My name is Ralph WahomE WawerU, each syllable in the last two names is pronounced (including the Es) and the U at the end of my surname pronounced somewhat like an O. Why this lesson in orthoepy of some weird names you ask? Here's why.
In the land where I was born, and I believe everywhere on the planet where this great species of ours roams, names have meaning. The desire to give meaning to objects was the main reason behind the invention of names. Interestingly in Kenya, there exists a repulsive linguistic phenomenon referred to as "kutweng'". Interesting because it involves the adoption of some funny accents. The pronunciation of words and names when tweng'in is very strange, but sounds so much like English. Back to names, they have to be pronounced correctly in order to convey the authentic meaning they were meant to.
Long story short, I believe each Kenyan has a right to tweng' but for the sake of humanity do not tweng' your name. In doing so, you risk turning yourself into a mass of flesh with a cacophony of consonants and vowels for a name. A name that is meaningless in English and your mama's original language from which you are trying to run. And that, dear reader, is the lowest an individual can sink.
