And why isn't Aix-les-Bains pronounced like the word for peace? (Aix-en-Provence at least has the excuse of elision for sounding the x.) Answers on a postcard...
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Longeey Foy near La Plang always makes me smile ...
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?
Of course for place names that are tricky to pronounce correctly, we British have our fair share. For example
Leominster Lemster
Kircudbright kir coo bree.
Shrewsbury - some locals say shrowsbury others as it is spelled.
Frome - Froome
@sbooker, it is Tig-ness but only if you are Spanish!
@Extremophile, But there is an e on the end of Sainte Foy, cos she was a lady, allegedly, so the e should really be heard. As an aside there are lots of places named after her in France, seemingly she got about a bit,. There is a yearly jamboree of the local councillors each year in one of the villages.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Schoolboy hat on now, there is a small village signposted off the main road just east of Albertville that raises a snigger. Shame the main route doesn't go to Nice....
Off to the naughty step now.
After all it is free
After all it is free
So is Le Praz below Courchevel, le prah or le praz? Everyone I know calls it Le Prah but I sat on a chairlift the other year and some French people pronounced the z which was a bit of a shock. I don't think they were Savoyards though so maybe just as clueless as any other tourist...
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Rabbie wrote:
Shrewsbury - some locals say shrowsbury others as it is spelled.
Just don't tell them they live in Salop!
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
Hurtle wrote:
And why isn't Aix-les-Bains pronounced like the word for peace? (Aix-en-Provence at least has the excuse of elision for sounding the x.) Answers on a postcard...
The name will probably be from Arpitan/Savoyard and therefore follows different rules. But to be honest, God knows! That would account for some of the less obvious pronunciations round there.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Raceplate wrote:
So is Le Praz below Courchevel, le prah or le praz? Everyone I know calls it Le Prah but I sat on a chairlift the other year and some French people pronounced the z which was a bit of a shock. I don't think they were Savoyards though so maybe just as clueless as any other tourist...
le Pra / Prah
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.
[double post]
Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Sun 19-07-20 13:58; edited 1 time in total
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
@Raceplate, I've heard Le Praz pronounced both ways, by French people, pretty much equally. Not sure which of them were local, though, and I've not been into any shops there, so don't know how local shopkeepers pronounce it. That's usually a good indication.
It's not possible, quite obviously, to be dogmatic about these things. Except that CourchevAl drives me completely nuts.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
T Bar wrote:
Rabbie wrote:
Of course for place names that are tricky to pronounce correctly, we British have our fair share. For example
Leominster Lemster
Kircudbright kir coo bree.
Shrewsbury - some locals say shrowsbury others as it is spelled.
Frome - Froome
Not to mention Bath which the southern Brits pronounce Baaaaarth
Did someone mention Fowey
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Hurtle wrote:
@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.
@chocksaway, I think it's pronounced Saint' Foy because the correct usage is so awkward. There's an analogy I can think of which is that Berlioz' Grand' Messe des Morts is not only pronounced that way, but quite often written that way too. Vive l'apostrophe!
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Hurtle wrote:
@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.
My mother who very briefly lived nearby pronounced it Chateau day but whether that was accurate or an anglicisation I have no idea.
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?
@Hurtle, mmm, I hear quite a lot of the locals doing the santa foi thing.
This discussion has become somewhat Francophile. In an effort to restore some balance, I know non-linguists, who pronounce “Fieberbrunn” as “Feel my bum”, and “Leogang” as “Legoland”. For myself, I pronounce Saalbach as “La-La Land”.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Obsessed, moi? Pedantry, as ever, brings me back to snowHeads, after a short absence.
After all it is free
After all it is free
@Hurtle, not been there. In the end with that many languages and dialects (both modern, fading and dead) within a 15 k radius of Ste F, there is probably no right answer.
Even Val D and Tignes had their own dialects of Savoyarde and they were only a mile apart before someone plonked a dam in the Isere!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
@chocksaway,
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@tatmanstours, Haha. I hardly speak any German, so can't contribute anything to that debate.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
@Hurtle, no need, they all seem to speak perfect English around here anyway.
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.
I remember asking if they had any melons in the shop, i couldn't find any out (very unusual). So in my best pronounciation (no joke, it was my best pronounciation) in french I asked... 10 times... he couldn't understand what I was saying.
I asked my French neighbour about it one day, she explained that I didn't do enough nasal mooing- to which i laughed at, hysterically. She explained more and taught me how to pronounce melon in french correctly. It was this day that I realised I would never crack the language.
A few years before when we were on the GR5 I asked for 4 slices of ham at the deli of a small mountain town that had little else going on... quatre tranches de jambon, the lady then spent the next few minutes attempting to teach me how to correctly pronounce 4 slices, while simulaneously not getting my 4 slices, she wouldn't give them to me until i pronounced it correctly.
I don't really think it matters how you pronounce stuff, more often than not it'll be ever so slightly wrong according to the French.
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
tatmanstours wrote:
This discussion has become somewhat Francophile. In an effort to restore some balance, I know non-linguists, who pronounce “Fieberbrunn” as “Feel my bum”, and “Leogang” as “Legoland”. For myself, I pronounce Saalbach as “La-La Land”.
Could add the pronunciation of St Anton, St Johan, St Christoph (basically St anything) to that list, it's Sankt rather than saint.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Sitter wrote:
Could add the pronunciation of St Anton, St Johan, St Christoph (basically St anything) to that list, it's Sankt rather than saint.
^ +1
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Am I the only one who find it ironic this whole thread is morphed into how to MIS-pronounce French/German words by using English approximation?
Or was it how it got started? I lost track.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
For some reason I always pronounce Arinsal as though it were a North London football club.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Mr.Egg wrote:
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.
Ah yes, Sim-roo...
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?
holidayloverxx wrote:
@Claude B, Rahns. Dunno about rouen
You've got to roll the R for 'Rahns' and I'd suggest a -ce ending rather than -s.
I was in Avoriaz in December for 3 days. Didn't notice that the z was not pronounced. From reading the above, it sounds like some locals would and some wouldn't.
Given my respectable O Level in French I was embarrassed to realise I hadn't thought about local pronunciation of Les Gets, and mine was painfully English (Lez Gets) instead of the correct "Ley Jey".
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Mjit wrote:
T Bar wrote:
Not to mention Bath which the southern Brits pronounce Baaaaarth
Has the city of Bath moved since I was young? It always USED to be in southern Britain and as locals we always call it Baff.
Indeed. I'm from Devon (doesn't get much further south) and would pronounce it Baff (actually probably a bit closer to Baaff) while girlfriend from Lancashire (virtually in the Arctic circle) would say Barth. But then seems often when people say 'the south' what they actually mean is the Home Counties.
After all it is free
After all it is free
SnoodlesMcFlude wrote:
Mjit wrote:
T Bar wrote:
Not to mention Bath which the southern Brits pronounce Baaaaarth
Has the city of Bath moved since I was young? It always USED to be in southern Britain and as locals we always call it Baff.
Indeed. I'm from Devon (doesn't get much further south) and would pronounce it Baff (actually probably a bit closer to Baaff) while girlfriend from Lancashire (virtually in the Arctic circle) would say Barth. But then seems often when people say 'the south' what they actually mean is the Home Counties.
I come from Wiltshire and went to school in Baaff. We used to laugh at the station announcer who stated we were at Barth Spa.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Me thinks you Anglosaxons just need to accept you’re no good at this.
Say (wrong!) la vie.
Greetings froms Leck (wrong!)
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
I thought Les Gets was a northern comedian on Skegness Pier.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
Pedantry, as ever, brings me back to snowHeads, after a short absence. 