The "How do you pronounce this?" Thread

Here’s a some I’m afraid to say aloud, as I doubt I pronounce them correctly:

Vajra

Bourgueil (I might be pronouncing this right)

Garblèt Sué (as in Brovia)

Ghemme

Auxey-Duresses

Printemps

Les Peuillets

Sèvre-et-Maine


Thanks!

I’ll take a stab.

Vazh rah

Burr goi

Gar blet sue a

Oh say du ress

Preen tomz

leh pwi etts

sehv a may 'n

Two corrections. Printemps has two sounds that don’t quite exist in English, but Prin rhymes with vin and en is like saying en France.

Because of the liason, it is Sev ray men

I’ve been saying Vaira for Vajra as that’s how the family spells it’s name, and seems to say it’s name when they’ve been in town.

Quivet - any help on this one?

Thanks for the corrections Jonathan and John. My french is quite rusty and I don’t speak any italian.

Chris: I always pronounce it key vet.

Printemps is kind of like a combination of prahn and prin without emphasizing the “n” and the temps is said with a very soft “p” that almost fades away making it sound like “tom”. But the vowels are made in the back of the throat, so there’s no real English equivalent.

And their “r” is not like a midwestern American “r” either - that’s a uniquely American sound that other people have trouble with.

For the “in”, you can try saying “sang” but stop just before you get to the “ng” part and make it more nasal.

For Bourgueil, you can start by saying “boo” like a ghost and then adding the “r” that you swallow, almost making a gargling sound, and then the “geuil” sounds a little like “goy” but it actually has a rising inflection on the end.

Unlike Italian and Spanish, French is pronounced more in the back of the throat and it seems like they’re swallowing their words. The other two are much brighter, coming from the front of the mouth, and that’s why there are so many great opera singers who are Spanish or Italian - they’re almost made to sing. And easier languages for Americans.

But you can get your own pronunciation guides - go to a site like Forvo, or howtopronounce, or something like that and you can get an audio example. Keep in mind that people from different areas have different accents though!

How about Huet? Is it a French pronunciation, or Dutch? oo-Ay or Hyoo-et, or neither?

I just learned that a few Sonoma vineyards are pronounced completely differently from my expectations…

Saitone is not “Say-Tone” (I didn’t know that).

I think it’s closer to the latter.

The u sound in French can be produced by pursing our lips as if to whistle (you know how to whistle, Steve, don"t you? You just put your lips together and blow) and then trying to say e. That will be the first syllable of Huet. I have heard both ett and ay for the second syllable. I think it is et.

That non English u sound matters. The difference between saying “above” and “below” for instance rests entirely on either putting your lips together and blowing or pronouncing the American flat oo.

I love to see people butcher French. It warms my red, white, and blue American heart. Mostly because I know that as bad as I am, there are a lot worse.

It takes a LONG time to make your American English speaking brain accept that Chambolle Musigny is sham-bowl moo-zig-knee. The Ugly American in us always wants to make the Mu into mew and the Cham a harder sound than as it’s correctly pronounced. [snort.gif]

Vajra is pronounced “vi ruh”

with the i being a long i, rhyming with “pie”, accent on the first syllable.

Kwiv it

Indeed Vajra is a little confusing for many, especially as j is in theory not part of the Italian alphabet. Think of the alternative spelling Vaira and remember the first bit rhymes with ‘why’ - or try to sound like a transylvanian count [wink.gif]
Ghemme is pretty easy, just remember that the ‘e’ on the end sounds more like our ‘ay’ - also useful to remember this when saying grazie.
Barolo is one that looks easy, but remember to emphasise the 1st syllable e.g. BAH-rolo and try the roll the ‘r’ (something that doesn’t come naturally to me).

Sī tōn

Once you’ve got all those, have a go at the Norfolk pronunciation of Happisburgh. Language can be stupid sometimes!

I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t Google/Wiki it. Brutal!

Because it’s not.

Okay, so how would you attempt to spell it phonetically? Google how to pronounce that name and tell me your super-excellent better-than-mine interpretation.