An Answer:—The Rev. Dr. Jos. A. Seiss, of Philadelphia, pastor of the leading Lutheran Church in Philadelphia, gives the following clear and satisfactory answer to the question, “How shall we pronounce the word Goethe?”
“There can be no doubt about the pronunciation of the name of Goethe to those familiar with the sounds and powers of the German alphabet, which are always and in all relations the same. The diphthong oe, often written ö, has the sound and force of a in gate. The remainder of the name, the, has the sound of teh, pronounced nearly the same as the English ty, with a slight vergence toward ta as in take. Giving to the letters these sounds, the pronunciation of Goethe would be represented by Gateh in English phonography, or Gayty. It is hard for any other than a German tongue to give exactly the sound of oe; the above is as nearly as it can be represented in English letters.
“Yours truly,
“Jos. A. Seiss.”
“45 East 68th St., New York, 17th April, ’84.
“Dear Sir:—In the name of Goethe the oe is pronounced like the u in the words “but,” “hut,” “rut,” only long. You stretch the u in those words and you will have the vowel of the German oe as nearly as you can get it. The th is pronounced like t, and the e at the close has the sound of the e in “let,” “get,” etc., but is half swallowed. You see that it is very difficult to express in English letters the pronunciation of the name of Goethe.
“Very truly yours,
“J. H. Vincent, Esq. C. Schurz.”
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