I was recently a guest in the home of a man in New Mexico and he's originally from RSA (capetown) and were having a great chat about Africa when I mentioned gemsbok.....pronounced Gems Bock....gem like in Saddan & Gem orrah

He politely corrected me and said it was pronounced Hemsbok....(as in pants hem)...

Since he is from Africa I changed and now say hemsbok.....

Can anyone confirm the correct pronunciation...?

When I was in Namibia everyone said "Hemsbok." But, I still say "Gemsbok." Hope that helps!

Where I hunted in Namibia they were Oryx..

quote:

Originally posted by johnfox:
Where I hunted in Namibia they were Oryx..

Tomato . . . tomato. Wait, they both spell tomato. I think I messed up.

Potato . . . potato? Damn!

Seriously, neither you nor your friend are wrong or right, it's just geographically and culturally influenced linguistics and phonetics. German v. Dutch v. English influences I'd suspect.

In Afrikaans, a G is pronounced like an H.
However when I have spoken to PHs from S. Africa they have looked at me strangely when I said "Hemsbok" instead of "Gemsbok". Maybe they found it a little weird for an American pronounce it that way but I am sure that Afrikaners say "Hemsbok"

Same with Nyala. Some say "N-yala" and others "Nyala".

Gemsbok or Hemsbok?

We in America avoid sounds many other world languages employ. One of those is the rolled "r" familiar to Spanish hearers / speakers. Another is the gutteral sound familiar to Arabic/Hebrew/German/Dutch and Afrikaans speakers. It is rendered variously, "ch" in Yiddish, Scottish brogue, letters other than Roman (English) are used for many others. However, in Afrikaans "g" is used for the gutteral and "gh" for a hard G in loan words such as "ghitar" and "gholf".

For those who find themselves unable to render the gutteral, "Hemsbok" is what comes out, but you really need the phlegmy sound -- like Ahmed the Dead Terrorist uses.

BNagel is right on. Gemsbok is an Afrikaans word and only wussy English speakers, including those in South Africa and Namibia, pronounce it either "gems bok" (as in a precious stone gem) or "Hemsbok" without the guttural.

Best of the Season

Will, you are a funny boy!

PH's in both Zimbabwe (CM Safaris with Myles) and RSA (ABS with Reon) said hemsbuck when I hunted with them.

So, I do too...

In six to eight weeks mine will be headed stateside.

Rich

The Afrikaans "g" is a gutteral g, almost as though the speaker has a touch of flem in the throat. Everyone is capable of hacking. Give it a try and maybe next time you suprise your PH. As an aside, what I do find amusing, is watching a DVD with an obviously Afrikaans PH trying to talk with an American accent. Geez, ssooo phoney.

Years back, I was hunting with a client from Dallas [Tx], early morning found us on a hillside in the cold shade, glassing the opposite hillside for kudu or bushbuck. My client, after a time whispered,"What's standing next to the tank?" "TANK?" I glassed the whole hillside looking for a tank. Was it a Grant, a Churchhill, a T-55, an Oliphant, a 90mm Noddycar, a grain tank? I gave up trying to see a tank when my eyes started watering from the strain. "Where do you see a tank?" It turned out to be a stock dam, a small bulldozed pond for the retaining of rain water.

This is the first time that I have ever heard of a "Hemsbok"
Its pronounced Gemsbuck,as its spelt.

Maybe if you are from Mexico, its like "Jalepeno"

But never heard of a Hemsbok, would like to get myself one of them though...

The guttural H sound is sometimes spelt as Kh or even Qh in some languages. The Spanish Jalapeno is not so guttural & more like a normal Ha sound.

I have noticed that many Americans and even Kiwis and Australians seem to find it difficult to pronounce names of other languages correctly or even close. On the other hand I have been surprised by Germans who were pretty good at pronouncing my name correctly the first time.

Adding to my earlier post re my Namibian PH referring to oryx instead of gemsbok, we also hunted springbuck not springbok.
Clearly it's a regional thing.

Cultural rather than regional.

Those from an Afrikaans bachground will usually use hemsbok and springbok whereas those from a British (etc) background will use gemsbuck and springbuck etc.

quote:

Those from an Afrikaans bachground will usually use hemsbok and springbok whereas those from a British (etc) background will use gemsbuck and springbuck etc.

Simply not true Steve, I have NEVER heard ANY local (Boer, Brit or German background) use the Hemsbok pronounciation.
All know how to pronounce a G, it may sound like a H to Americans, but no one actually pronounce it that way. This is one of the reasons I prefer to say oryx, as I hate to start the G pronounciation lesson, with 90% fail rate...

Karl,

I've got a fair number of friends who have Afrikaans as their first language and I doubt any of them would usually use the G pronuncuation and I doubt any of my friends who have English as a first language, would usually use the H pronunciation.

'Praps we should just settle on oryx.

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
.......would usually use the H pronunciation.

Steve, but that's my point, there simply is not a H pronunctiation. To the untrained ear, an Afrikaans G and an H may sound simmilar, but to someone with at least the basics of Afrikaans under the knee, it sounds preposterous to say Hemsbok. In fact, where I grew up, it sounded more like gêsbok (with an almost silent m, maybe even sounding like a n, and the e drawn out.)

