search  current discussion  categories  techniques - majolica 

majolica on antiques roadshow...

updated wed 10 jan 07

 

Janine Roubik on fri 5 jan 07


Hello,
I know this isn't a big deal in the whole shceme of things, but does anyone know if there is a "correct" pronunciation of majolica? I was watching Antiques Roadshow earlier and the appraiser kept calling this one piece "mah-joll-ica". I thought it was "may-oh-lica". And portions of the peice didn't look like what I understood majolica to be anyhow. It was the episode from Hawaii and they were talking about a big fish platter/roaster maybe?
Thoughts?

Janine in Milwaukee

Bunny Lemak on sat 6 jan 07


I really have no idea the correct pronunciation of the word, I guess it
depends on who you are talking to. I took a seminar and was told that the
correct was to say it was: "my-york-a"...that is the way they said it in
Europe. I have also heard it pronounced both of the ways you have said.

So.......... I guess I really haven't helped much! :) Sorry!

Bunny


> Hello,
> I know this isn't a big deal in the whole shceme of things, but does
anyone know if there is a "correct" pronunciation of majolica? I was
watching Antiques Roadshow earlier and the appraiser kept calling this one
piece "mah-joll-ica". I thought it was "may-oh-lica". And portions of
the peice didn't look like what I understood majolica to be anyhow. It
was the episode from Hawaii and they were talking about a big fish
platter/roaster maybe?
> Thoughts?
>
> Janine in Milwaukee
>
>__________________________________________________________________________
____
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.

Snail Scott on sat 6 jan 07


At 10:47 PM 1/5/2007 -0800, you wrote:
> Hello,
> I know this isn't a big deal in the whole shceme of things, but does
anyone know if there is a "correct" pronunciation of majolica? I was
watching Antiques Roadshow earlier and the appraiser kept calling this one
piece "mah-joll-ica". I thought it was "may-oh-lica".


Actual clayworkers say MaYOLica, and they
generally mean earthenware covered in tin
(or other white) opaque glaze and then with
colorful painted designs, in the manner
popularized in Renaissance Italy but derived
from Spain (Majorca), and in turn from Arab
sources, who were inspired by Chinese painted
porcelain.

Collectora say MaJOlica, but they refer to a
completely different thing - a Victorian style
of ceramic (not necessarily earthenware) with
runny, streaky polychrome glazing, rather a
bit like Palissy ware. Totally unrelated to
the first definition, except for being sort of
multicolored.

So, it's just as well that the pronunciation
differs.

-Snail

Vince Pitelka on sat 6 jan 07


Janine wrote:
"I know this isn't a big deal in the whole shceme of things, but does anyone
know if there is a "correct" pronunciation of majolica? I was watching
Antiques Roadshow earlier and the appraiser kept calling this one piece
"mah-joll-ica". I thought it was "may-oh-lica". And portions of the peice
didn't look like what I understood majolica to be anyhow. It was the
episode from Hawaii and they were talking about a big fish platter/roaster
maybe??


Janine -
For reasons I have never understood, art historians and collectors use a
corruption of the word "maiolica" to refer to a range of European Baroque
and later functional wares that immitate fruits, vegetables, and barnyard
animals - teapots, teacups/saucers, tureens, sugar bowls, etc., and they
pronounce it with a hard "J" - majolica. It's wonderful work, especially in
light of so much other Baroque ceramics, but it seems like they could have
come up with a more distinctive and less confusing term.

So, if you pronounce the word with a hard "J', you a referring to such work.
If you want to refer to the long tradition of wares that are derived from
Italian maiolica and feature an opacified white or cream base glaze with
contrasting decoration painted on the raw glaze surface before glaze-firing,
then the word should be pronounced with a soft "J." With the latter work,
you will find it spelled both ways - maiolica, and majolica, but the name is
derived from the island off the coast of Spain that is variously spelled
Majorca or Mallorca, but is always prounounced like a soft "J." I have
heard a lot of people carelessly pronouncing Italian maiolica with a hard
"J," but that is a faux pas just the same as prounouncing "San Jose" or "San
Juan" with a hard "J."

