TypeTalk: Tongue-Twisting Type
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Some typeface names are difficult to pronounce correctly. Here’s my list of the 12 most commonly mispronounced typeface names followed by the correct pronunciation based on their place of origin… plus one important extra.
Antique Olive: Ahn-teek’ Oh-leev’
Benguiat: Ben’-gat
Bodoni: Buh-dough’-nee (not Bo-dee’-nee)
Didot: Dee’-dough or Dee-dough’
Fenice: Feh-nee’-tchay
Fette Fraktur: Fet’-teh Frak’-tour
Kabel: Kah’-bel
Koch: Kock (ending in a hard k as in lock) or Kocch (with a gutteral ch as in chutzpah)
Neue Helvetica: Noi’-eh Hel-ve’-ti-ka
Peignot: Pen’-yoh
Sabon: Sah-bon’
Univers: Oo’-nee-ver (don’t pronounce the s at the end)
Tschichold: Tchee’ -kold (Not a typeface, but the 20th century typographer who designed Sabon.)
Antique Olive

ITC Benguiat Pro

ITC Bodoni Pro

H&FJ Didot

ITC Fenice

Fette Fraktur

Kabel

Koch Antiqua

Neue Helvetica

Peignot

Sabon

Univers

Jan Tschichold

Love type? Want to know more? Ilene Strizver conducts her acclaimed Gourmet Typography workshops internationally. For more information on attending one or bringing it to your company, organization, or school, go to her **@***********io.com. Sign up for her e-newsletter at <a href=” https:=”” www.thetypestudio.com=”” target=”new” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>www.thetypestudio.com. You can also follow Ilene on Facebook and Twitter.
This article was last modified on January 3, 2022
This article was first published on April 22, 2009
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