Why do Germans normally pronounce the word Curry differently from the English pronunciation – after all, the latter contains no foreign sounds. Is it the spelling that puts them off? Do all nationalities have this problem with words with foreign spelling?
The large Duden confirms my impression from watching German TV cooks that the main pronunciation is a bit like Körri, with a secondary pronunciation more like the English one.
1) ‘koeri (the o and e are supposed to be joined)
2) ‘kari
Perhaps Phonoloblog would know?
Which English pronunciation? I’ll bet you an aloo nan that ‘kri is the result of imitating British soldiers, most of whom were not from sri.
Stupid link: http://www.curry-deutschland.de/
You think they’ve been talking to the Welsh?
Surely the “r” in the English pronunciation of “curry” is not a typical German “r”. I’d expect the former to be an apico-domal approximant (maybe an apico-alveolar tap or trill in the North), while the latter is a uvular trill.
My (American, inland North) pronunciation is probably even more unamiable to German phonology: I have a syllabic r in the first syllable, so I say [‘kr.i].
Yes, you may be right that the R is causing the problem. Germans do have difficulty pronouncing the English r, whether their own r is uvular or a trill or whatever, and that may help cause the vowel problem.