French question: Quick and Easy

Factual Questions
1

I like my French questions like I like my women… ok, forget that. There’s a French painter named Georges Roualt (or there was; he died in 1958), some of whose work is visible at http://www.thecityreview.com/f99simp2.html. Really pretty, if you’re into all that art stuff. My question is, how do you pronounce his name?

I’m writing a novel (for http://www.nanowrimo.com, do sign up next year) and I thought Roualt would be a perfectly exotic name for my lead character. Now I’m halfway into it, and it’s driving me crazy that I don’t know how to pronounce it properly. Can you save me, SDMBers? or should I just change it to Rene Smith?

Many thanks!

2

Wiseacre reply: You also don’t know how to spell it properly.

Georges Rouault (roo-oh)

It should rhyme with Renault.

[Cites: I checked my Petite Larousse and my American Heritage Dictionary.]

3

It’s not my fault; that’s how the encyclopedia and the websites spelled it, and I speak barely a word of French. Thanks for the help!

4

And I’m afraid to say that your grammar isn’t too great. It’s Petit Larousse.

Terribly sorry about the jab. :wink:

5

deltopia, unless you have your character explain in the story how to pronounce his name (as in one of his peeves is having to correct peoples mispronouncation of his name) your readers will say the name any which way.

Rouault would come out roo-ault rhyming with fault in most english readers minds I think.

I write short sf and this is a common thing with alien names as well.

d

6

Zut! Vous avez raison. Comme je suis honteuse!

7

But fault has an audible ‘t’ sound at the end, at least to me. Rouault wouldn’t. I think I’d describle the pronunciation as Ru-O, with a rolling of the ‘r’ at the beginning.

8

I agree that Ru-O is the proper pronounciation. I was stating that english(read north-amererican) readers would most propably rhyme it with fault(with an audible t).

I live in a bilingual area and have often had to interpret in my head how english people say things in french(and vice verca).

d(french by birth, english schooling)

9

Ah. Now I understand :). Now that I live in Ontario for school rather than Quebec, I constantly have to “anglisize” pronounciations for people, so that they know what I’m talking about. Hell, even my SO’s name is now Oliver, rather than Olivier, since no one understands what I’m saying when I say it properly! and how is Cogeco said in english? Co-jeck-o?

Funny story:

We were talking to friends about speaking French, and one girl said that all she knew was off of cereal boxes and other breakfast food packages. She then announced that she knew how to say “egg” in french - “OOF!”