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Tommasini

English translation: Tommasini

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Italian term or phrase:Tommasini
English translation:Tommasini
Entered by: Nicola (Mr.) Nobili

11:52 Jan 4, 2006
Italian to English translations [PRO]
Names (personal, company) / name
Italian term or phrase: Tommasini
How you pronounce it: with s or z in the middle?


I put it in this pair, becuase I presume this is Italian name and I hope to get the answer A.S.A.P.
Natalia Elo
Germany
Local time: 19:57
Tommasini
Explanation:
The pronunciation is roughly the following:

/tomma'?ini/

The "o" is a closed vowel, the "m" is a long consonant (typical of Italian), the two "i" are slightly longer than the "i" in "brick" and ? is...

Hey, that's the rub! In Northern Italy people would certainly pronounce it as "z" in English, this normally happens when a "s" is between two vowels.

In Southern Italy, people would certainly pronounce it like "s" in "sun".

In other words, it depends on the Italian region where a speaker is from. Unlike in English (lose vs. loose, his vs. hiss, plays vs. place), there are no minimal pairs involving the two sounds /s/ and /z/. For this reason, Italians do not really care, in all likelihood they will not even hear the difference, or vaguely sense the speaker is from another part of the country, but certainly do not confuse the meaning of a word because of this tiny detail.

In addition to this, I should like to mention this surname has a slight variation: "Tomassini". In this case, the double "s" is a long consonant and sounds like "s" in "sun" (undoubtedly). Make sure the surname is right, confusing the two is quite easy.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 31 mins (2006-01-04 12:23:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Since I read you are Russian, let me explain it some other way: áóêâà "s" ïðîèçíîñèòñÿ "ñ" èëè "ç", â çàâèñèìîñòè îò îáëàñòè. Íî â îòëè÷èè îò ðóññêîãî ÿçûêà (ñëîé è çëîé, ñìåé è çìåé...) - ýòî ñîâñåì íå âàæíî, ïðîñòî íåâîçìîæíî ïóòàòü çíà÷åíèå.

֏!
Selected response from:

Nicola (Mr.) Nobili
Italy
Local time: 19:57
Grading comment
Thank you
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +8Tommasini
Nicola (Mr.) Nobili
4 +3With an s
Jo Macdonald
5S
Debora Villa


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
With an s


Explanation:


Hi Natalia,
I’d say with an s, as in Thomas. Tommasini = a little Thomas
;-)



Jo Macdonald
Spain
Local time: 19:57
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Alfredo Tutino: at least two little Thomases, in fact... ;-)
2 mins
agree  BrigitteHilgner: With Alfredo.
9 mins
agree  silvia tamanini
16 mins
neutral  Nicola (Mr.) Nobili: It exclusively depends on the region of Italy... Yes, in the North an "s" between two vowels is almost invariably /z/. See my comments below.
16 mins
  -> Thanks guys. Alfredo, yep many of them. ;-) Nicola, would it be pronounced more with a z in the Northern regions you reckon? Actually, I have friends from the Bolzzzzzzano area who pronounce everything like that.
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3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
S


Explanation:
it's an Italian name and the pronounciation is with S

Debora Villa
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:57
Native speaker of: Italian

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Nicola (Mr.) Nobili: Yes, but that does not say anything about the actual pronunciation of "s": like in "lose" or like in "lost"? See my answer below.
22 mins
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25 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +8
Tommasini


Explanation:
The pronunciation is roughly the following:

/tomma'?ini/

The "o" is a closed vowel, the "m" is a long consonant (typical of Italian), the two "i" are slightly longer than the "i" in "brick" and ? is...

Hey, that's the rub! In Northern Italy people would certainly pronounce it as "z" in English, this normally happens when a "s" is between two vowels.

In Southern Italy, people would certainly pronounce it like "s" in "sun".

In other words, it depends on the Italian region where a speaker is from. Unlike in English (lose vs. loose, his vs. hiss, plays vs. place), there are no minimal pairs involving the two sounds /s/ and /z/. For this reason, Italians do not really care, in all likelihood they will not even hear the difference, or vaguely sense the speaker is from another part of the country, but certainly do not confuse the meaning of a word because of this tiny detail.

In addition to this, I should like to mention this surname has a slight variation: "Tomassini". In this case, the double "s" is a long consonant and sounds like "s" in "sun" (undoubtedly). Make sure the surname is right, confusing the two is quite easy.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 31 mins (2006-01-04 12:23:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Since I read you are Russian, let me explain it some other way: áóêâà "s" ïðîèçíîñèòñÿ "ñ" èëè "ç", â çàâèñèìîñòè îò îáëàñòè. Íî â îòëè÷èè îò ðóññêîãî ÿçûêà (ñëîé è çëîé, ñìåé è çìåé...) - ýòî ñîâñåì íå âàæíî, ïðîñòî íåâîçìîæíî ïóòàòü çíà÷åíèå.

֏!

Nicola (Mr.) Nobili
Italy
Local time: 19:57
Native speaker of: Native in ItalianItalian
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thank you

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Stefano Asperti: In northern Italy it's usually pronounced with /z/ (i.e. the "s" in "lose"). That's also the pronounciation in standard Italian / I'm perfectly aware of it :-) I studied linguistics and I'm an actor ;-)
7 mins
  -> "Standard" Italian is an artificial language only linguists and theatre actors study. In any case, as far as Natalia is concerned, there is no practical difference.
agree  Cynthia Cook
13 mins
agree  Jo Macdonald: Yep, much better answer than mine. Nice one Nicola.
22 mins
agree  Alessandra Sticotti (X)
1 hr
agree  silvia b (X): it's definitely a voiced /z/ in standard Italian, in my opinion
1 hr
agree  Alfredo Tutino: You're right - I'm a southerner and do tend to overlook the fact that some Norhtern barbarians pretend they speak Italian... ;-) ... - and let's not get started on the correct way of pronouncing the consonant "z" :-)
1 hr
agree  Chiara Cacucci
2 hrs
agree  lanzarotti
4 hrs
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