Now that the starting QB has been named, can someone give us some guidance on how to pronounce the young man's last name?

Thanks in advance,

Old Geezer Cal Fan

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I've been pronouncing it

Saw - Gaw - Powe - Lou - Tell - Lee.

I used Powe as a Cal throwback reference. Fairly standard pronunciation for a 6 syllable last name, lol.

Bearly Clad said:

---

Sagapolutele is pronounced

Song-uh-Poe-loo-tell-ay

Some poly names have a hidden 'n' in pronunciation that doesn't come up in the spelling so that can trip some people up. As for the rest of his name it's pretty intuitive but

Jair-on Key-awe-way

---

I stand corrected. Thanks for giving a more informed answer than mine.

Also the hyphen is for his first name, right? I think a lot of people think his name is just Jaron and then he has a long last name, but it's the other way around.

Bearly Clad said:

---

Sagapolutele is pronounced

Song-ah-Poe-loo-tell-ay

Some poly names have a hidden 'n' in pronunciation that doesn't come up in the spelling so that can trip some people up. As for the rest of his name it's pretty intuitive but

Jair-on Key-awe-vay

---

Yes, Tongan and Samoan (which Sagapolutele is), but over the centuries the standard pronunciation in Hawaiian has become more like it is spelled since the adoption of the Roman alphabet (with W as V the last holdout). Keawe is Hawaiian, so should be
Kay ah vay but many mispronounce the tree by that name as Key aw vey (which would be spelled Kiawe). I'd be curious how Jaron pronounces it.

However, for those who want to hear his name pronounced by a reporter in Hawai'i (should be Ha vie ee but….):


Just like you wrote it.

Which is kinda funny because in the Latin alphabet it's the opposite. The V makes the sound of a W and there is no W in the 24 letter alphabet (also no J, so Jupiter was be spelled Iupeter; that's an i)

Bearly Clad said:

---

Which is kinda funny because in the Latin alphabet it's the opposite. The V makes the sound of a W and there is no W in the 24 letter alphabet (also no J, so Jupiter was be spelled Iupeter; that's an i)

---

It is how Yeshua became Iesu became jesu became Jesus but went back to Iesu in the Hawaiian translation of the Bible.

In the South Pacific, fresh water is "vai" and a canoe is a "vaka" in Hawaii it is "wai" and "wa'a" but all over Polynesia it was originally pronounced softly as a combo of the two sounds, something in between (with some regional differences, even within Hawai'i). It is the French chosing V and the British and American missionaries in Hawai'i choosing W for the same sound that caused the divergence in pronunciation.