Briek Schotte

"Mike Owens" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

We were talking to a 60-something year old cycling fan in a pub in Brakel
this past April and noted that we had stopped by Schotte's statue in
Kanegem on the way back from the RVV start in Brugge. I have no doubt
that we butchered the propper pronounciation of his name by calling him
'Breek Shotta' but this guy seemed to pronounce as 'Brick Roke-uh'. Can I
get a definitive pronounciation from our Flemish or Dutch contingent?
Thanks.

"Breek" is OK. It's true that a lot of Belgians are pronouncing it "Brick",
but that's because it's often spelled "Brik" instead of "Briek". He did it
himself, but he explained to me that it was only because he had to his
signatures so many times on programs, etc. that he thought it was costing
less energy if he omitted a letter. Of course, it was exactly that mentality
which made him win two times the world championship.
"Schotte" should be pronounced "Schot-thuh", which is only easy for
Dutchmen, Flemings, Arabs, Russians, Spanish and Scots, because the "ch"
should be pronounced like the "ch" in Loch Lomond or the "J" in "Jaime" (the
way they pronounce it in Spain, in South Amnerica).

Benjo

BrriK SkOtah is about as close as most Americans will get.

"T Ruth" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

BrriK SkOtah is about as close as most Americans will get.

It doesn't matter. For most Belgians "Briek" (pronounce: breek) will be
suffcient. He was almost a god in Belgium. I remember when he went to the
Royal Library of Brussel for a scene in the film "Tour de legendes" (I hope
everybody has seen it), the entire direction was there in its Sunday's best,
hoping to shake hands with the great man.

Benjo