Fee anne ch ch ch che toe
:)
It is an Italian word meaning "little flanking" and is pronounced in Italian as:
Fee-ahn-KEH-toh with the accent on the 3rd syllable.
Using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) we got [fjan´ keto]. I think it's a better definition than just say how it's supposed to sound in English.
Check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet
I've heard it both ways: with the 'ch' being soft like 'ch'eese or hard like 'ch'ianti???
Who knows the correct? Or are they both?
As noted above fianchetto is a loan word from Italian. The letter h in Italian is a hard sign, meaning that the letter in front of it changes to its hard form. In this case the c changes from the ch sound (like in ciao) to a k. So the word is pronounced:
fee ahn ket toh
But unfortunately nearly 100% of none Italian speaking chess players pronounce the word with the ch sound. I've given up politely pointing out the correct pronunciation it just isn't worth the effort.....
apparently it's FEE-AN-ket-TOE according to www.pronouncenames.com
Silman says the same thing. The ch is K.
you say tortila,
and i say tortilla,
you say vanilla,
and I say vaneeya
i say custard
simon says patio
The problem is that many of us have been saying Fee An Cheato for years :-)
Another one is the Pirc. Apparently pronounced "purse" not "perk"
The thing is there may be be a "correct" pronunciation, but when by common custom an incorrect pronuniciation is widely used it could cause more problems than to use the correct one ! :-)
When I first started chess I used to think the Sicilian was the "Silicon" Defence
I always thought it was pronounced "bishop to g7".
Actually, B-N2 covers all four possibilities. (Descriptive notation has some advantages!)
How do you pronounce 'fianchetto'?
Incorrectly, and I don't care.
I accept the 'K' sound as correct in the original Italian. I claim the 'ch' sound is correct for the American English. Heck, English gets a lot of words from other languages, why not appropriate this one and pronounce it the way we want?
I've heard it both ways: with the 'ch' being soft like 'ch'eese or hard like 'ch'ianti???
Who knows the correct? Or are they both?