Over the years I have heard a lot of incorrect use of ceramics terminology
among the so-called "experts: on Antiques Road Show. I don't think I saw
the episode you refer to refer to, but in light of the above, do you think
that the platter in question was maiolica/majolica with a soft "J,", or
majolica with a hard "J"? I'm just curious. If the platter was modeled to
actually look like a fish, then "majolica" with a hard "J" was probably
correct.
- Vince

Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/

Jeanette Harris on sat 6 jan 07


Hi,

The reason there's two pronunciations of majolica is that in Spanish,
the j is pronounced as a y, hince maj-yolica. The Anglosized version
is mah-jolica since they are pronouncing the j as a j.

Cheers,

> Hello,
> I know this isn't a big deal in the whole shceme of things, but
>does anyone know if there is a "correct" pronunciation of majolica?
>I was watching Antiques Roadshow earlier and the appraiser kept
>calling this one piece "mah-joll-ica". I thought it was
>"may-oh-lica". And portions of the peice didn't look like what I
>understood majolica to be anyhow. It was the episode from Hawaii
>and they were talking about a big fish platter/roaster maybe?
> Thoughts?

--


Jeanette Harris
Clay Engineer
Poulsbo WA

Janine Roubik on sat 6 jan 07


Wow...it's interesting to note thast collectors and clayworkers use different terminology. Just another thing to confuse everyone! When I first saw the piece I thought "Palissy" (as Snail mentioned), except for it wasn't ornate enough to be real Palissy. The colors on the fish I thought could have been done in "may-oh-lica", because they were very bright (yet not Italian-style looking), but when they turned the pot over it was a dark brown glaze with green "reactive-looking" spots and smears on it.
So I guess it was "mah-joll-ica" after all! : )
Thanks everyone!
Janine in Milwaukee

Lois Ruben Aronow on sat 6 jan 07


I love to split hairs.

Wouldn't it also depend on which version of the program you were watching?
We get both the American and British versions here in NY. Brits and
Americans pronounce it differently. In the UK it is more often referred to
as "tin-glazed earthenware", with the exception of "Delft". And while Delft
is majolica/tin-glazed earthenware, it is generally called just "Delft".

..Lo
Who loves Delft, as well as Flow Blue - something entirely different, but
still white and blue.

*****
Lois Ruben Aronow Ceramics
232 Third Street - # B202A
Brooklyn, NY 11215
p: 917..561..2854
f: 718..246.0819

www.loisaronow.com
www.craftsofthedamned.blogspot.com




-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Vince Pitelka
Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2007 1:35 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: Majolica on Antiques Roadshow...

Janine wrote:
"I know this isn't a big deal in the whole shceme of things, but does anyone
know if there is a "correct" pronunciation of majolica? I was watching
Antiques Roadshow earlier and the appraiser kept calling this one piece
"mah-joll-ica". I thought it was "may-oh-lica". And portions of the peice
didn't look like what I understood majolica to be anyhow. It was the
episode from Hawaii and they were talking about a big fish platter/roaster
maybe??


Janine -
For reasons I have never understood, art historians and collectors use a
corruption of the word "maiolica" to refer to a range of European Baroque
and later functional wares that immitate fruits, vegetables, and barnyard
animals - teapots, teacups/saucers, tureens, sugar bowls, etc., and they
pronounce it with a hard "J" - majolica. It's wonderful work, especially in
light of so much other Baroque ceramics, but it seems like they could have
come up with a more distinctive and less confusing term.

So, if you pronounce the word with a hard "J', you a referring to such work.
If you want to refer to the long tradition of wares that are derived from
Italian maiolica and feature an opacified white or cream base glaze with
contrasting decoration painted on the raw glaze surface before glaze-firing,
then the word should be pronounced with a soft "J." With the latter work,
you will find it spelled both ways - maiolica, and majolica, but the name is
derived from the island off the coast of Spain that is variously spelled
Majorca or Mallorca, but is always prounounced like a soft "J." I have
heard a lot of people carelessly pronouncing Italian maiolica with a hard
"J," but that is a faux pas just the same as prounouncing "San Jose" or "San
Juan" with a hard "J."

