Hardly a perfect solution, since typically represents and entirely different sound in English. Congrats! Giannis Antetokounmpo joins Malika Andrews on NBA Today to discuss being called The Greek Freak, how he views himself and more. Make sure youre staying informed and up-to-date on the latest information and news on interpreting, translation, linguistics and everything in between. The reason for this transliteration is that Greek lacks a separate character for the [d] sound. It is also true that in native Greek words a word-initial iota before another vowel eventually came to be pronounced as this rumbly "y" as well. In the case of Giannis extremely Greek first name, the letter is softened by the sound that comes after. 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). All Rights Reserved, {{app['fromLang']['value']}} -> {{app['toLang']['value']}}, Pronunciation of GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO with 20 audio pronunciations. Part of the problem is thatmanyannouncers during NBA games, highlight shows, and talk showsmispronounce the last name. How to Choose a Dining Table - Tips for Selecting the Perfect Table for Your Space. There are two particular phenomena in the history of the Greek language that we need to understand to explain the spelling of adetokunbo in Greek: (i) the change of stop consonants to fricatives and (ii) nasal weakening. Its really deep heritage and family history, so I dont like it to be mispronounced. Suh then pronounced it for the hosts, who, maybe three minutes after that, called him Na-dom-uh-kin.. How To Say Giannis Antetokounmpo First Name. Born in Greece to Nigerian parents, Antetokounmpo began playing basketball for the youth teams of Filathlitikos in Athens. That journey starts in Nigeria, Giannis parents country of origin. Both his parents are from Nigeria; his mother is Igbo and his father Yoruba (see here). As for the first name, even that is a point of contention as mostfeel it is pronounced "Yonnis," and others say it "Yonnie." A nasal consonant is basically one that you pronounce by letting some air flow through your nose. Antetokounmpo had joined the broadcast with fellow captain LeBron James to pick teams for the Feb. 17 game. First, the Greek letter , which originally sounded like "ey" in English hey (but without the "y"), came to be pronounced like "ee" as in English see. We recommend you to try Safari. Sometimes when you're the MVP, you're the leader of the team, you've got to do a photo shoot and all that, you lose yourself, and whenever I'm with my family, I'm myself.". Giannis wouldn't reveal what the family talked about in private, but once he emerged to meet with the media, he spoke about his humble beginnings, saying that night, "At the end of the day, I . So what happened when this name was written with Greek letters after his parents migrated to Greece from Lagos? All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. Shortly after being crowned the NBAs Most Valuable Player f.. All fair game. We can see this illustrated in English with the words rag and rage. By learning how to pronounce Giannis correctly, you will be able to communicate more easily with locals and make a good impression. Latest on Milwaukee Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo including news, stats, videos, highlights and more on ESPN Step 1: Giannis Is A Name Of Greek Origin. Before "Giannis" became a household name, those who couldn't pronounce his last name often called the NBA's reigning MVP the "Greek Freak," because of his rare, freakish athletic ability and ballhandling skills for someone 6-foot-11. Keep up. At age 18, he came to the United States to play college basketball. Well, to answer that question, we need to turn to the second phenomenon, namely, the weakening of nasal consonants. He began playing basketball at the age of nine. Giannis became an NBA. Giannis Antetokounmpo is originally from Greece and his name is pronounced yah-NEEs ah-deh-toh-KOON-boh. He was born on December 6, 1994, in Athens, Greece making him 28 years old as of 2022. Of course, we can always go to the source himself at the 0:53 mark of this video. First on the list was two-time league . The young man from Athens, Greece is one of the most exciting players in the NBA. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. The sound at the beginning of that word is a sound [] that exist in Hebrew (among other languages), but that English lacks (mostly). Crowdsourced audio pronunciation dictionary for 89 languages, with meanings, synonyms, sentence usages, translations and much more. 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. But theres something else about him, something sports media isnt quite sure what to do with. You have earned {{app.voicePoint}} points. To learn more about the Greek spelling system, click here. