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-   -   How is "Vientiane" Pronounced? (https://www.fodors.com/community/asia/how-is-vientiane-pronounced-644519/)

eurotraveller Sep 5th, 2006 04:13 PM

How is "Vientiane" Pronounced?
 
Would someone please provide the phonetic pronounciation of this place in Laos? I think I am butchering it?

I have a pretty good feel for how to pronounce many Thai names, places, etc. Does Lao follow similar grammatical rules?

Thanks!

Tamara

bkk95 Sep 5th, 2006 04:21 PM

Euro -
When we were in Laos, I heard it pronounced as "weng chan" or something like that.

Hanuman Sep 5th, 2006 05:56 PM

bkk95 is correct, it's pronounce "Viang Chan". Here's a cut and paste from Wikipedia:

The romanized spelling "Vientiane" is of French origin, and reflects the difficulty the French had in pronouncing the hard "ch" syllable of the Lao word; a common English-based spelling is "Viangchan", or occasionally "Wiangchan".


thespian Feb 28th, 2008 10:14 PM

Frommer's guide says it's pronounced like this: we-en-chan. I'll be going there next week (Mar.4-8) and try it out.


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