Over the years I have heard a lot of incorrect use of ceramics terminology
among the so-called "experts: on Antiques Road Show. I don't think I saw
the episode you refer to refer to, but in light of the above, do you think
that the platter in question was maiolica/majolica with a soft "J,", or
majolica with a hard "J"? I'm just curious. If the platter was modeled to
actually look like a fish, then "majolica" with a hard "J" was probably
correct.
- Vince

Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University Smithville
TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111 vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/ http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/

____________________________________________________________________________
__
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org

You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/

Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.

Vince Pitelka on sat 6 jan 07


Lee wrote:
> Google is wonderful:
> Mah-joll-ica is for contemporary ware. 'Maiolica' is the designation
> for the original Itallian ware. Check out Victoria & Albert:

Lee -
There is much use of terminology in Great Britian that does not correspond
to the way we use it, and of course it would be moot to try and decide who
is correct. But as far as I know, both in print and in general usage, the
information above is mistaken. Google is wonderful for accessing
information, but provides no assurance that the informaiton is correct. The
correct reference to the Renaissance Italian work, or any work that uses the
same process, is always pronounced with a soft "J," past or present. As I
mentioned in an earlier post, and as Snail stated in her post, the word with
a hard "J" refers a range of Baroque and later ware that is nothing at all
like Italian maiolica.
- Vince

Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/

Lee Love on sun 7 jan 07


Listen to pronounciation at American Heritage Dictionary. They
follow the same as V&A:

http://www.bartleby.com/61/75/M0047500.html

SYLLABICATION:=09ma=B7jol=B7i=B7ca

PRONUNCIATION:=09 m-jl-k, -yl-

NOUN:=091. Tin-glazed earthenware that is often richly colored and
decorated, especially an earthenware of this type produced in Italy.
2. Pottery made in imitation of this earthenware.

ETYMOLOGY:=09Italian maiolica, from Medieval Latin Milica, Majorca
(where it was made), alteration of Late Latin Mirica.
--=20
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
http://potters.blogspot.com/
"Let the beauty we love be what we do." - Rumi
"When we all do better. We ALL do better." -Paul Wellstone

Lee Love on sun 7 jan 07


On 1/7/07, Vince Pitelka wrote:

>and of course it would be moot to try and decide who
> is correct.

Bingo! You could have stopped here. ;^)

Collectors in America follow the same protocol as the V&A.

My first exposure to Majolica was Jean's extensive collection of
"American Majolica" (no tin in it at all) which she collected along
with McCoy, Van Briggle, Rookwood and other America art pottery.
Many plates in the shape of leaves and other nature shapes.

When you hear folks try to make Americans say Meowl-ica, it
always reminds me of the same folks who drink tea with their pinkie in
the air. ;^)

The V&A protocol makes as good a sense as any.

--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
http://potters.blogspot.com/
"Let the beauty we love be what we do." - Rumi
"When we all do better. We ALL do better." -Paul Wellstone

sacredclay on sun 7 jan 07


-I sometime stutters, especially on words I'm not sure how to
pronounce. so I end up saying "Mah-Mah- Mah- jole-,ah you know what the
hell I'm saying!" 8-P Kathryn in NC

Bunny Lemak on sun 7 jan 07


This reminds me of the first time I heard the true pronunciation of the
word: KILN.

I had been doing clay work for at least 10 years and was at a semianr and
the teacher kept calling it "kill", a few of us laughed it off as she was
from back east and we just thought it was the way she spoke (sorry, not
trying to diss anyone here :0) )

A few of us were discussing this over lunch and apparently the teacher
heard us and came over and told us that the real was to say "kiln" was
indeed: kill !! We all went home and looked it up and low & behold she
was right! Although to this day I still pronounce it with
the "n".......people look at me strange when I tell them I fire my ware in
a KILL !!!! :)

Bunny

Vince Pitelka on sun 7 jan 07


Lee Love wrote:
> When you hear folks try to make Americans say Meowl-ica, it
> always reminds me of the same folks who drink tea with their pinkie in
> the air. ;^)

Oh Lee, some times you are just plain silly. The correct pronounciation is
"my-oh-li-ka - very easy to pronounce for Americans or anyone else.

