How to pronounce my last name “BOEHME”:

In the German language my last name is spelled Böhme. Note the umlaut (two dots) over the vowel “o”. The English language has no equivalent vowel sound for the German “ö”. Somehow, as a result, the English language experts decided that the German vowel “ö” is to be pronounced as the English long vowel “ā” and spelled as “oe” in English. However, in German, the last letter of my last name “e” is never supposed to be silent, but rather is pronounced as “eh” in English. However, the English experts figure that it should not be pronounced in the English translation, but rather will modify the vowel and remain silent. I suppose that it is supposed to indicate the “ö” is to be pronounced as a long vowel. Whatever.

So in the English-speaking world, my last name is pronounced as “Bām”. This rhymes with the common English words came, dame, fame, game, lame, name, same, tame, etc. Do not attempt this pronunciation on the streets of Frankfurt, Hamburg, or Berlin.

In German the German long vowel “ö” is pronounced as a hard “er” in English. Try saying “er” with your lipped rolled and you may get it right. To really know if you are getting it right you will have to try it with someone that speaks German. I speak some German (but am certainly not fluent), so ask me if you really want to know. Ich spreche wenig Deutsche. Können Sie verstehen?

So, in Berlin, my name is pronounced with two syllables, as “Berhme”. However, here in the U.S., pronounce it as I have previously stated, as a one-syllable word. This will benefit you.

Why is this an important issue? One example is that students that attempt to come to my office often stop to ask staff for directions to my office. They mispronounce my name so badly that the are told, “there is no one here by that name”. This happens all the time.

Another important reason to pronounce my name correctly is that when students mispronounce my name, I usually assume that they have not read the syllabus and have not been to class.