I find the American pronunciation of Sportage weird.

"not for canada - australian in disguise" (for-canada)
03/17/2016 at 16:23 • Filed to: None

I’ve always pronounced it as “Sport(ah)ge”, as do most people I know. Is this other pronunciation just an American thing?

DISCUSSION (54)

HammerheadFistpunch > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 16:30

portage - Sportage

Sam > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 16:30

Nope, you just pronounce it wrong.

Master Cylinder > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 16:31

Huh. I never knew there was another pronunciation.

I have only ever heard it pronounced like “shortage,” except with a p instead of an h.

interstate366, now In The Industry > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 16:31

Yep, I’ve always heard it the way it is in the video.

Slightly OT, I’ve heard Prelude pronounced three different ways: prey-lood (US), pree-lood (Canada), and prell-yood (UK).

BJ > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 16:31

Yeahn prononce it “sport-AHGE” too. I’ll bet a lot of Canadians pronounce it the American way as well. I wonder how it was marketed? Was pronunciation different in the TV ads?

RallyWrench > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 16:34

I read in an early road test of the first generation model that it’s pronounced as “Mortgage”, and my buddy at the Kia dealer pronounces it that way.

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 16:34

We’re inherently lazy so Sportage with the “a” sounding like “i” in “in” works for me.

Wobbles the Mind > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 16:38

We tend to focus on the most important portion of a word and de-emphasize everything else around it. In Sportage, the “Sport” is the most important aspect of the word. “Age” is then de-emphasized to an “ehg” sound. Thus, Sportehg.

Jaguar - “Jag” is the most important part. “U-Ar” is de-emphasized to “wahr” leaving Jagwahr. Notice the words are still recognizible even when written because we accentuate the defining aspect of a word.

There is a backwoods logic to speaking American!

Patrick Nichols > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 16:38

SK manufacturers have a tendency to pick names that don’t make a lot of marketing sense for the english speaking markets. I always thought it was pronounced hun-deye until they had that weird “like sunday” commercial.

Biased Plies > HammerheadFistpunch
03/17/2016 at 16:38

Amusingly, portage is similarly pronounced as port(ah)ge here. I’m fairly sure portage originates in French so I’m going to claim our pronunciation to be correct.

BJ > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 16:39

Here’s an ad that uses the American pronunciation:

But the Aussies use the Canadian version:

And this commercial, which I think ends in Korean, sounds like the American pronunciation:

So there you have it - I have come to absolutely no definitive conclusion about how to say Sportage.

HammerheadFistpunch > Biased Plies
03/17/2016 at 16:41

Websters says both is correct but that the first pronunciation is more common. I’m not saying SportAHG is wrong, I’m saying its less right. However, given that there is no context for a hard “A” there, im still saying that its Portij, Sportij soft “a” style

Biased Plies > HammerheadFistpunch
03/17/2016 at 16:48

Webster’s is an American dictionary so it’s only natural for it to claim that pronunciation to be correct. It also claims color to be an acceptable spelling of colour so I ‘harumph’ in your general direction. :P

not for canada - australian in disguise > interstate366, now In The Industry
03/17/2016 at 16:51

I actually pronounce Prelude the UK way, apparently. Celica is another term that’s different in the US and Canada, in Canada it’s sel-eek-a, while in the States it’s sell-i-ka.

not for canada - australian in disguise > BJ
03/17/2016 at 16:52

I have no idea as I can’t find a Canadian Sportage ad. I think it might’ve been. Might just be the French pronunciations of certain suffixes creeping through.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 16:55

This is a frustration really not aimed at you so I apologize in advance if it comes off that way.

Why the hell does everyone in the world give a damn how we pronounce stuff or how big our soda cups are? All over the internet in all kinds of things I see “why do the americans do it this way?!?!” Leave us the hell alone you don’t see me running around complaining about how you do stuff in your country.

Areas of our country even say things completely differently vs another area.

Which also happens in Canada

/endrant

Sorry, really didn’t mean that to go off the rails on you there, it’s a general rant really not at you.

not for canada - australian in disguise > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
03/17/2016 at 16:57

It’s pop, not soda.

Cé hé sin > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 16:57

The Americans pronounce a lot of things unexpectedly.

