Augusto Pinochet

With the Chilean dictators death on December 10, 2006, there have been several discussions on how to correctly pronounce Pinochet's name.

There are at least 4 acceptable pronunciations:

• pin-o-SHAY
• pin-o-CHAY
• pin-o-SHET
• pin-o-CHET

There is general agreement that the first syllable is pronounced 'pin' or 'peen'. However, the final syllable can be pronounced several ways depending on the dialect of Spanish, and thus there is widespread disagreement over which pronunciation is best. There is no clear audio of Pinochet pronouncing his own name that I am aware of.

Below are a few recommended pronunciations from several news sources:

Slate magazine says pin-o-CHET.
NPR says pin-o-SHET
The BBC recommends PIN-uh-shay
The New York Times says PEE-noh-shay

The inogolo recommended pronunciation is pin-o-SHAY.