How do you pronounce "Vallejo"?

If you are a Spanish speaker, the correct pronunciation is vaw-YEAH-ho.

If you visit the town of that name in the Bay Area, most folks, except those mentioned above, would say vuh-LAY-oh.

If you were a crew member on SSBN-658, you'd call her the "Valley-Jo".

Ha-ha-ha!  That's just it.  My mom is from Bolivia so my first inclination is to pronounce it "va-YEH-ho".  However, I don't know if that's how it is pronounced in the industry.

I live in the small town of Green Bay, WI so we're quite a ways away from any form of Hispanic influences.  I went into an out-of-the-way gaming store and asked if they carried "va-YEH-ho" paints.  The girl behind the counter looked at me as if I were some sort of alien with a monkey on my head.  I thought for sure I must have been pronouncing it incorrectly.

Eric

Spanish speaker or not, the correct pronunciation is "Vah-YEH-hoh.

Gracias to everyone!  This is right up there with the way to pronounce "Tamiya".  I say "ta-MY-uh" but I have heard others pronounce it "ta-MEE-uh".

Eric

geez, a Cheesehead that can pronounce Lac De Flambou and Lac Buttes Des Morts without making people giggle, and can't pronounce a Spanish word? (Boo Deh More)

lol, just teasing,,,,,,,I grew up near the Roche-cri river in Adams County,,,,,,until I was about 8 years old, I thought it was the Russia Creek River. (we started before daylight when driving to our seats at Lambeau)

and the Japanese words are easier to pronounce than just about any other language,,,,,,there is a set sound for each "sound group" , unlike English's 23 ways to say any sound depending on context.

Ta and Ya are both always part of the "ah sounding group", and Mi is part of the "Mee sounding group,,,,,,so it is Tah Mee Yah (Pacific Front's old pre-internet paper catalog had a section on Kanji, Katakana and pronounciation in it, for the Japanese ship kits)

Rex

Some times we learn new things by letting others ask questions about what we didn't know.......I just did

So  how about  Hos-A- gow-wa  or Has E gowa?

Revell , I'm pretty confident about, thou it took awhile for ROG to become comfortable.

But Zvezda  is a real stickler for me

You say 'tom-mat-toe' I say 'tom-mah-toe'

You say 'pot-tae-toe' I say 'pot-tah-toe'

Hasegawa is easy

Hah Say Gah Wah,,,,,,the Ha Ga Wa are in the same ah group at the Tah and Yah in Tah Mee Yah,,,,,,the Se is part of the Kay, Say, etc group

another Japanese word that gets butchered pretty badly in America is Kamikaze,,,,I've heard Cam ee Kah Zee much more often than the correct Kah Mee Kah Zay

a=ah,,,,,,,,as in yah

e=ay,,,,,,,,,as in say

i=ee,,,,,,,,,as in tea

o=oh,,,,,,,as in toe

u=oo,,,,,,as in boo

yu,,,,,,,,I can't say that sound myself

lol, Blacksheep,,,,,,in Japanese there is no "interpretive" pronounciations,,,,,,,they don't have a "Potato-Potato" situation  

Ditto Finnish. No accent on syllables.

Since we are talking about pronunciation how do you pronounce:

Revell

Re---vell  rhymes with bell      (my vote)

or

Rev---ell  the "L" sound,  kinda sounds like rebel.

Eric,

From what I have observed, people respond to anything if they can figure out the English letters behind the sounds you are pronouncing. It seems to me the pronunciation must work with the native language so the hearer can understand. So, for example, we wouldn't say "volksvagen" in the US. Most of the time I have heard the two terms you mention pronounced:

və-lāy-hō

tə-mē-yə

with the "ə" pronounced like the "a" in the first and last syllables of ba-na-na.

There's been a lot of debate about the correct pronunciation of Tamiya. Likely, there will be with Vallejo, as well.

No there's only one correct pronunciation, and that's the version, or versions, used in the language of origin. I apologize if I've misunderstood your comment.

Other pronunciations are perhaps more understandable, or commonly used in different locations, but that doesn't make them correct.

I can't imagine how many ways Vallejo is pronounced in Spanish, but there must be a few, and I don't know anyone with that name to ask them.

I would guess that the most success in finding the stuff, outside of a LHS in Mexico, would be to say Vuh- LAY- Ho.

What a wonderful, curious but interesting thread. A spanish (and other) speaking friend of mine told me vallejo is pronounced vuh-yay-hoe. Dunno but I know what I mean when I want to order it. And further, before I retired I frequented Japan and my 'mentor' there told me the problem we Americans had with Japanese was not realizing that in Japanese no syllables in any groups are accented vis 'a' vis Hiroshima - you often hear Hero-She-ma but should hear Here-osh-im-a. Not much of a contribution but I've enjoyed the thread.

