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Pronunciation of ski resorts

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I tend to make up my own name for the ski resort im going to and on arrival I find i've normally got it completely wrong
ie: Obergurgl O-ber-gur-gil ..... it sounds like im drowning when i used to say it ober-blob-blob-blob

I had a quick search but couldn't find anything on here , so thought it might be useful for someone mainly me

https://www.takemeskiing.co.uk/pronunciation/

Andorra
Arinsal Ah-ren-sahl
Pas de la Casa Pas-ta-la-casa
Soldeu Sol-day-oo

Austria
Alpbach Alp-back Mayrhofen My-er-hof-fen
Axamer Lizum Ax-am-er-Lit-Zum Obergurgl O-ber-gur-gil
Bad Kleinkirchheim Baad Kline-kirk-hime Rauris Rao-ris
Ellmau El-mao Saalbach Saal-back
Fulpmes Fulp-mez St.Johann St.Yo-han
Galtur Gal-tour Scheffau Shef-fow
Ischgl Ish-gull Schladming Shlad-ming
Kitzbuhel Kitz-bool Seefeld Say-feld
Kuhtai Koo-tie Zell am See Tsell am Zay

Bulgaria
Borovets Boh-roh-vetz
Pamporovo Pam-poh-roh-voh

France
Alpe d'Huez Alp Do-wezz Meribel Merry-bell
Avoriaz Ar-vor-ee-az Montgenevre Mon-jer-nev
Brides les Bains Breed lay Bain Mottaret Mot-ta-ray
Chamonix Sha-mon-ee Risoul Ree-zool
Courchevel Corsh-e-Vall Serre Chevalier Sair Chev-al-ee-ayz
Isola 2000 Iss-o-la 2000 St. Sorlin St. Sore-lan
La Clusaz La Clue-sa Tignes Teen
La Plagne La Plan Val d'isere Val diz-air
La Rosiere La Roz-ee-air Val Thorens Val Tor-ren
Les Deux Alpes Lay derz Alp Valloire Val-waar
Le Grand Bornand Le grand bor-non Valmeinier Val-men-e-a
Les Menuires Lay Men-weir

Italy
Aosta Ay-os-ta La Thuile La Tweel
Bardonecchia ar-don-eck-ee-a Madonna di Campiglio Ma-don-na dee Camp-ee-lee-o
Canazei Can-a-zay Passo Tonale Pas-so Toe-narl-lee
Cervinia Cher-vin-ee-a Sauze d'Oulx Sow-zee doo
Champoluc Shamp-o-luke Val Gardena Val Gar-day-na
Courmayeur Cor-may-err

Norway
Geilo Yay-lo
Hemsedal Hem-se-darl
Lillehammer Lily-hammer

Sloventa
Bohinj Bock-hin
Kranjska Gora Kran-ska Gor-ra

Switzerland
Chateau d'Oex Shat-o Day Saas Fee Sars Fay
Grindelwald Grin-del-vald Wengen Vengen
Gstaad G-stard Villars Vil-lar
Les Diablerets Lay dee-ab-ler-ray Zermatt Sir-mat
Leysin Lay-zan


Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sat 18-07-20 23:27; edited 7 times in total
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@wasley, isnt lillehammer ..lillu hammer
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
And it's surely Core-sher-vel...not val! That old chestnut Laughing
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holidayloverxx wrote:
@wasley, isnt lillehammer ..lillu hammer

Probably ?? but its a lot nearer than the way i would say it Very Happy

if there's some that are obviously wrong ill try and change it
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Wooo, time to go waaay back in the ol' time machine....

Quote:

Les Deux Alpes Lay derz Alp


Why is it pronounced 'the 12 alps' when there are only 2 of them?
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@Richard_Sideways, it's not Puzzled
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
holidayloverxx wrote:
@Richard_Sideways, it's not Puzzled


Agreed, phonetically it's Lay derz Alp, not Lay dooz Alp.