> The V&A protocol makes as good a sense as any.

No, not at all, when it encourages perpetuation of mispronounciation.
- Vince

Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/

Vince Pitelka on sun 7 jan 07


Lee -
I expect that you can find plenty of examples where the word is pronounced
with a hard "J" in instances where it refers to the Italian Renaissance work
or recent derivations of that work. That happens way too often in the
English language. But the reality is that the word with a hard "J" is used
by experts to refer to completely different work made during the Baroque
area and later, mentioned by me and by Snail in earlier posts. So why
confuse the issue? Doesn't it just make a lot more sense to pronounce it
with a soft "J" when referring to Italian maiolica or any work of that
lineage, especially since the name "maiolica" was derived from the island of
Majorca, which is always pronounced with a soft "J"? You have to realize
that we, collectively in ceramics, are the experts here, and it is entirely
conceivable that the American Heritage dictionary did not adequately do its
research on the correct pronounciation of this word. It simply makes no
sense to pronounce it with a hard "J", because that would be an Anglicized
faux pas. We should celebrate pronouncing the word properly as it was
intended to be pronounced, rather than letting sloppy pronounciation
prevail.
- Vince

Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/

Lee Love on sun 7 jan 07


On 1/6/07, Janine Roubik wrote:
> Hello,
> I know this isn't a big deal in the whole shceme of things, but does anyone know if there >is a "correct" pronunciation of majolica? I was watching Antiques Roadshow earlier and
> the appraiser kept calling this one piece "mah-joll-ica". I thought it was "may-oh-lica".
>And portions of the peice didn't look like what I understood majolica
to be anyhow. It was
>the episode from Hawaii and they were talking about a big fish
platter/roaster maybe?
> Thoughts?

Google is wonderful:

Mah-joll-ica is for contemporary ware. 'Maiolica' is the designation
for the original Itallian ware. Check out Victoria & Albert:

http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/ceramics/ceramics_AZ/ceramics_m/index.html

"n the early 1870s, the curators of the South Kensington Museum
returned to the original Italian 'maiolica' with an 'i' to describe
all Italian tin-glazed earthenware, doubtless to stress the Italian
pronunciation and to avoid confusion with contemporary majolica."

--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
http://potters.blogspot.com/
"Let the beauty we love be what we do." - Rumi
"When we all do better. We ALL do better." -Paul Wellstone

Jeanette Harris on sun 7 jan 07


Majolica with a J

Makes me think about the near convulsion I had when I heard a native
Ozarkian pronounce La Jolla (Lah HOH-ya) as Lah JAH lah.
--


Jeanette Harris
Clay Engineer
Poulsbo WA

pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET on sun 7 jan 07


Hi Lee,



"Mah-shoh-ree-kuh", or "Mah-sjoe-ree-kuhhh-u"

I think it would be...

Am I close?


I know "Base Ball" is 'Bay-su-Barr-u"

"Gin Fizz" is "Jeeeeee-nu-Feeeeeeez-u"

( The 'u' being as 'Ooooooo' or like the 'ue' is
in the word 'Glue'...)



Love,

Phil
el v


----- Original Message -----
From: "Lee Love"

> They pronounce all foreign words here in
Japan in a Japanese way.
> Their syllabary is not exactly the same as our
alphabet.
>
> --
> Lee in Mashiko, Japan

Snail Scott on mon 8 jan 07


At 03:05 PM 1/7/2007 -0500, you wrote:
>A few of us were discussing this over lunch and apparently the teacher
>heard us and came over and told us that the real was to say "kiln" was
>indeed: kill !! We all went home and looked it up and low & behold she
>was right! Although to this day I still pronounce it with
>the "n".......people look at me strange...



This again...

