How to Pronounce Pierre Dragicevic

Don't try to pronounce my full name perfectly, because it would require you to mix the French and Croatian accents and it would sound weird.

  • If you speak English, say Pierre the way you usually do and say Dragicevic as follows: The beginning is just like the English verb to drag. The two i are like the "ee" in beet. The two c are like the "t" in nature. Finally, the e is like the "e" in bed. Read the r as you usually do.

  • If you speak French, say "dr' agissez vite" but replace the final "t" with a k sound.

  • If you speak Chinese, Pierre approximately reads 皮尔. I was told there was no way to transcribe Dragicevic. You can use the name 龙磊 that has been given to me by Bi Xiaojun or my nickname 石头.

    More info on pronouncing Pierre

    In France, Pierre is pronounced / p j ɛː ʁ / , like the common noun which means stone. You can hear it here. I however switch to / p j ɛː ɻ / in English (like here) after several failed attemps at making myself understood.

    More info on pronouncing Dragicevic

    In Croatia, my name is spelled Dragičević and pronounced / d r a g i ʧ ɛː v i ʨ / (similar to the English pronunciation explained before), with a stress on the second and third syllables. You can hear it at the beginning of this recording.

    To make it easier for French people, my father removed the diacritics and gallicized its pronunciation into / d ʁ a ʒ i s e v i k /, which differs a lot from the original one. It does seem to make it easier for many French people, but English speakers seem very confused by this pronunciation and find it difficult.

    The inverted circumflex on the č is called a caron. Phonetically, the distinction between č and ć is somewhat subtle (I don't get it).

    References

    IPA. Handbook of the International Phonetic Association : A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet. Cambridge University Press, June 28, 1999. ISBN: 0521637511.

    This book is an excellent introduction to phonetics. Phonetics is cool!

    The University of Victoria also has a very cool phonetic chart with audio recordings.

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