Oh dear! You have opened a very large can of worms for me. I ... oh heavens ... don't get me started ... or, alternatively, don't start me. The American way of pronunciation is an international curse; not so much in the way Americans mispronounce just about everything English, but the sycophantic way other nationalities ape this American sound. I watched the Australian Open [Tennis] the other week and Jim Courier, in his usual awful manner, calls Jokovic Joe Kuvich. Now, we all know Jokovic is pronounced Jock oh vich, but the malleable Aussie commentator succumbed to Courier's mispronunciation and began calling Jokovic Joe Kuvich. Once Courier had gone, the Aussie recanted and returned to the more acceptable Jock oh vich. I reflected as to why so many American Hispanics allow Americans to mispronounce the simple name Carlos. It becomes Car Low zz ... the oh sound becomes owe and the ss sound becomes zz. What can one do in face of this perversion of sound? I also cast my web about the commentators and media 'personalities' in whichever country I exist and try to get them to realise how awful the American bastardisation of sound has become.
I like the American sound in its context but the coca-colonisation of English and culture in an international context is baffling to me and I have studied this phenomenon to doctoral dissertation level.
http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare/archives/2008/02/the_tribal_mind_64.html
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