really. Volt is pronounced like a soft w, not like an F. But they must have known that people won't know that, so you still have a valid point.

zwieback 6y ago

"V" can be randomly soft or hard, "Volk" is pronounced like "Folk" but "Volt" like "Wolt". THere's no real equivalent sound in English, I think. But, yeah, I've owned several VWs and electrical wiring is usually faulty so I'll go with Faultswagen as well.

beckingz 6y ago
woltswagon? Is that the correction pronunciation now?
- zwieback 6y ago
  Yeah, that's very close. The German pronunciation would be halfway between the English F and W sound.
- dpkonofa 6y ago
  No. Since this is for the US division, the pronunciation would be "Voltswagen".
dunefox 6y ago
> but "Volt" like "Wolt". Not really, it would be pronounced like the v in Vincent, not Wincent.
- zwieback 6y ago
  Yes, that's it
saberdancer 6y ago
Volt uses "W" sound instead of F, because Volt comes from the name of Italian physicist Allessandro Volta. Italian sound for V is W or english V. Are there proper German words that don't read V as F? I've been lead to believe German is strict with phonem/letter combination.
- bot1 6y ago
  Vagina
- zwieback 6y ago
  Excellent question, running through a few options in my mind "Version and Variation" come to mind. I'm not sure those qualify as a proper German words, probably not.
  - tomjakubowski 6y ago
    Is my understanding correct that loan words are usually pronounced according to the donor language? (e.g. "das Handy") I seem to remember V is special somehow too, for historical reasons. If I am reading Duden right, Version is directly a French loanword: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Version https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Version while Variation is "influenced" by French: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Variation https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Variation

lmedinas 6y ago

I always thought the NA pronunciation was "Walks Wegon". xD.