[alohadave]

He is pronouncing it correctly.


Steve

Maybe for a native German speaker. In French (where it originated) and English, it's pronounced vin-yette

[r0ckstarr]

Do people actually use the term 'bokeh' in actual conversation? I feel ridiculous just saying it aloud

The only time I have heard someone actually use the word verbally ( English American language), was when they didn't know what they were talking about, but wanted to sound like they did by using trendy words.

Example: I was at a racetrack, panning cars as they came around a corner. Another photographer asked if they could see a couple pictures on my camera to see how they were coming out. I showed them the panning shot I had just taken. Their response was "ooh, that lens makes some nice Bokeh".

My response? WTF.

[Mike Cash]

According to Wikipedia:

The English spelling bokeh was popularized in 1997 in Photo Techniques magazine, when Mike Johnston, the editor at the time, commissioned three papers on the topic for the March/April 1997 issue; he altered the spelling to suggest the correct pronunciation to English speakers, saying "it is properly pronounced with bo as in bone and ke as in Kenneth, with equal stress on either syllable".[2] Bokeh replaced the previous spelling boke that had been in use at least since 1996, when Merklinger had also suggested "or Bokeh if you prefer."[8]

Thanks for answering that question for me. So what did photographers in the English-speaking world call background blur prior to 1997?

I came to Japan in 1984 and started on this site in 2007, which was the first time I ever heard "bokeh" in an English sentence. After 20+ years of knowing its true and wider nature, it struck me as odd to see it in English with a much more restricted definition. I was aware of the linguistic phenomenon, but it was still odd. I still say its use is pretentious hogwash and I refuse to participate. I'm immune to the exotic appeal of "The Xxxxxxxese have a word for it." Those who wish can tell themselves and each other that crap all day long, but I happen to know it means "blur". Just 'cause a word came from another language don't make it sexy.

And the problem with specifying "ke" as in "Kenneth" is that you have to specify which pronunciation of "Kenneth" you're talking about. It isn't as though it is pronounced the same around the globe.

[mickeyobe]

"Thanks for answering that question for me. So what did photographers in the English-speaking world call background blur prior to 1997?"


"Blur"

Mickey

[r0ckstarr]

"Thanks for answering that question for me. So what did photographers in the English-speaking world call background blur prior to 1997?"


"Blur"

Mickey

and / or Depth Of Field.

[mickeyobe]

rOckstar,

Depth of field is entirely different from bokeh.

It can occur in both foreground and background.

It is the area in acceptably sharp focus in front of and behind the subject upon which one focuses.

Mickey

[Vranx]

I am German and I even had the Voigtländer people on the phone a few years ago...

It is pronounced like:

FOGHT-LENDA

So, the 'i' is skipped totally, and 'länder' sound close like 'to lend' (money or lenses)

Stress is on first syllable...

The Bessamatic CS was my very first camera overall, still in good shape, the old lady!

Cheers,

Vranx

How do you pronounce Voigtlander? I'm guessing it's voit-lunder. Any Germans here?

I have a hard time describing the settings I took the picture in verbally. How do professionals say it?

For example: ISO 1600.

Do you say ice-o 1600? 1600 ice-o? 1600 I.S.O.?

How do you say f2.5? Just eff 2 point 5?

[hangu]

I am German and I even had the Voigtländer people on the phone a few years ago...

It is pronounced like:

FOGHT-LENDA

So, the 'i' is skipped totally, and 'länder' sound close like 'to lend' (money or lenses)

Stress is on first syllable...

The Bessamatic CS was my very first camera overall, still in good shape, the old lady!

Cheers,

Vranx

Thanks for the tip! Does the Bessamatic lenses work on Pentax bodies with an adapter? Are the lenses any good? Thanks

[FullertonImages]

I did some research into it a while back, which I don't care to repeat, so don't ask me where my info is coming from. And I foundthat bokeh is supposedto be pronounced almost like Okay with a B at the beginning. Although it's slightly less pronounced than we Americans make everything. Cut the KAY part slightly shorter so that it ends up somewhere between KAY and KEH. That's my understanding, and that how I say it. Could be totally wrong. I don't really know of many people that claim to know how to say it, so as long as you say it really confindently, the other person's insecurities will kick in, and they'll assume that you're right.

