Spell phonetically, please

[Lanya]

White House upset over copy of Bush speech posted to U.N. website

Apparently, a marked-up draft of the president's speech popped up on the U.N.'s website as President Bush delivered his remarks this morning before the General Assembly, USA TODAY's David Jackson reports. The draft included phonetic spellings of some names and countries, and the cellphone numbers for Bush speechwriters.

Press secretary Dana Perino downplayed the incident, and said phonetic spellings are used to help interpreters. Asked if the president has trouble pronouncing some country's names, Perino deemed it "an offensive question."

"There was an error made," Perino said, noting it was not a final draft.

"It was taken down and there's nothing more to say about it."

Update at 12:43 p.m. ET: Here's the version they replaced it with on the U.N. website.

Update at 12:46 p.m. ET: Blake Hounshell at Foreign Policy says he has a copy of the speech that got the White House so worked up this morning. Here are some of the phonetic guides it included, according to the magazine's blog:

    ?  Kyrgyzstan [KEYR-geez-stan]
    ?  Mauritania [moor-EH-tain-ee-a]
    ?  Harare [hah-RAR-ray]
    ?  Mugabe [moo-GAH-bee]
    ?  Sarkozy [sar-KO-zee]
    ?  Caracas [kah-RAH-kus]

Update at 2:33 p.m. ET: Here's an excerpt from the press secretary's exchange with reporters about the speech snafu. It was released by the White House.

PERINO:  On the speech -- your question about the speech, the drafts are circulated, and there was an error made in trying to make sure that interpreters had what they needed.  I don't know how the draft of the speech -- it was not final -- was posted, but it was, and it was taken down.  There's really nothing more to say about it.

REPORTER: And they were phonetic spellings of various countries  -- as well, we understand.

PERINO:  That's not unusual.  We do that for many speeches.

REPORTER: Does the president have a hard time pronouncing some of these countries's [sic] name?

PERINO:  I think that's a offensive question. I'm going to just decline to comment on it.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/09/white-house-ups.html

[Xavier_Onassis]

?  Mauritania [moor-EH-tain-ee-a]

It's Moe- ree-TAIN-ee-ah. Really.

[kimba1]

uhm this is a non-issue
broadcast phonetic is made to prevent mispronouciations
in fact I find it impressive that the president can use it
I took broadcasting in college
it`s not a easy skill to learn.
in fact that reporter had no right to ask that question since it means nothing for the president not being able to say those countries
phonetics is a plus
the average person off the street can`t use broadcast phonetics

[Lanya]

I had no idea this was used routinely. Why's the White House upset, then?

I've never heard of broadcast phonetics. 
The kinds of phonics we learned in grade school, back in The Old Days, involved little marks over the vowels to denote which was a long vowel sound, which was short. 

[Amianthus]

Why's the White House upset, then?

<sarcasm>
Publishing an unreleased, early draft? Why would they get upset about that?
</sarcasm>

[kimba1]

unknown
but i think it`s a dying art
I hear broadcaster don`t use it anymore,but i hear alot of mistakes are being made also.
i know a radio guy say he hasn`t used it in years.
i think it might be because of the timely process to convert regular text to phonetics.
shame
without it were not gonna know which way to promounce schedule,route,potato

[Lanya]

Ami,
I understand that part, and it was a mistake on someone's part.  But if this is an aid typically used by public speakers to help them pronounce words, why deny it?  "It's an aid typically used..." etc. explains it very well.
 

[Xavier_Onassis]

There is an actual phonetic alphabet used by linguists that is far more accurate than this. There is one symbol for every sound that the human mouth is capable of making.


One would not expect it to be used by politicians, though.

As a rule, newscasters have a coach help them with difficult pronunciations. There is an online source that they can use that pronounces everything for them.

I am awaiting the moment that Juniorbush needs to mention thre Thai town of Phuket.

[BT]

Ami,
I understand that part, and it was a mistake on someone's part.  But if this is an aid typically used by public speakers to help them pronounce words, why deny it?  "It's an aid typically used..." etc. explains it very well.

I don't see any denials in this exchange. So why say there was?

I think the exchange is more indicative of the decline of journalism and the elevation of pettiness than anything.

[hnumpah]

I think the exchange is more indicative of the decline of journalism and the elevation of pettiness than anything.

Somehow the draft was released to the press. They sought clarification about how it was used. They published the story. What with Bush's problems speaking in the past, I don't see their questions as anything other than legitimate, or Perino's comment as anything other than an attempt to dodge the issue. Looks like everyone did their job, except whoever accidentally (or otherwise) released the draft to start with.

[_JS]

The worst was hearing them pronounce Qatar asd "cutter."

That makes my skin crawl everytime and Bush and Ari Fleischer were the worst at it.

I listened to Emir Hamad bin Khalifa pronounce it in English and it sure as hell was not "cutter."

As an aside, the program I watched on the country was really very fascinating. The Emir is quite an amazing individual.

[BT]

And i don't see anything wrong with pronunciation guides in the draft. And Perino was correct in ignoring the question.

Petty questions deserve and equal response.