Strange as it can seem to some, Martians don't speak English, and English is not the official language of Mars. So, when International Astronomical Union named the crater bearing traces of an ancient lake after the Bosnian town of Jezero (meaning "lake" in many Slavic languages), it is decent to try and pronounce it in a way somewhat resembling the original. Doing otherwise is parochial.
So, dear Americans, try saying YEZ-ə-roh ("y" as in "you", more or less, and no traces of "oo" at the end).
For those who are not IPA-challenged, it is /ˈjɛzəɹo/ - 'y' in 'yes', 'e' in 'dress', 'z' in 'zoom', 'er' in 'letter', 'o' in 'code', approximately. But just switching that first consonant from "jazz" to "yes" will do.
BTW, Neretva delta that used to feed the Martian lake billions of years ago is named after a river also in Bosnia and Herzegovina, flowing briefly through Croatia before emptying into a lush, fertile delta and then Adriatic.
Incidentally, one of the hosts of NASA webcast of the Perseverance (nee Mars 2020) landing is named Marina Jurica. That last name is almost certainly from somewhere in former Yugoslavia (it is pronounced "'Yoo-ri-tsa", to use "English respelling" - stress on the first syllable, short vowels), so she should know the correct pronunciation. The fact she did not use it means that NASA official policy is to pretend that English is the only language in the world, indeed in the Solar system, if not the Universe.
Some would call this "American exceptionalism", Again, I call it parochialism, and not only Americans are guilty of it.
I will add this as a comment:
ReplyDeleteRaquel Villanueva, NASA/JPL commentator/producer, pronounced "Ars Technica" as "A.R.S. Technica", not realizing that "ars" is Latin for "art" or "skill".