I wrote a pretty long post on
this awhile back, but in a nutshell,
they are both correct. The two
pronunciations are due to regional
dialect divergences in England.
Many other words used to be spelled
with a pronounced 'n' at the end,
but in many parts of England, the
'n' became silent while still being
retained in spelling. Other words
lost the 'n' in both spelling and
pronunciation, while in some areas,
especially with specialty-trade
words like 'kiln', the 'n' was
still pronounced and never lost.

One word which once had a spelled-and-
pronounced 'n' is the word 'mill',
which was formerly spelled 'miln'.
A trace of this past usage can be
noted in old surnames dating to that
era, like that of actor Martin Milner.
Same name as Miller, but from a region
that retained the 'n' in the surname
even after it dropped out of use in
the ordinary noun.

Most potters in the US take their
pronunciation from whoever trained
them, and those folks got their own
pronunciation likewise, going back in
a lineage that in the US has very
little to do with geography. Some
folks got the 'kill' pronunciation
from some teacher-of-a-teacher-of-a-
teacher who learned it from someone
from the non-'n'-pronouncing districts
of England, and some learned from
those who use the pronounced 'n'.
They are both perfectly correct,
though in my experience, the
pronounced 'n' is much more common.

Ceramics is full of people who believe
that their way is the one true and
apostolic way to do whatever it is
that they were taught. It's a trait
that causes much stupidity in ceramics -
the notion that there is only one
right way, and it's right solely because
someone else told them so, once upon a
time.

BOTH PRONUNCIATIONS ARE CORRECT!!!!

Now, lets go make some clay stuff, OK?

-Snail

Lee Love on mon 8 jan 07


On 1/8/07, Bunny Lemak wrote:

> A few of us were discussing this over lunch and apparently the teacher
> heard us and came over and told us that the real was to say "kiln" was
> indeed: kill !!

Hummm. Maybe it is regional. I say a stifled n. Listen
here, where both pronunciations are noted:

http://www.bartleby.com/61/1/K0060100.html

> We all went home and looked it up and low & behold she
> was right! Although to this day I still pronounce it with
> the "n".......people look at me strange when I tell them I fire my ware in
> a KILL !!!! :)

I am guessing it might be better to say it in your original
way, around the "uninitiated" , especially if you are in line at
airport inspection. ;^)

--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
http://potters.blogspot.com/
"Let the beauty we love be what we do." - Rumi
"When we all do better. We ALL do better." -Paul Wellstone

Lee Love on mon 8 jan 07


On 1/7/07, sacredclay wrote:
> -I sometime stutters, especially on words I'm not sure how to
> pronounce. so I end up saying "Mah-Mah- Mah- jole-,ah you know what the
> hell I'm saying!" 8-P Kathryn in NC

I wouldn't worry about it. It has been my experience that it is
only freshman BFAs that insist you say it like a cat. Anybody in
pottery who knows about the work will understand either pronunciation.

They pronounce all foreign words here in Japan in a Japanese way.
Their syllabary is not exactly the same as our alphabet.

--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
http://potters.blogspot.com/
"Let the beauty we love be what we do." - Rumi
"When we all do better. We ALL do better." -Paul Wellstone

Vince Pitelka on mon 8 jan 07


Steve Slatin wrote:
"For potters to have a technical language with specific meanings and
understandings is desirable. For us to develop an insider jargon
with the purpose of separating the cognoscenti from the Hoi polloi,
and insisting on obscure rules of pronunciation, is probably going
too far."