Also for all the Austrian ones mentioned that end in bach it's a soft ch sound as in the composer's name so it's bach not back. It's also like the correct pronunciation of the Scottish "loch", not lock which upsets any true Scotsman! Laughing
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
The French ones are not good
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You're about 10 years too late wink

Forvo already has every major ski resort on the planet pronounced by local voices.

Click on the voiceplayers.

https://forvo.com/word/brides-les-bains/
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
Zell am see = sell am zee
I'm constantly guilty of getting that wrong!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
@Klamm Franzer, to be annoyingly pedantic, it's actually "tsell", not "sell".
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
@tatmanstours, ^ +1
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Avoriaz is also wrong AFAIK. The final ‘z’ is silent, so it should be “Av-or-ee-a” and it’s doesn’t start with an “Arrrr”.

Val Thorens should be “Val torr-on” not Val tor - en”


Last edited by So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much on Sat 18-07-20 19:44; edited 2 times in total
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Flaine = Flenn
Les Gets = Lezhjay
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
foxtrotzulu wrote:
Avoriaz is also wrong AFAIK. The final ‘z’ is silent, so it should be “Av-or-ee-a” and it’s doesn’t start with an “Arrrr”.

Val Thorens should be “Val torr-on” not Val tor - en”
Nope, Avoriazz and Val Torr-ance.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hurtle wrote:
foxtrotzulu wrote:
Avoriaz is also wrong AFAIK. The final ‘z’ is silent, so it should be “Av-or-ee-a” and it’s doesn’t start with an “Arrrr”.

Val Thorens should be “Val torr-on” not Val tor - en”
Nope, Avoriazz and Val Torr-ance.



Yup.

Silent "z" in Avoriaz.

https://forvo.com/word/avoriaz/#fr

https://forvo.com/word/val_thorens/#fr
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
AvoriaZ @Hurtle, is quite right.


Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Sat 18-07-20 20:56; edited 1 time in total
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@Nadenoodlee, exactly. The same applies to a lot of southern names eg Gigondas, where the locals sound the final s.
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Nadenoodlee wrote:
Avoriaz. Only Parisians do the silent Z, locals pronounce it. @Hurtle, is quite right.



Close.

But no cigar.

Mid or long French words of French origin with a penultimate vowel spoken by official French (and Savoyards) always have a silent "z" and "x".

Nobody skis in Chamoneex.

Have a free French lesson wink

https://www.ledauphine.com/haute-savoie/2019/07/25/faut-il-prononcer-les-x-et-les-z-a-la-fin-des-noms-des-communes
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
So it’s not Tig-nez? Laughing
I’ve been wanting to go to Tig-nez for years.
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@Whitegold, you really shouldn't believe everything you read on the internet.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Nadenoodlee wrote:
AvoriaZ @Hurtle, is quite right.

I think you'll find it's Avoria and La Clusa etc
https://www.ledauphine.com/haute-savoie/2019/07/25/faut-il-prononcer-les-x-et-les-z-a-la-fin-des-noms-des-communes
They should know, shouldn't they?
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
caughtanedge wrote:
Nadenoodlee wrote:
AvoriaZ @Hurtle, is quite right.

I think you'll find it's Avoria and La Clusa etc
https://www.ledauphine.com/haute-savoie/2019/07/25/faut-il-prononcer-les-x-et-les-z-a-la-fin-des-noms-des-communes
They should know, shouldn't they?
Not necessarily. There are regional variations whatever the self-appointed purists say.
Listen to this for the other example I gave, French is full of such examples:
http://youtube.com/v/wCRN0tfRjwI
Never having been to La Clusaz, I don't actually know how the locals pronounce it, but I have been to Avoriaz and can assure you the locals sound the z.
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I would challenge anyone to publish a phonetic pronunciation of Reims or even worse Rouen :shock

I'm spending a few days in Pézenas next month which falls into the "locals pronounce the s" category too, as does Cassis.

