Q2.1
Where does Bjork come from?
A2.1
Bjork is Icelandic. She was born in Reykjavik (Iceland's capital city) and
has lived there all her life, up until 1993 when she decided to move to
London, England, for the sake of her career.
Q2.2
What is Bjork's full REAL name?
A2.2
Her real name is "Bjork Gudmundsdottir". This is the only way it can be
written in English Text. There is actually three special Icelandic
characters in her name which are un-printable in standard ASCII.
The 'o' in Bjork has got two dots above it (ASCII-246), and is pronounced
similar to the "ur" combination of letters in the English language, the
same vowel sound that is used in the word "Turn". The first 'd' in
Gudmundsdottir is actually a letter that looks similar to a 'd', but it is
curled over, and has a bar drawn through the top (ASCII-240) and is
pronounced like the English sound "th" with a vibration on the tongue as
in the word "The". Finally, the last 'o' in Gudmundsdottir has an acute
accent above it (ASCII-243), and is pronounced as a short 'o' sound as in
the English word "Hot".
"Gudmundsdottir" quite literally means "Gudmund's Daughter"
Q2.3
So how am I supposed to be pronouncing her name then?
A2.3
You should pronounce her name as "Byerk". However, you will probably find
that many British and American TV and radio personalities will call her
"Beyork", which (of course) is wrong. Because many people foolishly think
of her as "Beyork", you will quite often have to revert to this pronunciation
when asking for Bjork items in shops for example, otherwise they might not
know who you are talking about.
Bjork herself says that she does not mind that people always mis-pronounce
her name. I'm sure that if she *did* mind, she could quite easily have set
everyone straight a long time ago if she had really wanted to.
Gid's Note:
To actually hear Bjork speak, download the file Bjorktalk.zip on ftp.uwp.edu
where Bjork actually speaks her name several times. I also have a sound
clip of her saying her Sirname if anybody wants it.
Q2.3
So how am I supposed to be pronouncing her name then?
A2.3
You should pronounce her name as "Byerk". However, you will probably find
that many British and American TV and radio personalities will call her
"Beyork", which (of course) is wrong. Because many people foolishly think
of her as "Beyork", you will quite often have to revert to this pronunciation
when asking for Bjork items in shops for example, otherwise they might not
know who you are talking about.
Bjork herself says that she does not mind that people always mis-pronounce
her name. I'm sure that if she *did* mind, she could quite easily have set
everyone straight a long time ago if she had really wanted to.
Gid's Note:
To actually hear Bjork speak, download the file Bjorktalk.zip on ftp.uwp.edu
where Bjork actually speaks her name several times. I also have a sound
clip of her saying her Sirname if anybody wants it.
Her surname is pronounced as "Gwithemundsdotter". This is a very difficult
sound to describe in English text. It was sounded to my ears recently by an
Icelander that lives close to me, but I'm an Englishman who struggles just
as much with Icelandic pronunciation as anyone else, so I would welcome any
other native Icelander to correct me if I'm wrong.
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