Forums

How do you pronounce 'fianchetto'?

Sort:
drmellie

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?

Xillengold

Fee anne ch ch ch che toe

:)

Skakmati

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.

georgez

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

drusch
drmellie wrote:

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.....

oinquarki
Anothernewjack wrote:

Fee ann che toe


bugoobiga

it rhymes with

beyond ghetto

Skwerly
muzza2 wrote:

apparently it's FEE-AN-ket-TOE according to www.pronouncenames.com


Silman says the same thing.  The ch is K.

bugoobiga

you say tortila,

and i say tortilla,

you say vanilla,

and I say vaneeya

Tyzer

I pronounce it "awesome".

ichabod801

I pronounce it "flank"

tonymtbird
ichabod801 wrote:

I pronounce it "flank"


lol

pogopup

It's pronounced fee-on-ket-toe

Fromper
ichabod801 wrote:

I pronounce it "flank"


I always thought it was pronounced "bishop to g7".

Skwerly

Haha, hey Fromper!  I know ya from Chessforums.org, I believe!  :)

 

*waves!

LordJones3rd
bugoobiga wrote:

you say tortila,

and i say tortilla,

you say vanilla,

and I say vaneeya


 i say custard

simon says patio

MrNimzoIndian

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

Bur_Oak

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?

DeepGreene

fianchetto = Fee-an-ketto

Chianti = Kee-aunty

bruschetta = Brus-ketta

(Being right is more important than being popular. Wink )

BenWilliamson

Is it actually Brus-ketta? I've been saying Brue-shetta. Filthy upbringing!