Chamonix is regularly pronounced eex too, I've heard that on local Isère radio.
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@Claude B, Thonex or Onex? One with, one without ... Gex with "x" ...
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@Claude B, Rahns. Dunno about rouen
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
For Saint-Foy I have always said San-Fwa
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@holidayloverxx, but with a fricative rrr, Rouen sounds like you're clearing your throat Laughing
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
I work in a French company and out of about 10 people I asked to pronounce Val Thorens all 10 did it slightly differently

Val Thoran
Val Thoron
Val Thoren
And anything in between

but not one pronounced the last 's'

Similarly never heard any locals pronounce z in Avoriaz
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I used to ski regularly with a French Chamonix-based guide. He was telling me one day about the various off piste options around AvoriaZ. I said, isn't it AvoriAH, not AvoriaZ? He said yes, AvoirAH, but when I have British clients, I say AvoriaZ, otherwise they don't understand me!
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Oleski wrote:


Similarly never heard any locals pronounce z in Avoriaz


Ive never heard anyone pronounce the o's in London either.


tomayto, tomahto
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
> Agreed, phonetically it's Lay derz Alp, not Lay dooz Alp.

There is a liason between deux and alpes which puts the "z" sound on the last consonant. Accepting the difficultly, should I say impossibility, of representing French pronunciation with an "English" alphabet it would be : lahy duh-zalp.

that is if you have to put the "hyphen" in, lahy duhzalp would be better.

The big problem with the guide above is it sounds like a Brit trying to pronounce French place names.

> Avoriaz

- no you don't speak the last "z".

> Val Torr-ance.

that's closer, the final 's' is spoken.

Similarly for "les Gers".

Again I'm not sure the hyphens all over the place are helping people here. I suspect people just don't have a good ear for the sounds.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
We don’t pronounce Paris like the locals, unless we put ‘Gay’ in front of it.
Nor Roma, or Lisboa, etc, etc.
What chance do a few tiny ski villages have??
Granted, they don’t pronounce our towns as we do either (Edinbourg).
Countries have different pronunciations, spellings, names all the time, depending where you are on the globe. I can understand how it started from way back in history before travel was common, or even possible, but it all seems a bit strange in the ‘global village’ of today. Why not pronounce all places like locals do? (Might be a bit tricky with some Inuit spots, right enough, but fun to try!)
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@davidof, as Professor Higgins had it, "the French don't care what they say so long as they pronounce it properly". I obviously talked to the wrong people in Avoriaz, as has Nade, who has a pad in the neighbouring resort I believe. As for a poor ear, I am often taken for a French person, having spoken the language from when I started to speak at all (and learned it from native Francophones). I've got very rusty, in terms of vocab, lately however, as my French cousins and I have lost touch and I don't travel there very often any more. More's the pity.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Great, so now i don't know if I'm heading to Avoria, or Avoriaz at Easter...
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dode wrote:
We don’t pronounce Paris like the locals, unless we put ‘Gay’ in front of it.
Nor Roma, or Lisboa, etc, etc.
What chance do a few tiny ski villages have??
Granted, they don’t pronounce our towns as we do either (Edinbourg).
Countries have different pronunciations, spellings, names all the time, depending where you are on the globe. I can understand how it started from way back in history before travel was common, or even possible, but it all seems a bit strange in the ‘global village’ of today. Why not pronounce all places like locals do? (Might be a bit tricky with some Inuit spots, right enough, but fun to try!)



so start calling Wales, Cymru.
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SHAP wrote:
Great, so now i don't know if I'm heading to Avoria, or Avoriaz at Easter...
Let's face it, it doesn't really matter, does it?! Laughing
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Talking to a French former Ski Instructor on our campsite the other day, and mentioned we had been in "Chamonee" for the winter - she said she had not yet skied there, but hoped to go for the off-piste in "Chamonicks" soon.
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@RobinS, I've often heard it pronounced like that too, but I don't. Go figure. Anyone know how to pronounce the Swiss place Château d'Œx? I haven't got a clue.
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holidayloverxx wrote:
@wasley, isnt lillehammer ..lillu hammer



It is Lee-lay-hammer or leel-lay-hammer the I in Norske is normally like an e

Like ee-kay-ahh. For Ikea
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