Pronunciation: Levy / Levi Strauss

[Hela]

Dear members,

Would you please tell me how I should pronounce the proper name "Levy / Levi" Strauss ? Is it /li:vi/ or /li:vai/ ? The brand "Levi's" is pronounced /li:vais/, is it not?

Thank you for your help
Hela

 

[Metztli]

Hi Hela!

In the US we all pronounce /li:vais/ as in Levy's 501.

The pronunciation /le:vi/ is for "levee".

Hope it helps!

 

[kashiwazakinenji]

Dear members,

Would you please tell me how I should pronounce the proper name "Levy / Levi" Strauss ? Is it /li:vi/ or /li:vai/ ? The brand "Levi's" is pronounced /li:vais/, is not it?

Thank you for your help
Hela

I know the brand is pronounced /lee/vis...

 

[Matching Mole]

You have the jeans brand correct, however, beyond that there is no single pronunciation of the name(s). It varies according to the custom of the individual family that bears it, and you will almost certainly have to ask in each case.

 

[Hela]

When talking about the brand should it be written "Levy's" or "Levi's" ?
As for the name of its creator "Levi" (or "Levy"?) should its first vowel sound be a long /i/ as in "lee" and the second vowel sound "vi" a short /i/ as in "lit" ?

 

[kashiwazakinenji]

... Levi's

 

[panjandrum]

Just to be clear, the maker of jeans is Levi Strauss & Co.
The jeans are Levi's - with the apostrophe.

 

[daviesri]

Levi's - The "e" is pronounced the same as the "e" sound in "Lee"
The "i" is pronounced like the word "eye" as in the thing you see with.

 

[mplsray]

Dear members,

Would you please tell me how I should pronounce the proper name "Levy / Levi" Strauss ? Is it /li:vi/ or /li:vai/ ? The brand "Levi's" is pronounced /li:vais/, is it not?

Thank you for your help
Hela

The man who founded the clothing manufacturer was Levi Strauss, born Löb Strauß, so that Levi was an Americanized form. The common American pronunciation of Levi at the time was /li:vai/. The Century Cyclopedia, for example, gives that pronunciation alone for the biblical personage.

If he had been French or Italian, on the other hand, the name might well have been pronounced /leivi:/, as the Lévi in the surname of the Belgian-French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss is now pronounced.

 

[Hela]

Thank you all for your help

 

[Daniel López]

Hello,

What about "Strauss"? /stro:z/ or /straus/. I think that for the jeans is /livai stro:z/ while the anthropologist the pronunciation is not anglicised: /levi straus/, even for the waltz composer "J. Strauss"

 

[Miss Julie]

Hello,

What about "Strauss"? /stro:z/ or /straus/. I think that for the jeans is /livai stro:z/ while the anthropologist the pronunciation is not anglicised: /levi straus/, even for the waltz composer "J. Strauss"

We (in the U.S.) pronounce it to rhyme with "mouse."

 

[Einstein]

We (in the U.S.) pronounce it to rhyme with "mouse."

Also in the UK... and for once we have something near to the original pronunciation!