[Lingtyp] IPA for linguists' names

Sun Sep 6 05:25:20 UTC 2026

Dear Jocelyn,
thank you for your detailed letter. Below are the points.

On 05.09.2026 23:25, Jocelyn Aznar via Lingtyp wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> I think the initiative is interesting but, here are some comments and 
> reservations:
>
> - Having a list like this without the agreement of the people 
> concerned is not the nicest move, especially on Google doc. Yes, some 
> of those information are public, but some of the people in the list 
> could have some reservations/concerns about the purpose of the 
> document or might not even adhere to its purpose.
On the one hand, all information not added by people themselves is taken 
from public online sources; people add further information voluntarily. 
On the other hand, this table does not contain any sensitive personal 
information – no emails, place of residence, place of work, position, etc.
> - There isn't only one valid pronunciation of my name.

The IPA column allows you to specify multiple pronunciation variants, 
both equivalent and language-specific.

>
> - I'm ok with people having difficulties pronouncing my name (at the 
> end of the day, no one can master the pronunciation of the many 
> phonologies we work with in our profession).
> - Pushing people to pronounce your name following your expectations 
> can cause situations in which they feel really ill at ease because 
> they cannot pronounce your name.
Well, we don't force people to pronounce the names exactly this way, but 
we do give them a reference point. For example, when I just see the name 
Jocelyn, I don't even know what the first sound might be – [ʤ / ʒ / x / 
j] or something else.
> - I'm also ok with people adapting my name if it is too hard to 
> pronounce, that's usually what happens in practice.
> - From a more technical angle,it would make more sense if the IPA 
> transcription follows the same order of the first name + other name.
Okay, maybe. But this way one can show the order in which a person 
prefers to pronounce their name. (By the way, the most common order in 
this column is: first name + other name.)
>
> Except the first point, all of my reservations are, I think, 
> addressable with some more columns to the spreadsheet.
>
> That being written, I also understand that when you come from an 
> oppressed background, like systematic oppression of your culture or 
> identity by the State or the people around you, having your named 
> acknowledged properly is an important topic. But the points I raised 
> are not in contradiction with this issue in the end, just nuances.
>
> Best,
> aka Jocelyn, Joce, Jos, Jo, Jojo, George, Josiu, Joselinas,
Yours,
Yuri
>
> Le 05/09/2026 à 19:35, Hartmut Haberland via Lingtyp a écrit :
>> This is a great initiative. Some of my publications have been 
>> translated into Japanese, and I have given lectures in Japan where my 
>> name was given on posters and websites in /katakana/, with a number 
>> of variations, in part based on spelling rather than pronunciation. I 
>> would go for ハートムート・ハーバーランド, since it is closest to the way 
>> I pronounce my name (Northern German, grown up in Hanover) and not 
>> least because ハーバーランドis also the name of a shopping mall in Kobe 
>> (Harborland, of course) 😊. (ハートムット・ハバーランドis OK, too, of 
>> course, and one could indeed discuss if ムットis not more adequate by 
>> focussing on the unstressed vowel indeed being short while its 
>> tenseness is better expressed by ムート; ハーバーランドis definitely the 
>> better solution.)
>>
>> *Hartmut Haberland*
>>
>> [haɐ̯tmu:t hɑ:bεɐ̯lant]
>> Professor (mso) emeritus
>>
>> KORAL_GRAA_300KORAL_GRAA_300
>> *Roskilde Universitet*
>> Institut for Kommunikation og Humanistisk Videnskab
>>
>> Universitetsvej 1
>> DK-4000 Roskilde
>> Telefon: +45 46742841
>>
>> *Fra:*Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> *På vegne 
>> af *Yuri Koryakov via Lingtyp
>> *Sendt:* 5. september 2026 17:58
>> *Til:* lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
>> *Emne:* [Lingtyp] IPA for linguists' names
>>
>> Dear colleagues,
>>
>> Many of us have encountered a situation where we need to pronounce 
>> the name of a linguist, but we don’t know how. Or we need to write 
>> down someone’s name in another script (Cyrillic, Arabic, Japanese, 
>> Chinese, etc.), and this again requires correct pronunciation.
>>
>> As a result, you have to look for pronunciation instructions on 
>> personal webpages, listen to recordings on YouTube, ask friends, and 
>> so on, but it is much more convenient when such information is 
>> collected in one place.
>>
>> To do this, I created the editable list of names and their 
>> transcriptions here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/ 
>> d/1zFKZp2e6dvfw_JQqX7904xY1GnqOwaopD2gnb3ytilA/edit?gid=0#gid=0 
>> <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/ 
>> d/1zFKZp2e6dvfw_JQqX7904xY1GnqOwaopD2gnb3ytilA/edit?gid=0#gid=0>
>>
>> The *General Guide* “How to add your name to the list” is available 
>> in the Info tab ( https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/ 
>> d/1zFKZp2e6dvfw_JQqX7904xY1GnqOwaopD2gnb3ytilA/edit? 
>> gid=863783271#gid=863783271 <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/ 
>> d/1zFKZp2e6dvfw_JQqX7904xY1GnqOwaopD2gnb3ytilA/edit? 
>> gid=863783271#gid=863783271>  ).
>>
>> Additional difficulties that this project allows to solve:
>>
>> a) distinguishing the surname from other names (necessary for the 
>> correct compilation of bibliographies and especially relevant for 
>> languages with a different order of components in the name or for 
>> names consisting of more than two words)
>>
>> b) indicating gender pronouns – he / she / they – useful in many 
>> languages when you need to, for example, refer to the author.
>>
>> If you are in doubt whether you should indicate yourself, you can use 
>> the following criterion as a working one: if you have published at 
>> least one article or had one presentation at a conference, you can 
>> safely provide your name. Also if people pronounce your name 
>> differently from how you’d like it to be pronounced, or if you’ve 
>> ever been asked how to pronounce your name, that’s a hint that you 
>> should provide that information.
>>
>> If you can’t/don’t want to add your data to the sheet yourself, you 
>> can send it to me by email . Also write if you have any 
>> questions/comments/ suggestions etc.
>>
>> Yours,
>> Yuri Koryakov
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Lingtyp mailing list
>> Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
>> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp
>
> _______________________________________________
> Lingtyp mailing list
> Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lingtyp/attachments/20260906/0a07ab98/attachment.htm>