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. We immediately encounter an issue in pronouncing the very first letter in Giannis Antetokounmpo. He is 6 feet 11 inches tall, and his nickname is the Greek Freak. However, the "Greek Freak . So, there you have it. Athanasios Rotimi "Thanasis" Antetokounmpo (born Adetokunbo; July 18, 1992) is a Greek-Nigerian professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Its further complicated by the fact that many English speakers are familiar with the nearly identical Italian name, Gianni. In the case of the name yoanan or yoanna, this meant getting rid of the guttural sound and adding a Greek ending -es. What does that mean? Listed at 6 feet and 7 inches, he plays the small forward and power forward positions. Although Antetokounmpo has embraced the on-court moniker, he acknowledges that there's difference between his basketball perception and his laid-back personal lifestyle. More on ESPN.com: http://www.espn.com This could happen at the end of the word or in the middle of a word before a stop consonant like (p), (k), (t). Antetokounmpo is pronounced an-teh-toh-KOON-boh, with the stress on the last syllable.if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'stuffsure_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_5',183,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-stuffsure_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0'); The correct way to say Giannis Antetokounmpos name is YAH-niss an-teh-toh-KOON-boh. Giannis Antetokounmpo: Should he win Defensive Player of the Year. "The most important thing is you cannot lose yourself in it. At 611 he has the size of a traditional center, but the skills of a guard. Many others are the children of immigrants. "Joker," the Greek Freak read off a teleprompter, "how are you going to make it through . This would make the pronunciation of Antetokounmpo AH-ded-KOOM-poh. pauline hanson dancing with the stars; just jerk dance members; what happens if a teacher gets a dui Now, linguistically, this just explains the history and the spelling. Its the league of Larry Bird and Hakeem Olajuwon, John Collins and Hamidou Diallo, Kevin Love and Arvydas Sabonis, and its a far better league for that. Giannis Antetokounmpo has been one of the most consistent players in the NBA over the last.. {{app.userTrophy[app.userTrophyNo].hints}}. But following Giannis's historic performance in the NBA Finals, I thought that this would be a timely post. Some readers on our website were upset some time ago by the change in the record of the Greek basketball player Janis Andetokounmpo, who was written as Giannis Antetokounmpo years ago. Antetokounmpo obtained Nigerian citizenship in 2015. . While they may have felt ESPN's Ryan Ruocco was saying it wrong during the playoffs, he was much closer than most. 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 says his name in Greek is "Yiannis," but when people talk to him in Greece they call him "Yianni." He says a lot of people in American don't understand this, but he's. Adetokunbo was born in Athens, the son of Nigerian immigrants who had no legal status in Greece. Giannis Antetokounmpo was born in Athens, Greece. mike vernon royal household; are there snakes in gran canaria; shooting in laurel, md yesterday. Greek also lacks a character that represents the [b] sound. Giannis and the Greek Freak are two different people. Now to the main event. Oops! We recommend you to try Safari. The 2014 San Antonio Spurs had a championship-winning roster that included Manu Ginbili, Tiago Splitter, Boris Diaw, Kawhi Leonard, and Tim Duncan, who hail, respectively, from Argentina, Brazil, France, California, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Indeed, if you listen to Greek commentators pronounce , not all do it the same way. Historical Greek Phonology & the Greek Freak, Image by Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA - Giannis Antetokounmpo, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73758747, Although Giannis was born in Athens, Greece, he is of Nigerian descent. Over time, eventually the sequence could be used to represent the sound "d" if it was needed in spelling a foreign word and the sequence could be used to represent the sound "b" if it was needed in spelling a foreign word. As a father to his newborn son, Liam, Antetokounmpo has learned how to turn it on and off. Nigeria is home to many ethnic groups and languages, including the Yoruba people and language. Second, the "o" near the beginning of the name dropped out. Since you have exceeded your time limit, your recording has been stopped. Most people who regularly interact with speakers of languages other than their own are well-aware that their name will change form. Giannis Antetokounmpo is going to need a minute. Shaq took the bait: Giannis Ante-ka-noon-po. Giannis Antetokounmpo took some big-time shots at Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic and Kevin Durant on Monday . But they eventually found their way onto a basketball court. So called hard and soft pronunciations. To pronounce Giannis Antetokounmpo, say YAH-nis ah-deh-toh-KOOM-boh. Read about Giannis Antetokounmpo Pronunciation It is pronounced JAHN-iss ah-deh-toh-KOON-boh. Historical Greek Phonology & the Greek Freak - YouTube In this video, we try to clear up some of the confusion regarding the. Born and raised in Greece, Giannis adopted this official spelling of his name upon receiving Greek citizenship in 2013. 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