Pronunciation watch

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Interesting!

Interesting, too, (perhaps) that both Boulez and Berlioz came from the same(-ish: 81 miles apart) area of France (Montbrison 45 degrees North, 4 degrees East; La Côte-Saint-André 45 N, 5 E)

[subcontrabass]

Watching the "swearing-in" of MPs it was a little surprising to hear how many declared their allegiance to Her Majesty's "hairs" (or "hares"?).

[Padraig]

Watching the "swearing-in" of MPs it was a little suprising to hear how many declared their allegiance to Her Majesty's "hairs" (or "hares?).

Thinking of 'orses?

[LMcD]

Watching the "swearing-in" of MPs it was a little surprising to hear how many declared their allegiance to Her Majesty's "hairs" (or "hares"?).

That's probably because they rabbit on so.

[kernelbogey]

That's probably because they rabbit on so.

Or it's a whig tradition.

[ahinton]

As for Marc-André Hamelin, he may be French Canadian, but obviously came from a town in Brunswick, near famous Hanover City; the river Weser, deep and wide, washes its wall on the southern side; a prettier spot you never spied.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90M7yT3HXkU

Sure, but he will tell you that he is not French Canadian but a Canadian from Québec province therefore a Francophone Canadian; as he once said to me he only knows one French Canadian and she is so because her father is French and her mother Canadian...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

As for Marc-André Hamelin, he may be French Canadian, but obviously came from a town in Brunswick, near famous Hanover City; the river Weser, deep and wide, washes its wall on the southern side; a prettier spot you never spied.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90M7yT3HXkU

Hmm... Except that the German city isn't called Hamelin at all, but "Hameln".

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Hmm... Except that the German city isn't called Hamelin at all, but "Hameln".

Both names possibly deriving from "Ham" - "home"? (So, perhaps, "Mark Andrew Hamlet"?)

Or the Old French "hamel" = "little village"?

[Andy Freude]

Hmm... Except that the German city isn't called Hamelin at all, but "Hameln".

Though not in Browning's poem from which the quote came, which was offered as an explanation for M-A Hamelin's preferred pronunciation. However, since you bring the subject up, I see there is a tiny village in Normandy called Hamelin (in the Manche department, not far from Mont St. Michel).

[gurnemanz]

Hmm... Except that the German city isn't called Hamelin at all, but "Hameln".

Research (a quick google) reveals some uncertainty about the origin of the name, e.g. according to this site (in German, scroll down a bit). It seems most likely that the name simply comes from the river Hamel, a tributary which flows into the Weser at Hameln. It was first mentioned as "Hamelon" or in the 8th cent. "Hamelhem" is another early variant. In modern German these names often end in -heim. This would just mean settlement or homestead on the Hamel, i.e an exact cognate of the common English place name suffix -ham, as in Rotherham, homestead on the Rother.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

What about the pronunciation of 'Halfords'?

On modern TV adverts, it's pronounced 'Hal' (as in 'pal'), but the first syllable used to rhyme with the 'al' as in alter, Walton, Walter, Malton, Halstead. Could it be that the company was taken over by a company that just presumed it was pronounced as in a look-and-say reading scheme, or should it have been pronounced in this way all along? I do know a family with the Halford name, and they pronounce it to rhyme with Walton.

[gurnemanz]

What about the pronunciation of 'Halfords'?

On modern TV adverts, it's pronounced 'Hal' (as in 'pal'), but the first syllable used to rhyme with the 'al' as in alter, Walton, Walter, Malton, Halstead. Could it be that the company was taken over by a company that just presumed it was pronounced as in a look-and-say reading scheme, or should it have been pronounced in this way all along? I do know a family with the Halford name, and they pronounce it to rhyme with Walton.

I once provoked amusement among younger elements of the family by referring to a shopping mall, pronounced as in The Mall or Pall Mall. I was told I should have said maul.

[LeMartinPecheur]

What about the pronunciation of 'Halfords'?

On modern TV adverts, it's pronounced 'Hal' (as in 'pal'), but the first syllable used to rhyme with the 'al' as in alter, Walton, Walter, Malton, Halstead. C

I know a Halstead family where the a is short.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I once provoked amusement among younger elements of the family by referring to a shopping mall, pronounced as in The Mall or Pall Mall. I was told I should have said maul.

[oddoneout]

I know a Halstead family where the a is short.

As is the town in Essex?