I don’t always keep up with Hollywood films (I’m more into Korean independent cinema these days), so I was a little behind on the news that the sequel to The Thomas Crown Affair is being shot in Istanbul, and is to be titled The Topkapi Affair. According to the film’s wiki, The Topkapi Affair is based on Eric Ambler’s novel The Light of Day and its film adaptation Topkapi.
To be honest, I don’t care either way about Pierce Brosnan, but my biggest hope for this film is that it will bring non-Turks up to speed on at least a vaguely correct pronunciation/spelling of “Topkapı.” I’m not pedantic enough to expect people in primarily English-speaking countries to get all fancy with the final vowel sound —the Turkish letter ı (without a dot) is a completely different sound from the English letter i (with a dot)— but at least something along the lines of “Top-kappy” would be good enough, seeing as “Topkapi” is the closest possible spelling in English. You’d be surprised how many other pronunciations and spellings pop up; there’s a Topkapı Palace hotel here in Antalya (designed after the real Topkapı Palace in Istanbul), and the foreign guests there always seem to think they’re staying somewhere called “Toe-packy,” “Topeka,” “Ta-pooky,” “Tapioca,” or even as it’s written in this article, “Topkaki” (apparently it’s a difficult word to spell correctly even when cut-and-paste is available). So hopefully Pierce and co. can help set everyone straight. If you want a quick tip for remembering how to say Topkapı, just think “top hat,” but instead of a hat it’s a cap— a “top cap,” if you will. Then stick whatever i-sound you can manage on the end and you’ll be somewhere in the ballpark. There, now you’re a local.
[photo of Pierce Brosnan with Cardinal Mahoney and Loretta Young courtesy of CIMA]