In fact, French names cause all sorts of problems for English speakers, not least of where to put the stress. French, of course, has no lexical stress, but it would be impossible for an English speaker to avoid stressing at least one syllable in a name. Where should that stress go?
The names of Presidents of the Fifth Republic provide a fair sample. De Gaulle was no problem: two syllables, the first has a neutral vowel in both languages, so the second was the natural choice for stress. But then Pompidou was the first of three to have three syllables. The nearest to a stressed syllable in French would be the last, as phrasal stress falls there. That would lead to Pompi’dou, and also Mitte’rrand, and Sarko’zy. None of these sounds natural in English, but interestingly, while the first two lend themselves to initial stress in English (and this was the BBC recommendation in both cases): ‘Pompidou and ‘Mitterrand, the current President seems most comfortably stressed on the second syllable: Sar’kozy. In fact, as we know, Sarkozy is not a French name at all, but Hungarian, in which language it would have been stressed on the first syllable. However, the BBC recommendation is to stress the final syllable, with the predictable result that many journalists, who are not obliged to follow the Pronunciation Unit’s advice, ignore it, and go with Sar’kozy, which is neither French nor Hungarian, and sounds the least French-like to me.
Interspersed between these three, we had Giscard d’Estaing, who fits quite well as ‘Giscard des’taing, and Chirac, whom most people stressed on the first syllable (which was the BBC recommendation), but a few who “knew better”, on the second. Americans, mindful of the fact that these are foreign names, almost invariably pronounce the letter A as a long one, so /ʃirɑːk/. They also have a tendency to stress all shortish French names on the final syllable, so mostly /ʃi’rɑːk/.
On a lighter note, Pompidou caused some childish hilarity in Norway, as “pomp i do” in Norwegian means ‘bottom in toilet’.
March 25, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Marseilles, which I’ve just commented on in another thread, also raises a question for me in this one. Most French people I know put almost exactly equal stress on the first two syllables, and barely pronounce the final e at all (though people with a strong local accent pronounce it quite strongly). However, when I first lived here 20 years ago I noticed that a senior colleague seemed to stress the first syllable when speaking English, and I could never quite decide whether this was my ear interpreting equal stress as stress on the first syllable as I was expecting stress on the second, or whether he was trying to say it in what he regarded as a more English way.
Your comment about how Americans pronounce French names seems almost an understatement: I have long had the feeling that many Americans have a conviction that all French words are heavily stressed on the last syllable. When I first heard the molecular biologist Jacques Monod referred to as Mno I didn’t know who was meant, as most British people at that time (and probably most now as well) made the exactly opposite error of stressing the first syllable strongly: Monno.
April 16, 2008 at 2:25 am
Also on a lighter note, Vladimir Putin’s name often causes some hilarity amongst French Canadians because it is spelled “Poutine” in French.
In Canada, “poutine” is a very popular fast food comprising (your arteries are probably already clogging up) fries topped with cheese curds then smothered in gravy.
April 16, 2008 at 3:09 pm
In response to JJM, of course the “obvious” French pronunciation is a no-no because of its similarity to ‘putain’.
May 9, 2009 at 7:21 am
I heartily concur with Athel Cornish-Bowden on the habitual American pronunciation of French words. They have an absurd conviction that the last syllable should always be stressed, and the tone of the voice always seems to imply “hey, listen to me, I know how to pronounce French, I’m sophisticated”. They don’t and they aren’t.
June 5, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Keith:
Any more absurd than the British insistence on “GÂteau”, or the utterly strange “PEUgeot”, which in combination with the weak terminal “o” makes me always first think my interlocutor is saying “Persia”?
Let’s face it, Americans and Brits as a rule both speak abysmal French, but in non-identical ways.
August 30, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Max:
“and the tone of the voice always seems to imply “hey, listen to me, I know how to pronounce French, I’m sophisticated”. They don’t and they aren’t.”
RUDE is the same in all languages.
September 14, 2009 at 11:56 pm
please someone please phonically send an example of how to say the name: Bourdieu. Please!
Maria
September 14, 2009 at 11:57 pm
email me at [email protected]
Maria
February 27, 2011 at 5:16 am
At least when folks try to speak French, they deserve credit for that. What bothers me more is when people visit or live in another country and make no effort to speak the language.
July 31, 2013 at 5:42 am
For the record, the final syllable of a French name/word *is* usually stressed, so your American pals are pretty much on the right track. It’s just that “stress” in a French context is not the same as in English. When a French syllable is stressed, it becomes longer, but not louder, and isn’t accompanied by any unstressed syllables before it. So basically, you should sound out all the syllables and just drag the last one out a little longer (particularly if it’s the final syllable of a phrase – that receives the most stress of all).
August 11, 2013 at 2:30 pm
“That would lead to Pompi’dou, and also Mitte’rrand, and Sarko’zy. None of these sounds natural in English”
Sarkozy is stressed on the last syllable in AmE.
@Keith Mundy
“[Americans] have an absurd conviction that the last syllable should always be stressed”
As others have pointed out, this is less “absurd” than the British conviction that the last syllable should not be stressed.
“and the tone of the voice always seems to imply “hey, listen to me, I know how to pronounce French, I’m sophisticatedâ€
To you, possibly. Perhaps you are projecting?