Snickety

Sorry about the misspelling of the second "antipenultimate," which means, btw, the syllable before the next to last syllable.

Sue

An easy-to-remember phrase for the exceptions to ill = y sound: Lille est une des mille villes tranquilles. (all pronounced "eel."

jahoulih

It's "antepenultimate," not "antipenultimate."

Rex

My posting was off base, but it's an interesting phenomenon that once you learn something a certain way, you continue to hear it that way.<BR><BR>I feel certain that what I have heard from native French speakers DOES have a "wee" component to "ouill" - - but I think that my ear heard the "wee" portion of what is nearly a two syllable sound.<BR><BR>Thus, mouill&eacute; to me sounds like moo-wee-yay or moo(ie)yay; likewise, ratatouille like rah-ta-too(ie)-yuh, which rhymes with grenouille and andouille. Of course, andouilee has become so N'Awlins-ized in America that it might as well be spelled ann-doo-ie.<BR><BR>So, I hear "boo-ie" in bouillabaisse - - and personally I can't say a word like "boo-ie" (or "Dewey") withOUT a "w" sound in there. If "high French" (Acad&eacute;mie Fran&ccedil;aise) pronunciation is predominantly (or entirely) "oo" and little (or no) "wee" - - then I will not argue with Sue.<BR><BR>As I go back and read my first post, I think I was focused as much on correcting the SPELLING of "bouilabaisse" as anything - - with the notion that you can't sound it correctly without the correct spelling.<BR><BR>But I have learned something from Sue that I probably learned wrong - - and I have continued to hear over time, more like I first learned it - - than what people actually correctly say.<BR>

xxx

Nice of you to admit you were wrong, Rex. But it wouldn't have been so bad had you not started with your "NEVER!" as if you were the total expert on it. But then you consider yourself the expert on everything don't you -- answering as an authority even when you haven't a clue?

Rex

Only a guess can be made as to whether the two postings by "xxx" are from the same person. Hard to know what is the motivation for phrases like "dead wrong 100 percent of the time" or "when you haven't a clue". Neither of these are true, and the facts speak for themselves, regarding the answers I give here.<BR><BR>I do believe that its true: I actually HAVE transformed in certain ways in two and a half years here. I wonder when you, xxx, will transform to using an actual name.<BR><BR<BR>

Betty

xxx, are you the same xxx that "thanked " me above just to have an excuse to bash Rex? If so, a little redundant, don’t you think? I was able to correct Rex’s small error in French pronunciation because that is my profession; I’ve taught French for 30 years. In my professional opinion, Rex does extremely well with French and, I am sure, knows a great deal more than his anonymous critics. How many languages do you speak as well, xxx? Judging from what I’ve seen in the year or so that I have been visiting this site, the vast majority of Rex’s posts are accurate and helpful. Can anyone say the same for yours? So he was a bit off base on this one. So what? So was Elaine, but I don’t see you jumping all over her. I just wish I knew as much about Rex’s profession as he knows about mine, but "I don' know nothin' 'bout birthin' no babies." <BR><BR> (Yes, I do know the difference between an OB and a neonatologist; I just couldn’t resist the line!)<BR>

Harzer

Hi Huh-Huh!<BR><BR>I'm not sure what you mean when you say 'it' is characteristic of all Romance languages. All the Romance languages I know as a rule have their main stress on the penultimate syllable. Because this final syllable has often been elided in French there is a light residual stress on the final syllable.<BR><BR>With regard to 'perversely': just kidding. <BR><BR>Harzer

Harzer

Hi Student!<BR><BR>How about three years of University French and one year's residence in France? I am a native English speaker with a post-graduate qualification in linguistics.<BR><BR>Remember, I said 'most' English words etc. Let's put your theory that I am wrong to the test. Here's a list of words of more than one syllable taken from a recent posting on this thread:<BR><BR>study, English, matter, syllable, necessarily, dictionary, pronunciation,<BR>generally, reason, accent (noun), transfer (verb), stronger, explanation, difference, training, native, speaker, received, spoken, guttural.<BR><BR>Of these 20 words 15 have the stress on the first syllable, one ('transfer') can have it on the first or second, one ('necessarily')can have it on the first or third, three have it on a later syllable. Sixteen out of twenty looks to me like 'most'.<BR><BR>Harzer

Sue

Betty--good post! Let's hear it for civility (and teaching old dogs new tricks). Good grief, I have learned so much from this forum, and I too, Rex, have had to relearn things that I was absolutely sure of. (That's why I consult my dictionary just to verify what I think is right!)