I need help on pronouciation department:<BR><BR>1. Dordogne<BR>2. anglaise(sp) -English<BR>3. je ne pas compremand(sp)- I don't understant<BR><BR><BR>I am sorry about the spelling.

Ok - perhaps phonetically....<BR><BR>1. Door-doyne<BR>2. Ing-lase <BR>3. zhe nay pah comprond<BR><BR>anyone else able to help? (its more difficuly to do than you think!)<BR><BR>

2. ahng-layse

1. 'door-doyne' is good.<BR>2. Maybe 'ong-GLEZ' woul dbe closer?<BR>3. Should this be "je ne comprend pas"? In which case it would be something like 'zhuh nuh compron pah'

and no. 3 should correctly be:<BR><BR>Je ne comprend pas<BR><BR>zheh neh (long e) com-prehnd (long e) pa (long a, like papa)

This misconception has come up before in discussions of pronunciation: "Papa" does not have a "long a" sound -- that would mean pronouncing it as "pay-pay." <BR><BR>A "long vowel" says its own name: long "a" in name, long "i" in "like, etc. Here's a workbook for you:<BR><BR>http://www.evanmoor.com/products/0781.html

Eeek! "Door doyne"? Here I've been saying "Door dun yuh." What's correct? I'm going there next week and need to know!

Debra - - you are much closer to correct than "doyne"<BR><BR>I would spell it "phonetically" as<BR><BR>somewhere between dore-DOAN-yuh<BR>and dore-DUN-yuh<BR><BR>And the "yuh" is barely pronounced<BR><BR>it's very similar to the sound that Americans are familiar with in "lasagna"<BR><BR>As for "anglaise" - - awh-GLEZ or ahn-GLEZ are reasonable respresentations - - but this is NOT the word for the LANGUAGE English. "Anglaise" is the feminine adjective "English" - - as in "creme anglaise". The word for the English language is "anglais" - - and the pronunciation is somewhere between "awh-GLAY" (or ahn-GLAY) and awh-GLEH (or ahn-GLEH).<BR><BR>Abd the third sentence has been spelled correctly by Wilam<BR><BR>Je ne comprends pas<BR><BR>but there are are no long vowels in this sentence.<BR><BR>Zhuh nuh koh-prawh pah<BR><BR>90% of French will understand the English expression "I don't understand", especially if said with a look of puzzlement on your face.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Door-doyne is NOT correct. It's Door-dun with a hint of y at the end and a slightly "o"-is sound in the "dun." <BR><BR>Ohng-glez.<BR><BR>Je (soft "g" followed by "eh") n (just pronounce the letter "n" kom-prohn pah.<BR><BR>I hate translaterations!

I think I pretty much agree with Rex on this:<BR><BR>Dordogne = dore-dun-yuh<BR>anglais = ah(n)(nasal)-gleh<BR>#3 = zhuh nuh comb (like brush)-prah(nasal) pah<BR><BR>The nasal sound is impossible to write phonetically, except in correct phonetic symbols which the layperson wouldn't understand. Think of the chef (?) in Little Mermaid?

I think I would agree with StCirque-whatever she says,I think she is right!<BR

I pretty much agree with St. Cirq, too (we were posting at the same time), especially on #3 zhun comb prah(nasal) pah<BR><BR>However, in the word anglais (English language) there is no "z" sound at the end. (silent "s") ahngleh<BR><BR>And it is ahngleh, not ohngleh and comb-prah(n) not prohn, but I'm sure that's simply a glitch in trying to describe it.

Well, I guess no one really knows how to pronounce "Dordogne," since everyone has a different opinion. This was no help!

In my French class we learned<BR>zhahn compwah pah<BR>with the je and the ne together.<BR>Is this correct, incorrect, or regional?

If you are familiar with the Spanish &ntilde; or take the word canyon, consider the gn in French as the same sound. The "o" is open in both syllables, something between "door" and "part" in American English.

I'd say it does sound more colloquial to run the two syllables "je ne" together so that it sounds like the word "jeune".<BR><BR>Kinda like saying "kinda" or "idunno" or the even more unintelligible "eye-own't-noe". Doesn't make it better than the proper pronunciation. And you will never be wrong to say "je" and "ne" as separate syllables.<BR><BR>Collogquial French speakers sometimes just omit the "ne" altogether. Thus, in the same vein as "idunno", you may hear<BR><BR>"zhuh nuh say pah"<BR><BR>or<BR><BR>"zhuh say pah"<BR><BR>or something that sounds to me roughly like <BR><BR>"shay-pah"<BR>

Dordogne = Dohr-dong<BR><BR><BR><BR>

&lt;&lt;Author: Louis ([email protected])<BR>Date: 05/29/2002, 02:41 pm<BR>Message: Dordogne = Dohr-dong&gt;&gt;<BR><BR>Why would someone post a ding-dong reply like this? Just like to add to the confusion?<BR><BR><BR>

In phonology, any phoneme inventory lists the aa sound of papa or father as long and free (as opposed to short and checked or combination for vowels).<BR><BR>The articulatory features of vowels involve the position of the tongue, muscle tension while making the sound, and the rounding of the lips. <BR><BR>Technically, short vowels require less tension and long vowels require more; <BR>the aa is a long vowel with the tongue low in the center of the mounth, lips unrounded.<BR><BR>The distinction here is between phonology (the study of speech sounds) and phonics (a method of teaching reading).<BR><BR>Probably way more than you wanted to know.............

All this talk of "tongue, muscle tension" ... and "rounding of the lips" is getting me aroused!<BR><BR>To paraphrase Mae West...<BR><BR>Un homme de deux langues est bon a trouver.<BR>