Pronunciation watch

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  • DracoM
    Host
    • Mar 2007
    • 12960

    Isn't the 'x' in Auxerre nearer a gentle 'z'?

    Comment

    • gradus
      Full Member
      • Nov 2010
      • 5603

      Nuts.
      Armond or Al mond, nearly forgot Allmond, other vars. exist.

      Comment

      • Bryn
        Banned
        • Mar 2007
        • 24688

        Originally posted by vinteuil View Post
        ... I'm not sure that's completely true. I think most English people wd pronounce Metz as [mɛts] , and not [mɛs] as the French do. And wd tend to pronounce the x in Auxerre as an x rather than an s...








        .
        Ouch!!

        Comment

        • vinteuil
          Full Member
          • Nov 2010
          • 12788

          Originally posted by Bryn View Post
          Originally posted by DracoM View Post
          Isn't the 'x' in Auxerre nearer a gentle 'z'?


          Comment

          • vinteuil
            Full Member
            • Nov 2010
            • 12788

            Originally posted by gradus View Post
            Nuts.
            Armond or Al mond, nearly forgot Allmond, other vars. exist.
            ... I think in RP only armond is acceptable: all the others are 'spelling pronunciations'.

            Comment

            • vinteuil
              Full Member
              • Nov 2010
              • 12788

              Originally posted by Sir Velo View Post
              Depends whether you consider "Ber'loin" or "Reems" as attempts at French pronunciation.
              ... yes, the English /riːmz/ doesn't sound much like the French /ʁɛ̃s/



              And we need the English pronunciation for the pome to rhyme with 'dreams'

              The Jackdaw of Rheims


              THE JACKDAW sat on the Cardinal’s chair!
              Bishop and abbot and prior were there;
              Many a monk, and many a friar,
              Many a knight, and many a squire,
              With a great many more of lesser degree,—
              In sooth, a goodly company;
              And they serv’d the Lord Primate on bended knee.
              Never, I ween,
              Was a prouder seen,
              Read of in books, or dreamt of in dreams,
              Than the Cardinal Lord Archbishop of Rheims!

              Richard Harris Barham [1788–1845]
              Last edited by vinteuil; 31-01-18, 13:59.

              Comment

              • Bert Coules
                Full Member
                • Nov 2010
                • 763

                No longer definite?

                This is not pronunciation as such, so apologies, but does anyone else cringe at being invited to "check on Radio 3 [or 4 or 4 Extra or whatever] website"? Or being informed that a piece was "Performed by BBC Symphony Orchestra"?

                The definite article has served well and faithfully for a good many years; what has it done to the BBC that they so determinedly abandon it? Or could it be that I'm mistaken and simply mishearing?

                Comment

                • Bryn
                  Banned
                  • Mar 2007
                  • 24688

                  Originally posted by Bert Coules View Post
                  This is not pronunciation as such, so apologies, but does anyone else cringe at being invited to "check on Radio 3 [or 4 or 4 Extra or whatever] website"?

                  The definite article has served well and faithfully for a good many years; what has it done to the BBC that they so determinedly abandon it? Or could it be that I'm mistaken and simply mishearing?
                  It's them pesky Russians, bet your life. They've probably developed some cybervirus that seeks out articles definite or indefinite, and deletes them.
                  Last edited by Bryn; 31-01-18, 13:53. Reason: Typo

                  Comment

                  • vinteuil
                    Full Member
                    • Nov 2010
                    • 12788

                    Originally posted by Bryn View Post
                    It's them pesky Russians, bet your life. They've probably developed some cybervirus that seeks out articles definite or indefinite, and deletes them.
                    ... yup. As in 'Tate', 'Sage', and too many others too painful to list.





                    .
                    Last edited by vinteuil; 31-01-18, 13:58.

                    Comment

                    • french frank
                      Administrator/Moderator
                      • Feb 2007
                      • 30243

                      Originally posted by Bryn View Post
                      That Emma is often, erm, well, she says it differently from me; and I wouldn't rely on her being correct unless she stipulates that she is giving the American English pronunciation.

                      I was trying to think of the exceptions to ferney's 'rule' and didn't remember Metz, which I pronounced wrongly until 'they' corrected me. And, yes, pace Emma, Auxerre. And I have heard GrinnOHbel … And have even, occasionally, heard of Canne(s) in Normandy
                      It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

                      Comment

                      • Bert Coules
                        Full Member
                        • Nov 2010
                        • 763

                        Originally posted by vinteuil View Post
                        ... yup. As in 'Tate', 'Sage', and too many others too painful to list.
                        I think I first became aware of it a few years back when "...from Wigmore Hall" started creeping in.

                        Comment

                        • Serial_Apologist
                          Full Member
                          • Dec 2010
                          • 37591

                          Originally posted by Bryn View Post
                          Don't get me started on Françaix.
                          There's a lot of Boulex talked about him!

                          Comment

                          • kernelbogey
                            Full Member
                            • Nov 2010
                            • 5735

                            Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post
                            TORTOYS, for the well-known reptile and declining in numbers garden resident? I ask because we've been considering English adaptations of French names. It was always TORTUS to us. As Alice said, "We called him Tortus, because he taught us". I ask what is now considered correct pronunciation because both an interviewer and interviewee spoke of "tortoys" just now on the R4 lunchtime news programme.
                            I bellieve that I first heard this pronunciation of tortoise on The Two Ronnies, and assumed it was a joke rather than an error: but perhaps it has become influential.
                            Last edited by kernelbogey; 01-02-18, 10:44.

                            Comment

                            • vinteuil
                              Full Member
                              • Nov 2010
                              • 12788

                              .

                              ... the 'English' pronunciation of a French proper name that continues to infuriate me is Degas.

                              Why o why o why o why... will people say "Day - ga"?? They are quite able to give the necessary schwa to de Gaulle, de La Rochefoucauld, madame de Maintenon, Claude de Bussy, &c... why can't they 'get' de Gas ?

                              I wd happily accept de Gass, bicoz I understand the s was originally pronounced - but Dayga???






                              .
                              Last edited by vinteuil; 31-01-18, 14:48.

                              Comment

                              • Serial_Apologist
                                Full Member
                                • Dec 2010
                                • 37591

                                Originally posted by vinteuil View Post
                                .

                                ... the 'English' pronunciation of a French proper name that continues to infuriate me is Degas.

                                Why o why o why o why... will people say "Day - ga"?? They are quite able to give the necessary schwa to de Gaulle, de La Rochefoucauld, madame de Maintenon, Claude de Bussy, &c...

                                I wd happily accept de Gass, bicoz I understand the s was originally pronounced - but Dayga???



                                .
                                It would be prounounced Dayga only were it to have an acute accent over the e, non?

                                Comment

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