Hi folks, just wondering… how is peinter pronounced in Dutch?
I go coastal rowing, and was explaining to some newbies that the rope attached to the bows of our boats are called a ‘painter’. They asked me why, and to be honest, I had no idea, so I researched it and it turns out it’s a corruption of the Dutch word peinter meaning “rope that attaches a boat to a quay or buoy”.
So then I wondered if the pronunciation of peinter is the same as ‘painter’ in English or whether there is actually a difference - so I thought I’d ask here
It’s been a while…
I must admit that the Dutch word ‘peinter’ was until now unknown to me, and my rarely consulted “Thieme’s handwordenbook Nederlands Engels - Engels Nederlands” does not list it either.
As Aran (happy belated birthday, my friend) mentioned, the pronunciation is similar enough I think that people would think you’re saying ‘painter’. The Dutch pronunciation of ‘ei’ would be /ɛi/, whereas English ‘ai’ is usually a long /ā/. But the main difference would be the ‘r’ sound - pretty well absent in English, but not in Dutch.
To me, ‘painter’ and ‘peinter’ sound quite different.
)… tagging 
