Everyone’s favourite Swedish furniture store
How do we pronounce it?
In the UK, most people say:
[clips of English people saying “IKEA”]
The pronunciation here is:
but in the adverts in the UK,
it’s pronounced slightly differently
[clips of UK adverts]
This sounds like the Swedish pronunciation,
which is something like:
Now of course Swedish and English are
different languages with different sounds
As native English speakers
we look at the letters I K E A
and pronounce it as:
and in fact this is what
the adverts in the US do
[clip of US advert]
but the adverts in the UK choose a more Swedish pronunciation
[clip of UK adverts]
Why? Perhaps to educate the ignorant British consumer?
or maybe to remind us of its Swedish roots
Who knows!
But what is interesting is that the CEO of IKEA
pronounces it in a more English way when he’s speaking to English people:
[clip of CEO saying “IKEA” to English people]
and a more Swedish way when he’s talking to Swedish people:
[clip of CEO saying “IKEA” to Swedish people]
So say IKEA if you want to sound English
and want everyone in the UK to understand you
or say IKEA if you want to show off your Swedish knowledge
Comment below and let me know
how you pronounce this Swedish furniture store
adjö!