Niche, for example. Or coupé. Or tomato. Or Hyundai.

not for canada - australian in disguise > Cé hé sin
03/17/2016 at 16:59

To be fair, Hyundai is really just a complete grey area when it comes to pronunciation. I’ve heard it pronounced as hoonday, henday, hyoon-day, hyoon-dai, hoon-dai, hi-un-dai, hi-un-day, etc. I think I pronounce it a different way every time I say it.

RazoE > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 16:59

you son of a.....

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 16:59

I’ve always pronounced it as “Sport(ah)ge”

Are you a pirate?! :D

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 17:00

No. It’s soda. -_-

Svend > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 17:00

I find it funny how he pronounces Sportage how we in the U.K. Pronounce garage, yet we pronounce Sportage how the U.S. Pronounce garage. It's a funny world.

not for canada - australian in disguise > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow
03/17/2016 at 17:00

That would be sport-arr-ge. Which is how I’d imagine Irish people say it.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 17:01

I can at least partially agree that pop works, but anyone who calls every type of soda a coke need to be taken out back and shot

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 17:02

It’s hard to enunciate with a whiskey bottle in your mouth.

Cé hé sin > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 17:03

I’ve only ever heard it as Hi-un-die in ads so Hi-un-die it is.

Similarly I’ve heard Dacia as, well, Dacia so that’s how it’s said. Should be Dacha, according to my non-existent Romanian.

Cé hé sin > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 17:04

Both are wrong.

Soft drink.

not for canada - australian in disguise > Cé hé sin
03/17/2016 at 17:06

Soft Drink in Canada is used to refer to all non-alcoholic drinks, that’s weird hearing it refer to fizzy sugar water in specific.

not for canada - australian in disguise > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow
03/17/2016 at 17:07

At least you’re not calling it soda pop, or worse, coke.

**shudders**

Svend > Cé hé sin
03/17/2016 at 17:08

Leisure, basil, oregano, Jaguar, nissan, rissotto, etc...

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 17:08

Yeah, I head that calling them all “Coke” and asking “What flavor Coke do you want?” is a north eastern thing. Weirdos.

BJ > interstate366, now In The Industry
03/17/2016 at 17:10

UK pronunciation for this canuck as well.

BJ > Biased Plies
03/17/2016 at 17:17

Portage is a French word that has the same meaning as the English word. The French word is pronounced pretty much as proposed by the dictionary: port-azhe.

In English I always pronounce it the American way: portij. And yet I give the car a fancy French sounding name... There’s no logic to any of this!

interstate366, now In The Industry > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 17:19

UK pronounces Celica the same way as you.

Chasaboo > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 17:21

We say it: SPORT-ah-jee here in SoCal. How do you say it?

TheOnelectronic > Cé hé sin
03/17/2016 at 17:30

I’d blame James May for “day-see-uh”

TheOnelectronic > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 17:32

It’s soda you godless heathen. Pop is what the douchebags from Chicago say. Do you want to be a douchebag from Chicago!?

not for canada - australian in disguise > TheOnelectronic
03/17/2016 at 17:36

Yes.

deprecated account > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 17:37

I pronounce it “sport-ij”

TheOnelectronic > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 17:39

I’m going to give you a pass because you lack the cultural context AKA being from southern Illinois to truly understand how obnoxious Chicagoans can be. An entire city with an inferiority complex.

Cé hé sin > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 18:24

Same here but we just don’t have a specific word for sugary drinks. The word “soda” is completely unknown and you don’t hear “pop” any more..

Cé hé sin > Svend
03/17/2016 at 18:26

What do they call basil and risotto?

Anyway, Mazda, Vietnam, Chrysler...no end to them.

Hoccy > not for canada - australian in disguise
03/17/2016 at 18:51

In Norway we pronounce it like in the video, though I’ve heard “Sport-age” as well.

KirkyV > Cé hé sin
03/17/2016 at 19:31

It’s like ‘baysil’ instead of ‘bahsil’, and ‘ri-s oh -t oh ’ instead of ‘riz-otto’. Don’t forget about cilantro/coriander. That one confused me for years, largely ‘cause of Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

Cé hé sin > KirkyV
03/17/2016 at 19:37

And courgette. They pronounce that as “zucchini”