[UtakataNoAnnex]

To be fair, those names like Mississauga were anglicized to make them easier to pronounce (more intuitive) to typical English speakers.

Misi-zaagiing (or Misswezahging), is where we get the latter from.

Toronto is Tkarón:to)

Ontario is: kanadario

****

That put out there........the wisdom of the names chosen, and way they are spelled, while fair to critique, is a done thing, not worth dwelling on.

Depending on whose critiquing though..."fair" becomes relative term.

 

[Itsethanmac]

I quite like the new names, I feel like it encourages people to learn

 

[EnviroTO]

I'm curious why it isn't spelt Beedaaseegay or Ohkwaymin Minihsing. The whole world really needs to move to a truly phonetic character set with no ambiguity. Why is the letter "I" pronounced eye (ah-ee), ih, and ee? </rant>

 

[kev1n1m]

Because cultures and languages other than yours exist in this world, and they don't need to bend to your laziness.

 

[PL1]

I'm curious why it isn't spelt Beedaaseegay or Ohkwaymin Minihsing. The whole world really needs to move to a truly phonetic character set with no ambiguity. Why is the letter "I" pronounced eye (ah-ee), ih, and ee? </rant>

Because that's the way Anishinaabemowin is spelled using Latin characters.

Edit: typo

 

[EnviroTO]

Because that's the way Anishinaabemowin is spelled using Latin characters.

Edit: typo

I realize, but this is a Roman alphabet introduced by the europeans as they took over North American and used to spell a language which was spoken. We could say "that is the latin spelling of Biidaasige" and translate it to English "Beedaaseegay". We convert things in other languages to English readable words all the time. Putting ビダアシゲ into google gets a better pronunciation than typing Biidaasige.

 

[christiesplits]

I quite like the new names, I feel like it encourages people to learn

That's my general sentiment. "It's too hard to pronounce." Tell that to all the people who mispronounce Strachan, Queens Quay or Roncesvalles.

 

[Northern Light]

Because that's the way Anishinaabemowin is spelled using Latin characters.

Edit: typo

Ok, I'm being a bit pedantic, I admit it...............but .....I feel like it must be said...

Anishinaabemowin has no alphabet or written composition of its own.

It was an oral language, and it was largely translated by Frederic Baraga in the early to mid 19thC - he, a Slovenian Roman Catholic Priest.

So it is to Mr. Baraga who we owe an 'interpretation' of how to spell words from this language.

****

It should be noted, In English we don't retain most original country or place names from foreign languages.

We say Germany, the Germans say 'Deutchland'.

We say Spain; the Spanish say 'Espana'

We say Italy, the Italians say 'Italia'

So there would nothing uniquely pejorative or insulting about making a pronunciation easier to the English ear.

This habit, by the way is not unique to the English...........

In a majority of European countries, Canada is spelled Kanada. As the C is not hard in many languages.

France, of course, spells the United States; Etas Unis, by literally translating the words, rather than assuming it is is a proper name.

Meanwhile......in Italy the City is Firenze; we call it Florence, and the Germans call it Florenz.

None of which is to waste time arguing the merits of the choice here, but merely to note, the spelling and pronunciation in most languages of most words from other languages is actually written and spelled by the receiving or translating party, not the originating one.

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

I think it would be missing the point of why it was named that way if we Anglicanized Ookwemin Minising though...