Assorted european pronunciations

[Peter Why]

Can anyone suggest some pronunciations for the following for me, please? It's from a chapter on Paracelcus in a book on the history of chemistry. I'll give a bit of the context, too.

Thanks,
Peter

********

Of the other Arabian alchemists, the most celebrated in the middle
ages were _Rhasis_, _Alfarabi_, and _Avicenna_

_Paracelsus_. He was born about 1493, and died about 1540. It is
probable that the place of his birth was Einsiedeln, near Zurich.

His name, or at any rate the name by which he was known,
was Aureolus Philippus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim. His father
in alchemy, Trimethius, Abbot of Spannheim and then of Wurzburg ....

..... Montagnana and the others. You after me, not I after you. You of Paris, you of
Montpellier, you of Swabia, of Meissen .......


Arabic?

Rhasis
Alfarabi

Latin/Greek?

Avicenna
Paracelcus
Trimethius (soft “th”, “h”?)

German?

Einsiedeln
von Hohenheim
Spannheim
Wurzburg
Swabia
Meissen

Italian?

Montagnana
Montpellier

[Shipley]

Some of these words depend upon whether you want to use the original foreign pronunciation or the accepted Anglicized form. For example, "Paracelcus" would be pronounced as "PARA-KEL-KUS" in Latin, but the common English form is "PARA-SELL-SUS" Similarly, "Avicenna" would be "A-VI-KENNA" in Latin but the common English form is "A-VI-SENNA" (the name is itself a Latinized form or an Arabic original, so you need not feel too guilty about Anglicizing it). Similarly, you need to decide whether you intend to Anglicize the German forms; a German "W" is pronounced as "V", so that "Swabia" is pronounced "SVAY-BEE-A" with the final A short, but is commonly pronounced "SWAY-BEE-A" since English speakers have difficulty with the "SV" sound.

Having said this, let me essay a few of the original German forms I do know (and I am more than willing to be corrected by any native speakers!):

Einsiedeln = INE(as in "wine")-SEE-DELN

von Hohenheim = FON HO-HEN-HIME(rhymes with "mime") - I assume that there is no umlaut (two dots) over the second "O" but I suspect there may be, and if so this alters the pronunciation considerably.

Spannheim = SHPANN-HIME (German "Sp" is pronounced with a slightly aspirated "S", a sound which is difficult for English speakers)

Wurtzburg = VURTZ-BOORG, where the "TZ" sound of German "Z" at the end of the first syllable approximates to the initial sound of "TSAR"

Swabia (see above)

Meissen = MICE(as in the small rodents)-EN(rhymes with pen)

As to the other languages:

Trimethius = TRI-METH(as in "meth lab")-EE-US

Montpellier = MONT-PELL-EE-AY

[Shipley]

I have a couple of thoughts regarding pronunciation of the Arabic names. The pronunciation of Arabic names in English is always difficult because of Arabic gutterals unknown to English speakers, and because there are multiple Arab dialects; an Iraqi Arabic speaker is incomprehensible to a Moroccan.

In "Alfarabi" the "Al" part is a definite article as in "Al Sa'ud", the "House of Sa'ud", so avoid the natural temptation to make the first syllable "ALF". The pronunciation should be "AL (as in Albert) FA ("fat" without the "T") RAR-BEE.

"Rhasis" is probably "RHAR-SIS" with the second syllable as in "sister". I suspect in Arabic the "Rh" would be rather gutteral, but have no idea exactly what the sound would be.

[Peter Why]

Thanks, Shipley,

I'll go with your suggestions.

Peter