How do you say "Brugges" the city in Belgium?
 

How do you say "Brugges" the city in Belgium?

think of the "zi" sound in the middle of "Frazier" as "zh"<BR>"Broo zh" sort of

Rhymes with rouge.

It's not "Brugges." It's Bruges or Brugge, in French and Flemish respectively. In English we usually use an Anglicized pronunciation of the French name, Bruges, and pronounce it as Elaine and Dan indicated. In French the "u" sound is different (somewhere between "oo" and "ee"). I don't really know Flemish, but I believe the "u" is similar to the French "u" sound (only shorter), the "gg" is pronounced gutturally (like the "ch" in Scottish "loch"), and the final -e is lightly pronounced ("-uh," more or less).

French speakers will say Bruges, rhyming with rouge.<BR>Flemish accents vary--more than you'd think--so I go by the train announcements. According to those guys, it sounds like BRUGGuh, with the BRU part sounding like the double "oo" in brook. <BR>BTilke (Brussels)<BR>

<BR>I have never understood why so many people use the French pronunciation for a Flemish town. English speakers say "Gent" rather than "Gand". Antwerp is a little different because it has a unique English pronunciation, but even that is closer to the Flemish (Antwerpen) as opposed to the French (Anvers). I use a Flemish pronunciation of Brugge - BROO-GUH.

If you really want to sound like a native, say: BRU (exactly as in New Bru-nswick)+ HUH. People in the west of Belgium have a tendency to use the H sound for both g and h. For instance "God" is pronounced "hod", and "Gent" sounds more like "hent".<BR>Incidentally, Brugge means "bridge".<BR>Enjoy your trip!<BR>

Am I the only Flemish-speaking in this thread? It is difficult to explain something that is so obvious for me! i'll give it a try.<BR> <BR>Phil's suggestion re the Flemish pronunciation of Brugge is the closest. It is Br&uuml;gguh with a short 'u' like in 'brunch', a soft g sound that sounds more like 'ch' (like in 'loch') and the final 'e' that sounds as 'uh'.<BR> <BR>In French Bruges does not rhyme with 'rouge'. In the BRU part the sound of the 'u' is the same short '&uuml;' as in Flemish followed by zj (like in 'oblige'): Br&uuml;zj (don't pronounce the es at the end).

No, Myriam, you are not the only Flemish speaker on this thread. And my Belgian friends in Antwerpen, Hoegaarden AND Brugge often say that accents differ strongly among different Flemish cities--they joke that the Brugge accent is not at all like the . The pronounciation I suggested is how you hear it on the trains from Brussels to Brugge. And the way our Walloon neighbors say "Bruges" DOES sound like rouge. Not exactly, but close enough. No need to be so krengy!

You are the one who is "krengy", BTilke. Myriam was just trying to be helpful. And as a Dutch speaker with many Belgian friends I think Myriam is right.

Our friends from Brugge (born and raised there and still living there) called and asked if we wanted to come over for drinks on Sunday, so I asked them about the correct way to say the town's name. They said that in the French way, it does rhyme pretty closely with rouge. The Flemish way of pronouncing it varies depending on where the Flemish speaker is from. She said some of her cousins from the Antwerp area joke they can't understand people from Brugge. Anyway, she said either way is correct--as Myriam described or as I described--it depends on the accent of the Flemish speaker. You want to disagree, pop into the restaurant De Beiaard where they dine several times a week and take it up with them.

Heehee, who is krengy? Remember the grafitti thread?

What a bunch of nitpickers!! We attended a conference in Brugge/Bruges last year. At a social, a local gave a Dutch minilesson. His way of saying Brugge was about what several people here said; this thread is just silly hairsplitting! <BR>At the social, when someone asked the speaker how to say it in French, he rolled his eyes and said if you "have" to say it French, it sounds like rouge.<BR>Enough arguing! You could pronounce it the way anybody here said and everyone would know what you meant. Sheesh!!<BR>