I agree with Karl,
I've been hunting all my life, and have never heard locals nor foreigners pronounce or spell it Hemsbok.

Springbuck vs Springbok , well a buck in Afrikaans is bok, so I think its only the Afrikaans translation to the English name.

Much ado about nothing. [sorry Bill] JUST SHOOT THE DAMN THING! The one second left with the forty inch pins.

It's probably a regional accent. It's like talking to a Southerner and a Bostonian at the same time. It doesn't sound like the same language.

this is worse than trying to figure out what a brit is saying
a friend of mine in Nairobi was saying poouuie I ask him three time what he mean he finally got fustrated and spelled it. he was saying PIE. as in he wanted to get a slice of pooouuie

This is to deep for me. All I know is that they did not care what I called them , they just died when I shot them and the ph added the trophy fee to the list.

JD

Some Americans haven't figured out that there is no letter E in corn or acorn. They say akern when describing the things that fall from Oak Trees!

Kalagari Horyx.

quote:

Originally posted by Tracker49:
Some Americans haven't figured out that there is no letter E in corn or acorn. They say akern when describing the things that fall from Oak Trees!

And some say Hornaday...

It is a bit strange, this pronunciation business.....

Pronouncing the "G" is wrong, pronouncing the H without the "CHHGGG" in the back of the throat is wrong, but trying to pronounce it like you are fluent in Afrikaans makes a native English speaker feel silly. It's a bit like pronouncing "springbok" with the slightly trilled "r" and the "o" coming deep from the back of ones throat....as with an Afrikaans accent. With any language, I try to pronounce properly without making it sound like I am offering a caricature of the accent.

My take on it was that the G sound in Afrikaans was a noise not used in polite company in the US.

With three groups of American hunters all trying to pronounce "Gemsbok" in camp our PH gave up and said it was pronounced "Oryx"

Thing is this...

People from different parts of the world have different ways of pronuncing words / letters... There's no "right" and "wrong". E.g. the Spanish pronunciation of the letter "X" is much different to what it is in the English alphabet (Mexico) as are the letters "l", "j" and "h" to name but a few...When a Spanish speaking person talk about Mallorca it will sound to non-Spanish speaking folk like "Majorca"... Is one right and another wrong? Of course not!

In the same sense - the Afrikaans pronunciation of the word "Gemsbok" is different to the English way of pronunciating the same word. There's no right and wrong way... and unfortunately discussions like this in the written word does not do much to clear things up... This is the beauty of being able to hear and speak...

Whether you tell me you want to hunt a "Gemsbok", "Gemsbuck", or "Hemsbok" I'll know what you are talking about... Come and hunt one of them and I'll be happy to give you a free lesson as far as the "Afrikaans" way of pronuncing the word is concerned...

Regards,

I'm sure some of you African PHs are having a good chuckle over us Americans making a big deal about how we should pronounce gemsbok.

But if you really want to give your PH a good chuckle, the next time you're over there and see a shootable warthog, point at it and excitedly exclaim, "vlakvark, vlakvark!!!!!"

The most important phrase to remember & pronunce correctly is:

Would you like to have an Ardbeg with me?

I remember walking around at the Houston Safari Club show a few years ago.....and hearing a fellow Texan (who I might add was also a little drunk) tell his buddies about his trip to South Africa where he shot a "Jemsbuck", a "Dewker", and a "Steambuck".....apparently referring to Gemsbok, Duiker, and Steenbok.

I could not help but giggle.....

I 'spect a hemsbuck would love t' munch an akern if given d'chance...

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
The most important phrase to remember & pronunce correctly is:

Would you like to have an Ardbeg with me?

That sounds like something that could get one landed on the floor....

OK...I give up.....what does that mean?

Is it a brand of Scotch?

Vapodog

Yes Ardbeg is a scotch and it is also Steves fuel
It may in fact be the nectar of the gods probably way to good for him.


SSR

It's a fantastically good (Islay) single malt whisky.

http://www.ardbeg.com/home

I enjoy all the malts but especially the islay malts that have a very peaty flavour..... and of the Islay malts, I enjoy Ardbeg the most. If you can't buy Ardbeg in your neck of the woods, Laphroaig is a very enjoyable alternative. http://www.laphroaig.com/

All malts are (IMO) best drunk with about the same (or slightly less) amount of good water (this is called releasing the dragon) and I'd recommend you avoid adding ice as it kills all the subtleties of aroma and taste.

An interesting read on the subject that explains malt whisky is an easy way is 'The Malt Whisky File' by John Lamond & John Tucek if anyone is interested. - Esp useful is you can email John Lamond with any questions etc and he's always happy to help with informed comment.

And yes, too much of it can get you landed on the floor!

quote:

Originally posted by Eland Slayer:
.....and hearing a fellow Texan ...tell his buddies about his trip to South Africa where he shot a "Jemsbuck", a "Dewker", and a "Steambuck"

Those animals probably look great right next to his Wilderbeast.

Me and 1200 other members in my branch of our hunting society calls it a Gemsbok