[HPforGrownups] Revisited: Pronunciation -Olympe Maxime

[GulPlum]

No: HPFGUIDX 53723

At 19:44 13/03/03 , Steve wrote:
>Back to the pronunciation thread.

As the originator of the pronunciation thread (and fluent French speaker), 
I reserve the right to reply, despite a couple of answers already having 
arrived. :-)

>How do YOU pronounce - Olympe Maxime?

The *right* way, of course. :-P

<snip options>

>For me it's always been -
>
>Oh-lim-pee Macks-eem

Bear in mind that in French, unaccented terminal 'e's are always silent 
(although they do have an effect on the pronunciation of other letters); 
also bear in mind that in French two-syllable words, the accent usually 
falls on the last syllable...

Thus:

oLEHMP mack-SEEM

>I've always found French pronunciations to be a little odd. How
>'bourgeoisie' (bore-geo-issy) ever became boo-zhwa-zee, I will never
>understand. But then, that's French.

Although I know (at least, I *assume*) you're being facetious, I'll answer 
that one seriously for general enlightenment:

As in English, a word's etymology and grammatical breakdown has a lot to do 
with the way it's pronounced and spelled, and understanding its constituent 
parts helps with both:

"bourg" = "town"

"-(e)ois" = adjectival suffix denoting appurtenance = (very rough) 
equivalent of English "-ish"

"-ie" = suffix making an adjective into a noun.

'e' following a 'g' softens it; 'i' following an 's' hardens it. As a 
result, there is only one eminently logical way to pronounce the word: 
boor-zwa-zee. The 'r' is *not* silent, as in your transcription.

--
GulPlum AKA Richard, resident language consultant. :-)