And to further the ridiculing of the English language... Does anyone know how 'Ghoti' is pronounced?

[mickeyobe]

And to further the ridiculing of the English language... Does anyone know how 'Ghoti' is pronounced?

I have never heard the word before but Fishy seems about right.

Okay. I just looked it up.

Here is some more ridicule of my beautiful mother tongue ...

The sailor swung the lead to determine the depth of the water, periodically calling "By the mark five." or "By the mark twain." but when ashore as the he walked in the lead, keeping a short lead on his dog, he lead his party of explorers to the old lead mine.

Mickey

[foxglove]

Chumley = Cholmondeley (That is the English making their own language more impossible than it already is. They are so good at that.)

And just to be difficult, "Derby" is pronouced "Darby" in Britain, and "Derby" (as in the Kentucky Derby) in the US.

Toronto - We don't even know any more

I thought if you lived there, it was T'ronna (2 syllables), but if you live elsewhere, it's more or less as written, with 3 syllables. Not that I ever spoke about where I lived when I lived there. Scarborough is always Scarberia to me...

The biggest mystery to me is why is Kansas Kansas and Arkanas Arkansaw??

I second that - why???

This has been a very interesting discussion, I didn't realise "bokeh" (or however you choose to spell or say it) had entered English so recently. Makes me feel better - when I encountered it on another photography forum, I figured that I had simply been a witless moron all those years ago when I first took up photography, and had failed to learn the term. I think I'll follow Mike Cash's lead and abandon it - that saves me the bother of figuring out which of the dozens of pronunciations to use. However, I may adopt "neboke", I experience that sensation so often in the morning.

Julie

[SpecialK]

...I didn't realise "bokeh" (or however you choose to spell or say it) had entered English so recently. Makes me feel better - when I encountered it on another photography forum, I figured that I had simply been a witless moron all those years ago when I first took up photography, and had failed to learn the term.

When I was a noob, I thought "noise-reduction at long shutter speeds" was something to do with hearing, and would be good for shooting in a library.

Then, with "bokeh", I thought it was just people who could not spell using the word "bouquet" to describe some wine-like quality.

[Class A]

This guy sounds like a German to me.

He sounds Austrian to me.

It sounds like foygtlunda!

It should be "fogtlander".

He does pronounce the g in vignetting though so maybe I shouldn't trust him....

He should not have pronounced the "g' in "vignetting, but he was right about the "g" in "Voigtländer".

Perhaps a solution for this particular problem nowadays would be to say "Cosina", wouldn't it?

[alohadave]

And to further the ridiculing of the English language... Does anyone know how 'Ghoti' is pronounced?

I have never heard the word before but Fishy seems about right.

Okay. I just looked it up.

Mickey

Ghoti is a fake word. In English, it's pronounced 'goatee'. Just because the components make those sounds in other words, doesn't mean that they make the same sound when moved to a different position in a different word.

Hou tu pranownse Inglish

[mickeyobe]

Ghoti is a fake word. In English, it's pronounced 'goatee'. Just because the components make those sounds in other words, doesn't mean that they make the same sound when moved to a different position in a different word.

Hou tu pranownse Inglish

Ghoti
For people of western Bengal, see Ghotis.
Ghoti is a constructed word used to illustrate irregularities in English spelling. It is a respelling of the word fish, and like fish is pronounced /ˈfɪʃ/.

gh, pronounced /f/ as in tough /tʌf/;
o, pronounced /ɪ/ as in women /ˈwɪmɪn/; and
ti, pronounced /ʃ/ as in nation /ˈne͡ɪʃən/.

Mickey