Kephart, how to pronounce his name...

[Keith_Beef]

I'm going out to Brittany this weekend for a two day blacksmithing and bladesmithing course. One of the projects I'm going to have a go at is to make the blade for bushcraft knife inspired by the Horace Kephart knives of old.

That got me thinking about how to pronounce his name, since I'm going to be speaking about this with the tutor.

For years, I've been thinking of him as /ˈkɛ.fɑːt/ (stressed "ke" like in Kendal, followed by "fart" like, well, a fart), but wondering if this is correct.

So I looked up the origins of the surname, and find this (or very similar, probably all more or less plagiarized) in several places:

The surname Kephart was first found in Silesia, where this family name dates back to at least the 9th century. The name is derived from the Old High German elements "geb" which means "gift" and "hard" meaning "brave, hardy." One of the first records of the name was Gebhard of Lahngau (c. 860-910) of the Conradine dynasty, son of Odo (died 879) who was Duke of Lotharingia (903-910.) A few years later, Saint Gebhard (949-995) was a bishop of Constance (979-995) and founded the Benedictine abbey of Petershausen in 983.

So I suppose I should be pronouncing it /ˈkɛ.phɑːt/ or /ˈkɛ.bhɑːt/.

 

[Broch]

I have always pronounced it Kep - hart but I have no reason or justification for doing so

 

[sunndog]

I have always pronounced it Kep - hart but I have no reason or justification for doing so

Same, never even occurred to me to wonder about tbh

 

[Janne]

KB, where did you get the ’f’ from ?

Name pronounciations vary depending where the person lives, not where the name comes from.
An originally German family name in Alsace is pronounced the French way these day!

As he was American, pronounce it the way they do in America!
( but, you doing the course in France, they might not understand you as they do ot pronounce the ’h’?


’Orace Kepar’ would be my guess?

 

[Billy-o]

a PH is sounded as an F in English, Janne

I wonder if the 'phart' is silent Then you could just call it a Kep, and appear cool and knowing

Anyhow, seems it is a Polish/Czech (Silesian) name and old. Variations on the spelling suggest it could be pronounced Kep-hart

Gebhardt, Gebhard, Gebheart, Gebhart, Gephard, Gephardt, Gephart, Gebheard, Gebbard, Gebbart, Gebbardt, Gabhart

But the pronunciation of consonants like b, p, ph, f, v, w are all pretty close and slippery. So, the Gebbard spellings might suggest a single sound, bb, that might slip around a bit, even being pronounced as a v. (cf Siobhan). So, there might be something to a Keffart pronunciation.

Fact that it is prononced Kep-hart in the US now, doesn't mean that it was in the late C19th among central European emigrants. So, no answer, but at least some suggestion as to why it might be tricky

I am making this up, though

 

[Janne]

So did I!

It is not a Czech name though. Not in any spellings or pronounciations.
Could be in a future a long time ago though....

 

[Fadcode]

never had a problem saying Horace, i pronounce it like Horr as in Horror, and is as in hiss.
Kephart is usually pronounced
Kep (as in Kept)....and Heart.

 

[Fadcode]

a PH is sounded as an F in English, Janne

I wonder if the 'phart' is silent Then you could just call it a Kep, and appear cool and knowing

Anyhow, seems it is a Polish/Czech (Silesian) name and old. Variations on the spelling suggest it could be pronounced Kep-hart

Gebhardt, Gebhard, Gebheart, Gebhart, Gephard, Gephardt, Gephart, Gebheard, Gebbard, Gebbart, Gebbardt, Gabhart

But the pronunciation of consonants like b, p, ph, f, v, w are all pretty close and slippery. So, the Gebbard spellings might suggest a single sound, bb, that might slip around a bit, even being pronounced as a v. (cf Siobhan). So, there might be something to a Keffart pronunciation.

Fact that it is prononced Kep-hart in the US now, doesn't mean that it was in the late C19th among central European emigrants. So, no answer, but at least some suggestion as to why it might be tricky

I am making this up, though

You are right that most English words with ph in them are sounded like an "F"........pharmacy, philanthropic, etc, etc ..................but as in life itself there are always exceptions such as............uphold, saphead, peephole.........and even phthalate where the ph is silent,.this is what makes languages interesting...................

 

[Janne]

Todays young seems to communicate best with faked photos, symbols and unreadable abbrevations.
LOL.


(sorry, you will not have the pleasure of seeing me filtered through a computer programme so I look like a mix between Dolph Lungren and Ron Jeremy.......)

 

[Keith_Beef]

Anyhow, seems it is a Polish/Czech (Silesian) name and old. Variations on the spelling suggest it could be pronounced Kep-hart

Gebhardt, Gebhard, Gebheart, Gebhart, Gephard, Gephardt, Gephart, Gebheard, Gebbard, Gebbart, Gebbardt, Gabhart

Though the region is now a predominately Slavic language zone, it had been a Germanic zone for a long time. Conversely, there are regions that are now definitely in the Germanic zone that were historically in the Slavic zone...

I'm starting to think that the name Kephart might be related to Gifford... and hey, what do I find?

It has two possible origins. The first is from the early Germanic personal name "Gebhardt", composed of the elements "geb", meaning gift and "-hard", brave, hardy or strong.

 

[Janne]

The Family names did not change much though.
Germans and Austrians with a Slavic (Polish or Czech) last name are very common, and vice versa.
Kephart is not a Slavic.
I suspect the older spelling could be Kephardt.

the interesting bit with his knife is how similar to a Nesmuk knife it is.
One would almost think their mothers had the same kitchen knife!

 

[sunndog]

Or just wait for someone else to say it first

You aint gotta be right, just the same wrong as everyone else lol

 

[Keith_Beef]

Or just wait for someone else to say it first

You aint gotta be right, just the same wrong as everyone else lol

If I followed that advice, I'd be saying that a whale is a fish. Whereas we all know that there's no such thing as a fish.

 

[Fadcode]

Just make a machete instead, problem solved, even the French will know a machete, and if it doesn't turn out well, call it a Kephart..........but say it quietly so no-one hears you......................................

 

[santaman2000]

Just make a machete instead, problem solved, even the French will know a machete, and if it doesn't turn out well, call it a Kephart..........but say it quietly so no-one hears you......................................

So how do we pronounce “machete?”

 

[Herman30]

So how do we pronounce “machete?”

Mach (like in the airspeed) + ET (like the movie alien).

 

[Keith_Beef]

So how do we pronounce “machete?”

Nope, not allowing that.

Loan words from foreign languages are special, and are treated differently to proper nouns.

 

[crosslandkelly]

 

[sunndog]

Or just wait for someone else to say it first

If I followed that advice, I'd be saying that a whale is a fish. Whereas we all know that there's no such thing as a fish.

To be fair mammal cant really be mispronounced as fish lol

Besides......my suggestion works for Wikipedia

 

[sunndog]

Nope, not allowing that.

Loan words from foreign languages are special, and are treated differently to proper nouns.

When does a loan word gain perminant ownership status?
Machete is in the dictionary.
Half a million words, how many originated in this country

Smilies are a pain on my phone so don't take me too seriously