Apr 21, 2010

Icelandic volcano is a mouthful to say!

Can you pronounce the name of the Iceland volcano? Me neither.

There is a humorous video at the link below dealing with the pronunciation of the Icelandic volcano.


However you pronounce it, Eyjafjallajokull is proving difficult for the world's English speakers.

Actually the pronunciation depends on whom you ask. Below are three suggestions from news services:

CNN: "AY-yah-FYET-lah-YOH-koot."

Chicago Tribune: "EY-ya-fyat-lah-YOH-kuht."

NPR: "AY-yah-fyah-lah-YOH-kuul."

We like the approach by the military: “E-15.”

The explanation for the military version is “E is for the first letter and 15 refers to the next 15 letters in Eyjafjallajokull.

However you pronounce it, it's a mouthful that is really three words in Icelandic meaning island mountain glacier.

Link