pronunciation of the surname VLEEDAM

[AlexanderIII]

Dear all,
I've come across a surname that seems to be Dutch. I guess it is pronounced as FL-AY (AY as in the word SAY) -dam (A as U in the word CUP). Is this correct?

 

[serbianfan]

Yes, that's a good enough approximate pronunciation if you're saying the word in an English sentence. Maybe it's from a story about Jenny Vleedam, because I got a number of Google hits for that...

 

[Pedro Paraíso]

Indeed, Fle: (with emphasis), but dam more closed (cfr. lamb) without accent.

 

[AlexanderIII]

Yes, Serbianfan, that's from the story about Jenny Vleedam that is Call After Midnight by Mignon G. Eberhart.
Thank you, Serbianfan and Pedro Paraiso.

 

[sound shift]

Is the stress on the second syllable, as in "Zaandam"?

 

[Pedro Paraíso]

It depends. In the neighbourhood of this city ('de kop of Noord Holland'/ de part of Holland north of Amsterdam, especially en West-Friesland) people use to stress the second syllabe ( Zaandám, Zeddám, Alkmáár, Obdám ), but in the rest of the dutch country they stress the first syllabe (Záándam). So Zaandám is a dialectica way of expression.

 

[sound shift]

Thanks.