# French name ending in è - how to pronounce? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 19, 2023, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-name-ending-in-e-how-to-pronounce/981358 "2023-03-19T14:43:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-name-ending-in-e-how-to-pronounce/981358/1 "2023-03-19T14:43:32Z")
I’ve recently come across a French name ending with an e grave: Jettè How is it pronounced, and why is it there? I don’t recall ever seeing a French name (or word) ending with è ? ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-name-ending-in-e-how-to-pronounce/981358/2 "2023-03-19T14:47:54Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Jettè I wonder if the last “e” is to be pronounced the same way as the first. If there was no accent, the second e wouldn’t be pronounced at all. So could this be a specific and unique name in which the second e is supposed to be pronounced? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-name-ending-in-e-how-to-pronounce/981358/3 "2023-03-19T14:48:08Z")
Like Grand Jettè? Jet-tay or jaw-tay ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-name-ending-in-e-how-to-pronounce/981358/4 "2023-03-19T15:01:42Z")
If it is a French name, then è = /ɛ/ (I guess). Cf. é = /e/, as in _grand jeté_ > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Like Grand Jettè What does that mean ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-name-ending-in-e-how-to-pronounce/981358/5 "2023-03-19T15:06:03Z")
Most likely, zhet-uh. No accent would be “zhet.” Acute accent (é) would be “zhet-ay.” The accent grave would be the “e” would be pronounced, but not as “ay.” It is an unusual construction, though. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-name-ending-in-e-how-to-pronounce/981358/6 "2023-03-19T15:07:20Z")
It’s a ballet term. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wpZ00jugc0g/maxresdefault.jpg "How to Pronounce Grand Jetté? | French & English Pronunciation") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpZ00jugc0g) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-name-ending-in-e-how-to-pronounce/981358/7 "2023-03-19T15:10:13Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I don’t recall ever seeing a French name (or word) ending with è ? There was a Night Court episode where Harry Stone got a (fake) autograph of Mel Tormè (sic). ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-name-ending-in-e-how-to-pronounce/981358/8 "2023-03-19T15:15:53Z")
I have been to the ballet, but am not familiar with that spelling (or the one in your link with an acute accent) > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I don’t recall ever seeing a French name (or word) ending with è ? -ès seems more common ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-name-ending-in-e-how-to-pronounce/981358/9 "2023-03-19T15:41:06Z")
A quick glance through the dictionary shows -è basically used in foreign (e.g., Greek) words like koinè, psychè, archè ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-name-ending-in-e-how-to-pronounce/981358/10 "2023-03-19T15:50:08Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I’ve recently come across a French name ending with an e grave: Jettè > > How is it pronounced, and why is it there? > > I don’t recall ever seeing a French name (or word) ending with è ? As far as I know, è gets pronounced as “eh” or /ɛ/. É gets pronounced as /e/, which is not quite “ay” but usually gets heard as “ay” by English speakers. One guess is that it’s a borrowed name from another language and the è is there to show it should be pronounced. I can’t find any examples of it being a French name. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-name-ending-in-e-how-to-pronounce/981358/11 "2023-03-19T15:59:41Z")
Have we ruled out the possibility of a misspelling? There are Canadians named “Jetté”. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-name-ending-in-e-how-to-pronounce/981358/12 "2023-03-19T16:09:37Z")
I think that’s the case. The individual in question was a judge in Quebec in the 1880s - I think this wiki article is he: > **[Louis-Amable Jetté](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis-Amable_Jett%C3%A9)** > > Sir Louis-Amable Jetté, KCMG (French pronunciation: ​\[lwi amabl ʒɛte\]; 15 January 1836 – 5 May 1920) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, judge, and professor who served as lieutenant governor of Quebec and chief justice of the Court of King's Bench. > He was born in L'Assomption, Lower Canada (now Quebec) in 1836. After receiving a classical education at the Collège de L’Assomption, he studied law at the Collège Sainte-Marie, before being called to the bar in 1857. He then practiced law in Montr... The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council got it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-name-ending-in-e-how-to-pronounce/981358/13 "2023-03-19T16:29:11Z")
Yeah, a typo would seem most likely. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2023, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-name-ending-in-e-how-to-pronounce/981358/14 "2023-03-19T23:42:11Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > As far as I know, è gets pronounced as “eh” or /ɛ/. É gets pronounced as /e/, which is not quite “ay” but usually gets heard as “ay” by English speakers. Correct, é is /e/ but English often hypercorrects it to /eɪ/. The grave e is not terribly common in French and mostly would make it more explicit that it’s /ε/ instead of /ə/ as might otherwise be used. Could be a rare name, could be a misspelling, could be khreyatyve spelling. ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-name-ending-in-e-how-to-pronounce/981358/15 "2023-03-20T08:41:14Z")
I’m pretty sure it’s just a typo. I can’t think of any French words ending in _è_. Acute accents at the end are extremely frequent, and there is indeed a word spelled _jeté_ (“thrown”). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-name-ending-in-e-how-to-pronounce/981358/16 "2023-03-20T12:41:44Z")
> [@Moonrise](#): > > I can’t think of any French words ending in _è_. The closest I could find (and I’m not a French speaker) – and this may not technically coundtbecause it depends on whether you consider the hyphen a word break or not – is in the inverted question form like pensè-je or parlè-je. Apparently, those traditionally have an acute accent, but in 1990, [the French language council decided](https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/inversion-with-je/) it more accurately should be a grave. So that’s kindasortamaybe an example. ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-name-ending-in-e-how-to-pronounce/981358/17 "2023-03-20T17:01:43Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Apparently, those traditionally have an acute accent, but in 1990, [the French language council decided](https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/inversion-with-je/) it more accurately should be a grave. So that’s kindasortamaybe an example. Wow, I’ve _never_ heard of that decision. It goes to show how strictly adhered to these edicts are… Actually, even the traditional form is rarely used, as it sounds (and looks) soooo precious and stilted.