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French prononciation of English names and places


Chancer
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Pretty much every time someone says to me "I have been to England, I stayed at.............." I can never fathom the place name from their prononciation unless I have already heard it spoken by a French person, I usually have  to ask them to spell it. What I cant understand is how widespread it is by people who do indeed know the correct english pronunciation, English speaking newsreaders, reporters etc, I now have to pi55pronounce all english place names to be understood but unfortunately have unwittingly done so in the UK.[:$]

Peoples names are another one, to be honest even the most inbred Englishman only has to hear a French persons name pronounced once or twice to pronounce it pretty well correctly, there is a young lad that I know by the name of Joffré, at least that is what I had thought for 3 years until I saw it written as Geoffrey!!!! I now call refer to him as Geoffrey which his mother adores but no-one else has a clue who I am talking about.

Watching a documentary tonight I heard a name that really jarred my ears, this is my best attempt at a phonetic spelling:

Rob anne sonne Crew sew eh!

Ring any bells?

I know that Ians have a rough time of it here, that Michaels have to just accept being Mikael's but what about any women called Jean?

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Yep.

That's me - Jean.

Face to face I always had to say - "comme les jeans" and shake a trouser leg at them.

When filling in forms online I often had them returned with a polite message saying the equivalent of "You put Mme (or "f") - haven't you made a little mistake?

Good job we are back in England now.
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[quote user="FairyNuff"]I agree, it's sometimes quite a puzzle. The one that really winds us up is Michael Shoomarrer! When you ask why, no-one can explain it. FairyNuff PS Daniel Defoe's hero I think?[/quote]

The French pronounce it in the German way.     CH is " rr" in German.

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[quote user="Frenchie"]

[quote user="FairyNuff"]I agree, it's sometimes quite a puzzle. The one that really winds us up is Michael Shoomarrer! When you ask why, no-one can explain it. FairyNuff PS Daniel Defoe's hero I think?[/quote]

The French pronounce it in the German way.     CH is " rr" in German.

[/quote]

So 'Auch' is prnounced ARRR

and 'Ich'  IRRR?

'Doch' DORRR

'Nicht' NIRR?

I don't think so..

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[quote user="Chancer"]

Pretty much every time someone says to me "I have been to England, I stayed at.............." I can never fathom the place name from their prononciation unless I have already heard it spoken by a French person, I usually have  to ask them to spell it. [/quote]

We British aren't all that great though, are we?

Boulogne - Boo-loin

Reims - Reems

Nimes - Neems (even heard that version from a Ryanair pilot!)

Avignon - Aveenyonn (that's the American version)

Dordogne - Doordoyn 

.............. but at least Marseille usually comes out more or less right these days, rather than the old Mar-sails. 

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[quote user="Frenchie"]

[quote user="FairyNuff"]I agree, it's sometimes quite a puzzle. The one that really winds us up is Michael Shoomarrer! When you ask why, no-one can explain it. FairyNuff PS Daniel Defoe's hero I think?[/quote]

The French pronounce it in the German way.     CH is " rr" in German.

[/quote]

Since when?  Certainly not when I learnt German.

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Donkey Shot, always got me, it literally took me several years to work that one out.

Names, well, some sound better in french like Agnes and Herbert. Some don't. What about this confusion for me, called at a friends and her son was there, who told me his sister had had a daughter and given her an english name. Ee lene. I kept asking him to repeat it and assuring him that it was not 'english' when I asked him to spell it, he said Eileen. Hmmmmmmmm what could I say, I personally prefer the 'french' version.

 

Look at Hugh in french, sounds like someone is shouting out a japanese number as they choke.

 

Add to that all the diminutives in french and it's hard to know what people are called sometimes. I often get called by my diminutive name by french friends.

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I am l'Anglois

"

Les Anglois ont désormais renoncé à venir occuper les contrées

étrangères par la force des armes, ils viennent plutôt par charter et le

tunnel sous la Manche, de juin à septembre. Obèses, le visage rougi par la bière et le fish & chips, vêtus de short ridicules et de chemisettes immondes ils débarquent en troupeaux sur les plages de la Méditerranée, braillant comme des gorets qu'on égorge dans ce gargouilli qui leur sert de langue.

Ils passent alors deux semaines à boire, uriner en public et

montrer leur fesses boutonneuses aux passants avant d'être renvoyés chez

eux.

Contrairement à ce que pensent les Anglois, ce comportement ne les rend pas plus sympathiques."

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