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How do you say "Otto"


Fat Guy

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How is Otto pronounced? At first I thought just like the name Otto would be pronounced in English were it a person's name. Then I noticed that a few knowledgeable people were saying it "OH-to." Then I remembered the infamous risotto pronunciation thread, where I was guaranteed that no word ending in "otto" would ever be pronounced with a long "o" sound on the first "o." So which is it? "AH-to" or "OH-to" or something else?

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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The word "otto" in Italian is not pronounced in any manner that would rhyme with top or hot.  That is the English pronunciation.  The Italian pronunciation is with a long "o", as would rhyme with hoe.

Nope :biggrin: Of course, we have to allow for Italian regional dialect, but I know of no region of Italy which pronounces it as you describe. But then, we did have the same disagreement over risotto so I guess we're both being consistent :laugh:

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The word "otto" in Italian is not pronounced in any manner that would rhyme with top or hot.  That is the English pronunciation.  The Italian pronunciation is with a long "o", as would rhyme with hoe.

Nope :biggrin: Of course, we have to allow for Italian regional dialect, but I know of no region of Italy which pronounces it as you describe. But then, we did have the same disagreement over risotto so I guess we're both being consistent :laugh:

There must be a scientific way of settling this matter.

Perhaps two weeks in Italy? :wink:

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i think i'll call the place and see how *they* pronounce it, as it doesn't really matter how ron, macrosan, or someone from a small village in tuscany might.   :wink:

what if *they* all pronounce it differently? :blink:

they run a tight ship. i'd assume that the management has instructed all of those who answer the phone on how to pronounce the name of the restaurant. :smile:

Edited by tommy (log)
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Tommy, you keep out of this !!!

Ron has exactly the right approach to this, and I think that visit to Italy is not only an excellent suggestion, but may even be tax-deductible. I also heard a rumor that eGullet has a contingency fund for exactly this type of vital research. I am available any time after March, Ron.

Hmmm, how do you pronounce that ? Is it Ron as in hoe or Ron as in Ron ? :laugh:

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Careful, Ron. Bad boy. Next gratuitous personal comment, from anybody, will get deleted and flogging will ensue. As you know we are very harsh censors around here. We live for the delete button. Go ahead, make my day.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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Smilies denote joking.

I was under the impression that my disagreement with Nina and Macrosan, which has been ongoing since the risotto thread, was all in good fun.

(e.g. Macrosan and I are not really going to ask eGullet for money to go to Italy to decide the correct pronunciation.)

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We're talking about the Risotteria thread, right?

And actually, I'm the one who's right. Not that I've taken a position on Otto. But when I do, it will be right and all others will be wrong.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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Okay, here's what I said about the second and third syllables of risotto:

"The second and third syllables do not rhyme with "no" - it's a softer o, and we don't have it in English. The second and third syllables also do not rhyme exactly with each other - the third syllable has a slightly longer vowel. The the two t's are not pronounced like a d. It's a soft t - again, we don't have it in English."

Same applies for the two syllables of Otto.

Edited by La Niña (log)
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I've just learned that the correct pronunciation of Otto is:

!Otto

Similar to how the !Kung people would pronounce the word. A click followed by "t . . . toh."

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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