Hi there,

Having difficulty working out how to pronounce the village to which we are going in Languedoc.. it's called Pailhes. I have a half decent command of french and normally can have a good stab at the pronunciation, but this one has me flummoxed. There is an accent on the e.. can't seem to get it to display here. ANy help would be appreciated as I fear we may get lost and not be able to ask for directions!!!
Thanks so much.
Cailin

My guess - pile-ezz.

It's è, so a short flat eh (as in set), as stfc says.

The first vowel might be the same sort of sound, or as in "pile"; as the second vowel's accented, the "s" is sounded, but might be "z". But you may find local people saying it their own way, whatever outsiders might do.

pie-ess

Here's a small bet.

1. The most common local pronunciation will actually be "pie" (as in 'apple pie'). The grave accent on the 'e' in this case doesn't mean you pronounce it.

2. Since that breaks standard French rules, as taught nationally, lots of French people will pronounce it differently. And the considerable range of local accents in Southern France means even people from elsewhere in the region will have variations.

3. So, although there'll be hardliners in the town who'll swear there's just One True Pronunciation (and doubtless other who'll swear the same about a quite different one), everyone locally will understand a range of attempts from Pie-less, through Pie-ezz, to Pie-ess and (I bet this is what most French non-Paillards say), to Pie-lez.

4. By getting it wrong (as you inevitably will), you'll merely demonstrate you're not from Pailhès. Which they know anyway, since they've all known each other from birth.

If at all worried, just keep a piece of paper with the name written on it. Because Sod's Law says the person you stop by to ask the way will be the one person in the village who pronounces it differently anyway.

Any French out-of-towner asking for directions would say "pie-ess". And that is probably what the locals call it, too, but you'll only find out by going there.

Right, well that has cleared things up nicely for me!!!!! Thanks everyone. I'll try "Pie" and if I am met with blank looks, I'll quickly add in a "lez"!!
In any case, I will be there in 2 days time( hurray!!) and so I shall revert and let you all know what I learn.

"I'll try "Pie" and if I am met with blank looks, I'll quickly add in a "lez"!!"

Don't trust me on this. I'd bet reasonable cash the Paillards call it pie. But Kerouac and pvoyageuse are right to point out that most French people would say pie-ess. Swiftly adding an 'ess' rather than a 'less' will mark you as an out of towner, but one with a sensitivity for French.

Probably either in Language of Oc (a local patois) after which the area is named or in Catalan. Don't think its French

Sorry Flanneruk, was confused. I actually meant to say that I would add an ess and not a lez.
So that's it decided then. I am going with Pie.......... ess ( the dots indicating a blank look). Can't wait to find out now!! Back in just over a week and will let you know or sooner if I get the opportunity to log on. As ever, thanks everyone. I don't know what I would do without you fodorites!

<b>Pailh&egrave;s</b>:

oc. gascon : palha
fran&ccedil;ais : paille
Se prononce presque comme le fran&ccedil;ais &quot;paille&quot;.

d&eacute;riv&eacute;s :
palh&egrave;ir (forme nord-gasconne ; prononcer &quot;paill&egrave;&yuml;&quot ou palh&egrave;r (prononcer &quot;paill&egrave;&quot : meule de paille


http://www.gasconha.com/index.php?in...mp;tipdoc=noms

Hi CD,

Also try
http://www.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php

Ira:

CD's been there and got back.

Also promised to let us out of our misery by now

Thanks all..
It was &quot;Pie ess&quot;!!! The place where we stayed had a guest information book and one of the first items of information was the phoenetic prononciation of the village. Apologies for late reply. Came back from hols to some craziness and didn;t have a chance to log on. Incidentally, had a wonderful time. So there you have it. thanks again for all your help..
Cailin

La-Tour-de-Peilz

Guess how Peilz is pronounced.

My guess would pez or pay.

Niether.

Or pel.

That one is open to a lot more possibilities than pie-ess.

Sorry, not that either. Very simple.

Okay not many more choices after the answers from Kerouac. The right answer is Peh (or like &quot;Paix&quot; in French).

http://www.la-tour-de-peilz.ch/Cultu...u_histoire.asp