How do you pronounce "ukulele"?

And I would wish for you to do the same. I just thought the video was funny and that others might see the humor in it.
 
Last edited:
This pronunciation thing reminds me of a joke. What's the difference between a violin and a fiddle? Answer: a violin has strings, while a fiddle has "straanngs" (pronounced with a Southern accent).

And I'm having flashbacks to all the discussions on Mandolin Cafe about whether it's "MAN do lin" or "man do LIN"; or just "man-lin". :D

Oh, and I say "you kuh lay lee", because I didn't know there was any other way to pronounce it until about 3 or 4 months ago...

bratsche
 
This pronunciation thing reminds me of a joke. What's the difference between a violin and a fiddle? Answer: a violin has strings, while a fiddle has "straanngs" (pronounced with a Southern accent).

I love it! :D
 
post deleted
 
Last edited:
I used to say you-koo-lay-lee, but after I started playing, I forced myself self to say it the Hawaiian way. Now I've turned into "that" guy that will tell everyone they're saying it wrong (in a nice way) lol
 
I use all pronunciations at will, randomly, depending on absolutely nothing in particular.

What’s life without whimsy?


Scooter
 
I use all pronunciations at will, randomly, depending on absolutely nothing in particular.

What’s life without whimsy?


Scooter

I wish I could be more like you, more shaka...and just be content within my own mind that the facts are the facts, and properly pay homage to the Hawaiian language, but I am already almost a pariah, so I'm trying to minimize that from getting any worse. :)
 
I have worked as a lexicographer--you know, the guy who makes the dictionary to tell you how to pronounce words. We don't pass judgments. We don't evaluate who has the right to dictate the ukulele's pronunciation. Was it the Portuguese who brought the ukulele to the islands? Is it the islanders? Is it the haole that creates the market for the instrument? No; for us it is purely a democratic process. What does the majority of people say? That's the standard usage and that's what I use. I say ukulele with a "y", I always say it, and I will always say it until such a time as more people say it with an initial "u"
 
I say ukulele so many different ways. I try to say oo-koo-lay-lay, but it doesn't take long to slip back to you-koo-lay-lee, or say ooo-koo-lay-lee, I might even say uke-a-lay-lee. there is also Uke that sounds like cuke just -the c.
 
We don't pass judgments. We don't evaluate who has the right to dictate the ukulele's pronunciation. Was it the Portuguese who brought the ukulele to the islands? Is it the islanders? Is it the haole that creates the market for the instrument? No; for us it is purely a democratic process.

Oh, well of course no one can dictate how to use it. Usage is always democratic. But neither the Portuguese nor Guitar Center get a vote in the linguistically accurate way to say it. Hawaiian is a living language spoken in the United States, and the term was coined in the time of their great-grandparents, not handed down through the mists of time.

I'm definitely NOT saying one way is better or worse — I appreciate that in Ohio saying ook can make you sound like a kook, and I still sometimes vary my usage depending on audience. I just wouldn't pit Hawaiians against Portuguese or other-non Hawaiian speakers, because it is, in fact, a Hawaiian word.
 
Last edited:
I wish I could be more like you, more shaka...and just be content within my own mind that the facts are the facts, and properly pay homage to the Hawaiian language, but I am already almost a pariah, so I'm trying to minimize that from getting any worse. :)

lol, you are too funny! It's interesting how many of us do a quick mental calculation of audience, personal preference, and cultural sensitivity, isn't it? Funny.

"An ukulele by any other name would sound as sweet..."

Hmmmm....

"A ukulele by any other name..."

Hmmmmm....

"My ukulele by any other name...."
 
How many people have an aversion to uke? How many people who do not have an aversion to it, say ook instead of youk?
 
Last edited:
I type uke often, because it's faster (and I'm a lousy typist). But I don't say it, because I think yuke sounds like puke, and nobody around me would know what ook meant.

bratsche
 
I type uke often, because it's faster (and I'm a lousy typist). But I don't say it, because I think yuke sounds like puke, and nobody around me would know what ook meant.

bratsche

I was at a ukulele festival last fall in Minneapolis, and the guy sitting next to me must have said ook to me a dozen times.
 
Last edited:
How many people have an aversion to uke? How many people who do not have an aversion to it, say ook instead of youk?

I probably say Yook even more often than I say Yookalaylee... No aversion here. I've never said Ook that I know of, and probably never will.
 
I think yuke sounds like puke, and nobody around me would know what ook meant.

bratsche

The first part made me laugh out loud, and good point re: the second part. If I'm talking to a non-ukulele-player, I don't even say Yook - I go for full-on Yookalaylee.
 
Well now, that should be the definitive. :cool:

I hope I didn't sound too proscriptive. I didn't mean to. I was just trying to say that a pronunciation isn't right or wrong...it just is. If someone wants to use a regional variant, he or she should follow their heart. Once that variant becomes the pronunciation of the majority, then I'll follow suit. 'til then, I'll just go with the flow and do what's standard.
 
Top Bottom