Great post, Steve, and all interesting stuff, but the above paragraph has
little to do with anything I said. I am always interested in clarifying
language and making it accessible to everyone. The last thing I want to do
is create a ceramics lexicon that is exclusive and inaccessible. But I
believe that we should employ correct pronounciation of foreign words when
we can, rather than imposing Anglicized mispronounciations on foreign words.
And in this case, the term "majolica" with a hard "J" has already been
co-opted by the art history scholars as a reference to that Baroque ware
mentioned in some previous posts - ware that has nothing to do with Italian
Maiolica. So, for the sake of clarity, if we are referring to Italian
maiolica or contemporary work derived from that tradition, it seems to make
sense that we should pronouce the term "maiolica" with a soft "J", and to
spell it "maiolica." I'm not insisting on anything here. I am just
stating my own opinion, for whatever it's worth.
- Vince

Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/

Beth Spindler on mon 8 jan 07


so I am in this little shop in Valencia, Spain in November and I pick up this
beautiful piece of pottery and offer a comment as to it being such beautiful
MY HOL A CA and the owner smiles and says, "Ah, te gusta ceramica?" "Muy
bien, YOU BUY ceramica? so much for my pronunciation...lol lol!

Beth - following this fascinating thread on tin-glazed earthernware and
then some. :)

Janine Roubik on mon 8 jan 07


Ha! Yes, here in Wisconsin, it is imperative that all citizens know that Brett Favre ("Far-ve") is from Kiln, ("Kill") Mississippi.
But I still call my kiln a "kiln" ; )
Thanks for the laugh, Bunny!
Janine

Bunny Lemak wrote: This reminds me of the first time I heard the true pronunciation of the
word: KILN.

I had been doing clay work for at least 10 years and was at a semianr and
the teacher kept calling it "kill", a few of us laughed it off as she was
from back east and we just thought it was the way she spoke (sorry, not
trying to diss anyone here :0) )

A few of us were discussing this over lunch and apparently the teacher
heard us and came over and told us that the real was to say "kiln" was
indeed: kill !! We all went home and looked it up and low & behold she
was right! Although to this day I still pronounce it with
the "n".......people look at me strange when I tell them I fire my ware in
a KILL !!!! :)

Bunny

______________________________________________________________________________
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org

You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/

Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.

claystevslat on mon 8 jan 07


Vince --

What's really interesting is the demand for obedience to foreign
language pronunciation rules for some terms and not for others --
sometimes from the same individual.

When a word crosses language boundaries, a differentiation may
develop between the NAME of a thing in the origin language and what
the NAME is CALLED in the target language. (A wider disquisition on
the subject of what words generally are called may be found in
Alice's Adventures ...)

To the extent that we clarify what we mean, we should certainly
stand on the principle of correct pronunciation -- retain the name
of the thing in its most meaningful form. We must recognize,
though, that we speak in the language in which we speak. When
speaking in English, I refer to the capital of Tuscany
as "Florence." No native of the city would call it that; the NAME
of the city is, after all, "Firenze." It's just the name is called
Florence in English. Likewize we should not expect that ordinary
folk would be impressed with the idea that because Majolica (the
word) derives from Majorca (the place) that Majolica should be
pronounced as it would be in Majorca.

Equally, we should not expect that because in Japan sake is
pronounced something like "(t)sak(h)ay" {closing on a descending
tone}*, that our US clients must be carefully schooled to do the
same before we sell a few tiny cups and a flask to them.

For potters to have a technical language with specific meanings and
understandings is desirable. For us to develop an insider jargon
with the purpose of separating the cognoscenti from the Hoi polloi,
and insisting on obscure rules of pronunciation, is probably going
too far.

Sincerely -- Steve Slatin


*My understanding based on hearing two Japanese ladies discussing
some items before buying. I cound't understand, of course, so I
tried to pick up the pronunciation. Perhaps it's a regional
dialect, or maybe they had the Japanese equivalent of a lisp. Who
knows?


--- In clayart@yahoogroups.com, Vince Pitelka wrote:

> We should celebrate pronouncing the word properly as it was
> intended to be pronounced, rather than letting sloppy
pronounciation
> prevail.
> - Vince

sacredclay on mon 8 jan 07


Amazing how many spoken languages there are, but clay speaks only one.
>
> They pronounce all foreign words here in Japan in a Japanese way.
> Their syllabary is not exactly the same as our alphabet.
>
> --
> Lee in Mashiko, Japan
> Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
> http://potters.blogspot.com/
> "Let the beauty we love be what we do." - Rumi
> "When we all do better. We ALL do better." -Paul Wellstone
>
>