Pronunciation of Wilier

georgee
georgee Posts: 537
edited April 2008 in The bottom bracket
Will – ee – er?

Vill – ee – er?

Wile – ee – er?

Vill – ee – ay?

Or any other combination,

Any Italians here know?

Comments

  • heavymental
    heavymental Posts: 2,094
    I prounce it the first way. But a girl I know, who owns one, prounounces it the second way. Sounds German to me that way though.
  • Gary D
    Gary D Posts: 431
    I was told it was the second way (or is it vay?) as well.

    I was also corrected when I pronounced Bianchi for the first time as Bee-an-chee :oops: :oops:

    It is Bee-an-kee apparently.

    Gary.
    Fungus The Muffin MAn wrote:
    Oh and I feel like I've been raped by an Orangutan :shock: And I've got legs like Girders :lol:
  • pedylan
    pedylan Posts: 768
    Try this sound clip for a range of Italian bike pronunciation.

    Unfortunately it doesn't have Wilier (unless it's very wierd!). Sorry.

    http://www.mappel.de/sound/bike_brands.mp3
    Where the neon madmen climb
  • ChrisBowers
    ChrisBowers Posts: 31
    I have a Wilier and was told by the LBS that it's pronounced "Vi i i l ier" I think It's more of German pronounciation.

    The factory is not far from Sud Tyrol in Dolomites which I have visited and hardly anyone speaks Itallian there even though it's in Italy.
  • HungryCol
    HungryCol Posts: 532
    I always called it "wile - ee - er" and I heard Phil Ligget (sp?) say Bianchi as "Bee-an-kee" too.
    Every winner has scars.
  • a_n_t
    a_n_t Posts: 2,011
    with a v rather than a w :)
    Manchester wheelers

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  • cee
    cee Posts: 4,553
    this is a latin pronunciation debate.

    In the big latin unis in the uk (Oxbridge), they pronounce the W.

    In other latin unis, it is a V.

    this is true for Veni, Vidi, Vici (Weni, Widi, Wici) and most other V and W.

    italians would probably eat the letter :shock: (much like spanish) and it would sound somewhere in between a V, a W and a B
    Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I believe in the future of the human race.

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  • Lagavulin
    Lagavulin Posts: 1,688
    Once you overcome the manaufacturers name then comes the fun of the model you're after...

    Aye-zord?
    Iz-ord?
    Iz-ward?

    Maybe the owners manual comes with a guide. I can't keep calling it the mountainy one that isn't the Mortirolo.
    2010 Cannondale CAAD 9
    2008 Wilier Izoard
  • pneumatic
    pneumatic Posts: 1,989
    definitely eezooar (no d)

    Fast and Bulbous
    Peregrinations
    Eddingtons: 80 (Metric); 60 (Imperial)
  • georgee
    georgee Posts: 537
    Well I own an Escape,

    pronounced 'Escape' I presume

    Big fan even if it is their lowliest model.
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    georgee wrote:
    Well I own an Escape,

    pronounced 'Escape' I presume

    Big fan even if it is their lowliest model.

    The lampre coloured Escape looks class.
    I like bikes...

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  • batch78
    batch78 Posts: 1,320
    Sure its not 'eska pay' !! :D
  • a_n_t
    a_n_t Posts: 2,011
    i'm pretty sure you cant go wrong with"mortirolo"? :lol:
    Manchester wheelers

    PB's
    10m 20:21 2014
    25m 53:18 20:13
    50m 1:57:12 2013
    100m Yeah right.
  • Lagavulin
    Lagavulin Posts: 1,688
    batch78 wrote:
    Sure its not 'eska pay' !! :D
    I just end up pointing.

    "I'll have one of them, oh and stick those wheels on it".

    Maybe I should just buy a Tarmac Pro instead. :lol:
    2010 Cannondale CAAD 9
    2008 Wilier Izoard
  • mercsport
    mercsport Posts: 664
    According to an ancient thread from 2003 , on a forum I've already forgotten , Wilier is supposed to sound like this : Wilier = VILify +YAY (accent the YAY - family name from the part of Italy near Slovenia - also a non-Italian regional dialect).
    Although I still wonder . There are only twenty one letters in the Italian alphabet and 'W' isn't one of them . The 'I' vowels I would have thought would have been pronounced 'ee' , regardless , and , er ,...what's left ? Vee - Lee - Yay ?
    Yes , I was guessing .
    Yes , I'd be interested to know too .
    "Lick My Decals Off, Baby"
  • pneumatic
    pneumatic Posts: 1,989
    Lagavulin wrote:
    batch78 wrote:
    Sure its not 'eska pay' !! :D
    I just end up pointing.

    "I'll have one of them, oh and stick those wheels on it".

    And this same problem is, of course, why Lagavulin outsells its local rivals Bunnahabhain and Caol Ila. Most malt whisky drinkers are not Gaelic speakers, Islay-dwellers nor even Scots and they have far too much self-respect to try and order a Bunnahabhain, even when sober! :D

    Fast and Bulbous
    Peregrinations
    Eddingtons: 80 (Metric); 60 (Imperial)
  • Lagavulin
    Lagavulin Posts: 1,688
    :lol:
    ...Bunnahabhain and Caol Ila...
    Haven't had the latter but Bunnahabhain is a lovely drink.
    2010 Cannondale CAAD 9
    2008 Wilier Izoard
  • dcab
    dcab Posts: 255
    i ride with an italian who says well-yer ? but then again he's lived in good old lancashire for't last 15 year so who knows? i've just bought a cervelo which he informs me is italian for brains ????
    veritas vos liberabit
  • Stewie Griffin
    Stewie Griffin Posts: 4,330
    And this same problem is, of course, why Lagavulin outsells its local rivals Bunnahabhain and Caol Ila. Most malt whisky drinkers are not Gaelic speakers, Islay-dwellers nor even Scots and they have far too much self-respect to try and order a Bunnahabhain, even when sober!

    Sainsburys sells Caol Ila, tells you how to pronounce it on the box, thankfully :oops:
  • nick hanson
    nick hanson Posts: 1,655
    Their site says Vee-Lee-Air
    so many cols,so little time!
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    nick hanson wrote:
    Their site says Vee-Lee-Air

    I think you might be right

    I was just speaking to an italian friend of mine, and asked her how to pronounce it, and she said it wasn't an italian word as they don't have w in their language. I was suprised she hadn't heard of Wilier either.
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  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    This is it apparantly:

    V-e-l-e-E-r

    with E as in "egg".
    I like bikes...

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  • HungryCol
    HungryCol Posts: 532
    mercsport wrote:
    According to an ancient thread from 2003 , on a forum I've already forgotten , Wilier is supposed to sound like this : Wilier = VILify +YAY (accent the YAY - family name from the part of Italy near Slovenia - also a non-Italian regional dialect).

    To quote the Life of Brian "He making it up as he goes along"
    Every winner has scars.

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