Pronuncation of Chip Zien's Surname

[mamaleh]

Posted: 4/9/22 at 9:55am

I've wondered for years whether I was pronouncing Chip Zien's name correctly, most recently when I saw his excellent performance in HARMONY.  Is it Zee-en?  Zy-en?  Zeen?  Zine?

Thanks!

[Tag]

Posted: 4/9/22 at 10:31am

Zy-IN

[JBroadway]

Posted: 4/9/22 at 10:46am

Tag said: "Zy-IN"

Not quite - or at least not how it should be written out. There' no emphasis on the IN. 

It's closer to "ZINE," rhyming with "MINE," but I have sometimes heard it said with a slight separation between the vowels, to create a very light, almost imperceptible 2nd syllable, starting with a schwa sound. A little bit like when you say the word "lion" very quickly. But it's closer to rhyming with "mine" than "lion." 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXgeuFnYL-o

Updated On: 4/9/22 at 10:46 AM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/9/22 at 11:02am

“But it's closer to rhyming with "mine" than "lion."
 

It’s like right in the middle between the two. I can say it but don’t know how else to describe it. Maybe replace the o in lion with a u but don’t pronounce the u as heavily as you’d pronounce the o? Oy. 

[Tag]

Posted: 4/9/22 at 12:03pm

I completely disagree with the "mine" rhyme.  I also don't think Pierce's pronunciation is completely correct.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 4/9/22 at 12:07pm

^If you completely disagree, feel free to offer an alternative comparison, or an alternative link to someone pronouncing it. But you initially wrote it with emphasis on a 2nd syllable consisting of a short "i" sound, after the long "i" sound in the 1st syllable - I've never heard it pronounced even remotely like that. Happy to be proven wrong though, so if I am, then please do! 

Updated On: 4/9/22 at 12:07 PM

[Tag]

Posted: 4/9/22 at 12:15pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TRbHsBQPh8

https://youtu.be/aD1LIzSWp4g

[JBroadway]

Posted: 4/9/22 at 12:24pm

Yes, both of them say it with a more noticeable second syllable, more like "lion" - so fair enough, maybe it's closer to rhyming with "lion" than to "line." But in either case, the emphasis is on the "ZY," which is not what you wrote in your initial post. 

[mamaleh2]

Posted: 4/9/22 at 5:15pm

Thank you, everyone.  I watch the Tonys every year so I don’t know how I missed taking note of that pronunciation, but your info is much appreciated.

[Owen22]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 12:28am

As a lonely theatre nerd-kid from Ohio, who only knew him from the cast album of "In Trousers",  with a no one to talk to and no internet to learn from, he was Chip Zee-in to me for years and I still sometimes refer to him as such. But I am well over referring to the writer as David Mam-ay. : )

[bwayboy22]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 12:39am

JBroadway said: "Tag said: "Zy-IN"

Not quite - or at least not how it should be written out. There' no emphasis on the IN.

It's closer to "ZINE," rhyming with "MINE," but I have sometimes heard it said with a slight separation between the vowels, to create a very light, almost imperceptible 2nd syllable, starting with a schwa sound. A little bit like when you say the word "lion" very quickly. But it's closer to rhyming with "mine" than "lion."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXgeuFnYL-o"

I would say its like Mayan with a Z. I feel like that kind of falls in between mine and lion. 

Zayan.

[Menken Fan]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 9:29am

Chip is on the list of names I mispronounced for years before getting them right, including Leslie Bricusse, Debbie Gravitte and Steven Pasquale.  

[JasonC3]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 10:37am

I would like default to what hotel guest agents do when they want to avoid trying to pronounce my somewhat difficult last name: "Ah, Mr. Jason, good to see you."

[francescaamari]

Posted: 5/6/22 at 2:20pm

Here's a clip of Chip Zien saying his own name.

https://youtu.be/_B2rMANXZ1M?t=30

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/6/22 at 3:23pm

Now would someone explain how he pronounces his first name? That's the one I really have trouble with.

[kdogg36]

Posted: 5/7/22 at 10:15am

francescaamari said: "Here's a clip of Chip Zien saying his own name."

Thanks for sharing this! It sounds like an exact rhyme with lion to me: ['zaɪ.ən].

(Edited to make things less ambiguous.)

Updated On: 5/7/22 at 10:15 AM