Bick, in Japanese, there also are no sounds that have a consonant at the end or in the middle

so, no "hero" part in that word Hiroshima,,,,it can all be done with a chart or table,,,,,,,Hee Roh Shee Mah

and yes, as you say, there is no emphasis on a syllable

Japanese pronunciation is like math, there is no opinions involved in either,,,,,there is only the right way and the wrong answer

I'll throw in Gunze. Goon za(y), Not Gun zee.

And for the photographers among us: Nikon = nee con not nigh con but I'm guilty of using the latter.

All the comments have been great!  Phil, I didn't even know I've been pronouncing Gunze wrong all these years.  I've never spoken it in conversation but, in my head, I've always pronounced it as "guns".  Oops!  But now I know.  :o)

As for pronouncing kit manufacturers in general, this is why I primarily build Monogram.  LOL!

And in case anyone is wondering, last night I had po-TAY-toes.

Heh - I've been pronouncing Gunze as "gunz" too!

Having contact with Eugenie and Alex Vallejo (the mother and son team running Acrylicos Vallejo), I can tell you they pronounce their name the Spanish way (unsurprisingly). However, I have seen them graciously allow mispronunciations. I have contacts inside Tamiya, and Matt has met Mr. Tamiya on a number of occasions; Tarnship has it dead on. Our conversations with the folks at Zvezda reveal it is pronounced as it is spelled. Same with Italeri (i-tal-air-ee; think Italy with "air" between the L and Y).

TarnShip

geez, a Cheesehead that can pronounce Lac De Flambou and Lac Buttes Des Morts without making people giggle, and can't pronounce a Spanish word? (Boo Deh More)

Ooh yah, dontcha knoh?  Ha-ha-ha!  I moved here to Green Bay from the No. Virginia area back in '92.  I avoided going to places like Lake Butte Des Morts, Shawano and Lac Du Flambeau simply because I was too afraid to ask for directions.

Tim, thank you for the excellent information.  The next time I go into a hobby shop, I will FINALLY be able to ask for Vallejo paints with the utmost confidence (unlike the last time when I mumbled it out).

Eric

I pronounce Tamiya as 'tam-my-ya'. Ah well... LOL!

"I avoided going to places like Lake Butte Des Morts, Shawano and Lac Du Flambeau simply because I was too afraid to ask for directions."

picks self back up off of floor,,,,,,,,,thanks, I needed that laugh,,,,,,"umm, could you give me directions to Shawna,,,,,umm, Show anna,,,,,,umm, that place with the cool race track?"

I wish I could type out how I intentionally butchered Oconomowoc once when I went there for a convention, after one of the other guys from there couldn't say Menominee.

this thread has been a lot of fun, guys

Rex

Yes, Rex it has been fun - a little break from modeling to how to pronounce things we model or use in modeling. And, you know, not only do we 'butcher' words in languages not familiar to us but those that are familiar as well. I was born in OHIO but if you're from Ohio, a native would  pronounce it Oh-hi-a. I still can't correctly pronounce the maker of an ME109 or a FW190 but I do quite well with a North American P-51 (I think)!!

Tim Kidwell

Same with Italeri (i-tal-air-ee; think Italy with "air" between the L and Y).

Once was a time Italeri was spelt "Italerei". People used to say Ee tal air ay

Tim Kidwell

Same with Italeri (i-tal-air-ee; think Italy with "air" between the L and Y).

How do I pronounce Vallejo? The best damn paint around for figures.

I still run into people who build It-ally-airy models or It-a-Larry (as opposed to It-a- Moe or It-a-Curly) .

As to place names, I grew up not far from Lake Chargaugamogmanchaugagogchabunagungamaug,

Then we have cities like Leicester (pronounced Lester, nice Lice Stir or Lie Chest 'Er) and Worcester (which can vary from Worse-ter, Wooster, or to locals as Wisstah but NEVER Wore Chest 'Er). Amesbury is Ames-bree, Chatham sounds like Chat-em, but Eastham is East Ham, not East-um. Amherst is Am-erst, not Am-Hearst. Locals call Clinton Clih In, Oxford is Ox -Fud and Billerica is Bill Ricka.

The nanny-bot will not let me tell you how we pronounce Suffolk and Norfolk the they don't rhyme with folk. 

So a quick recap to date 5-15-14

• Vallejo = Vah-YEH-hoh
• Tamiya = Tah Mee Yah 
• Hasegawa = Hah Say Gah Wah
• Gunze = Goon za(y)  Not Gun zee.
• Zvezda = it is pronounced as it is spelled.(per Tim Kidell)
• Italeri =  i-tal-air-ee;   think Italy with "air" between the l and y.    

Others:

Hiroshima =  Hee Roh Shee Mah , Not  Hero-She-ma

Nikon = nee con,  Not   nigh con

Any more?  

I'd pronounce it more or less like I do my screen name....