Liverpool are set to sign Cody Gakpo in January, and one thing Reds supporters will want to know about their new player is how to say his name.
On the surface, it looks as though Gakpo’s name is rather easy to pronounce. An English speaker may imagine that you just say it how it is spelt with a hard G sound at the beginning of the world.
However, due to the fact Gakpo is Dutch, the G in his name isn’t pronounced in the same way other names are.
HOW TO SAY CODY GAKPO’S NAME
The winger’s name is pronounced with more of a ‘h’ sound at the beginning rather than a ‘g’.
The International Phonetic Alphabet would represent the attackers name as [ˈɣɑkpoː], with the ‘ɣ’ symbol representing a ‘h’ sound that comes from the back of the mouth known as a voiced velar fricative.
Unfortunately, this sound is not present in the English language, but it is most similar to how we would pronounce a ‘h’.
Football fans may well know how to pronounce this sound due to figures such as Ruud Gullit and Louis van Gaal who have the same sound in their surnames where the ‘G’ is.
Rather annoyingly, this sound is quite difficult to vocalise if you have a Liverpudlian accent, so you may well hear a few alternative pronunciations in and around Anfield.
To put it into simpler terms, this name is pronounced ‘Hack-Po’ with the ‘H’ coming from the back of the mouth rather than ‘Gack-po’ which may seem to be the natural way to say it.
Gakpo’s name may be difficult to say, but he is very easy on the eye as a footballer. He’s an absolute joy to watch in attack, and Liverpool fans are in for a treat with this young man.
