Oscar pronunciation: From Ang to Zeitlin, learn how to say nominees' names correctly
BY REBECCA KEEGAN Los Angeles Times
Sunday, January 13, 2013
1/13/13 at 4:06 AM
Do you not know your Haneke from a hole in the wall? Don't suffer in silence, cinema fan. Let us help you, with the official L.A. Times pronunciation guide to the 85th Academy Awards. Herewith, a primer for the names you're most likely to mangle between now and Feb. 24:
Quvenzhané Wallis (Kwah-VEN-zhah-nay): The 9-year-old star of "Beasts of the Southern Wild" is the tiniest nominee in the lead actress category, but her moniker is big. Still stumped? Just call her by her nickname, Nayzie.
Behn Zeitlin (Ben ZITE-lin): Nothing fancy here, folks. The H is silent in the New York-born "Beasts" director's first name, as in another famous Ben - Affleck.
Michael Haneke (Mik-ALE HAN-uh-ka): The Austrian writer-director of "Amour" is known for the dark subject matter of his films. But when it comes to his name, think festival of lights. "Haneke" sounds like "Hanukkah."
Janusz Kaminski (YAN-ush Ka-MIN-ski): Steven Spielberg's Polish cinematographer just received his sixth Oscar nomination with his work on "Lincoln," which makes it a fine time to finally start saying his name right.
John Gatins (GAYT-ins): He's nominated in the original screenplay category for "Flight," in which Denzel Washington plays an airline pilot with a substance abuse problem.
Christoph Waltz (Kris-TOFF Valtz): Nominated for supporting actor for his turn as a dentist-turned-bounty-hunter in Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained," Waltz is German-Austrian, which means the W in his last name sounds like a V. And "Christoph" is no typo - leave off the "er."
Ang Lee: The Taiwan-born director of "Life of Pi" added a G to masculinize his name among English speakers. "Ang" rhymes with "Tang," not "Gong."
Original Print Headline: From Ang to Zeitlin, your guide to Oscar pronunciation
