Goe / Discussion

eluusive? -- I think this is a very good idea. Goe is not an English word. It's increasingly difficult to find anything pertaining to the Game of Go when it's spelled as "Go".

unkx80: If I remember correctly, someone said that the word Goe aims at a compromise between the different languages and cultures:

• Goe contains Go, which is the Japanese name of the game (which is also how most Amercians and Europeans call the game).
• Goe contains Ge, which is how the Chinese call the game. (Actually, I think this is a bit lame - Ge sounds to me like Westerners who cannot pronounce Qi correctly.)
• Goe comes right after the word God.
• * Technically all words starting with God come before Goe. :)

iopq: Why don't we just change the English name of the game to "Igo?" I mean, when you say "Goe" people still think you're referring to the verb and still get confused.

jared: We can't call it Igo either. Igo is homonymous with the English noun "ego" (see Igo for pronunciation)

dictionary: Anyone who knows how to speak properly pronounces "ego" eh-go, since it comes from latin where all "e" are pronounced "eh". Also, the "e" in "ee-go" is long, whereas the "e" in "igo" is short ("e-go"). But since the Great Vowel Shift, this difference is not perceived in English speech, although it has been kept in phonology. But still, help thy neighbour by pronouncing ego "eh-go" like the rest of the Western world has for two effing millenia.

• tealeaf: That's simply not true. The Oxford English Dictionary gives both a long "e" (/i:/) and a short "e" (/e/) as valid pronunciations for ego in English. Latin words used in English do not necessarily retain Latin pronunciation.
• Sandra: And re-record Pet Sounds?
• mudri?: GVS affects Latin words in English, too. See “canine”. Also, it may annoyingly affect “igo”, producing /ˈaɪɡəʊ/ from those who don't know better. /ɡəʊ/ is bad enough already.

iopq: Never thought about that. Weiqi, then? It is a Chinese game, after all. Although I already started spelling it "Goe" over the Internet because it's more convenient.

jared: We could say "Surrounding Game" and, for brevity, we could type "the game", or just "game"

Tas: Well baduk eliminates all misunderstanding, but to me the game will always be called "Go"

C.S. Graves: I'd prefer to call it baduk myself, though if I played by Chinese rules I'd refer to is as weiqi. But in either event I'd feel like I'd be confusing people who only know it as "go". On the internet I typically write "baduk/go". I think igo is a viable alternative for those preferring Japanese nomenclature, since it's not spelled like "ego", and the stress in not on the first syllable as it is for "ego". When I see "goe", I can't help but think of it being pronounced "go-ay", and this irks me I guess.

haribo?: It's simple. Mr Ing calls the game goe because he's Taiwanese (who are great people, don't get me wrong), therefore just has to use a different romanisation/spelling than the rest of the world. Anyone else who has spent time here will know what I mean!

ProtoDeuteric: I most closely agree with jared's last comment. Instead of "Let's play some Go," I think we should say "Let's play some Surround." This is with slight tongue in cheek.

sjd123: It should change name, I don't mind what, I think Baduk would be good. It's hard to find go related things in search engines because it's so common a word. But everyone will still call it go, so it doesn't matter what they call it.

Tamsin: I'm hesitant, indeed, to enter this discussion but...maybe the real problem with the English pronunciation of igo is not the first syllable, but the second. People in Japan say the 'go' part with a sound like the 'o' in 'cot', while English-speakers, particularly English English-speakers, tend to make it a long 'o' as in the verb 'to go'. If you pronounce the word the Japanese way, then nobody will think especially you're talking about the self.

Pledger: Maybe we could call the game Stones. It's simple and catchy, and it could work well with idioms like, "Hey, wanna go throw some Stones?" Nevertheless, I don't really expect English speakers to stop using Go anytime soon.

• Sandra: Too many balls jokes I fear!