Back in the news: Mayflower mouth

Kamala, Daenerys, and the politics of mis- and dispronunciation

With deliberate mispronunciation of Vice President Kamala Harris’ name again in the news and on the Republican agenda, we’re bringing back this great essay on the difference between mispronunciation and dispronunciation from our archives. You’ll want to keep it handy over the coming months.

My name is Anand. It means happiness, bliss, contentment. If you’re interested in experiencing these feelings, may I suggest a name other than Anand when coming of age in the United States of America.

The other day, when Senator David Perdue, Republican of Georgia, referred to his colleague of many years as “Kamala-mala-mala, I don’t know, whatever!”, I immediately recognized him. All my life, perhaps like you, I have run up against the unwillingness and inability of many Americans to say my name correctly.

The unwillingness and the inability are connected but distinct. In the Perdue case, it was unwillingness flying under the cover of inability. The “I don’t know, whatever!” part was a pretense of personal limitation to soften the blow of “mala-mala,” which was pure middle-school mockery.

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The obvious word for what Perdue did is “mispronunciation.” But I would like to correct that. The proper term is “dispronunciation.” Consider that misinformation is information that merely happens to be false, whereas disinformation is false information purposely spread. Similarly, mispronunciation is people trying too feebly and in vain to say our names — and dispronunciation is people saying our names incorrectly on purpose, as if to remind us whose country this really is.