# French-speaking Dopers! How do I pronounce... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 19, 2006, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730 "2006-12-19T02:42:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/1 "2006-12-19T02:42:45Z")
The following beer names? Maudite (I’ve been saying, “maw-deet”) Don de Dieu (Done day day-oo?) Chambly Noire (Shamblee no-are?) La fin du Monde (Lah feen do mon-day?) Unibroue (You na brough?) ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/2 "2006-12-19T02:57:04Z")
lol. I wasn’t there long enough to help you with the perfect pronounciations (and you are close enough for most practical purposes) but I know the stuff you are looking for. Good stuff. ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/3 "2006-12-19T03:02:14Z")
[QUOTE=Cuckoorex] The following beer names? Maudite (I’ve been saying, “maw-deet”) Don de Dieu (Done day day-oo?) Chambly Noire (Shamblee no-are?) La fin du Monde (Lah feen do mon-day?) Unibroue (You na brough?) [/QUOTE] T’as du gout, mon chum! And you’re pretty close… I’d pronounce them: Moe-dzit (it’s kind of an aspirated d) Dohn der dee-yeu (last word rhymes with adieu, to yeu and yeu and yeu) Sham-blee no-arr Lah fayn dzu moaned You knee brew And, for a good all-purpose toast, San-tay. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/4 "2006-12-19T03:02:22Z")
[QUOTE=Sapo] lol. I wasn’t there long enough to help you with the perfect pronounciations (and you are close enough for most practical purposes) but I know the stuff you are looking for. Good stuff. [/QUOTE] I’ve been enjoying these beers for a while now, actually…but the only one that I am reasonably sure I am pronouncing correctly is La Fin du Monde. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/5 "2006-12-19T03:05:01Z")
[QUOTE=xnylder] T’as du gout, mon chum! And you’re pretty close… I’d pronounce them: Moe-dzit (it’s kind of an aspirated d) Dohn der dee-yeu (last word rhymes with adieu, to yeu and yeu and yeu) Sham-blee no-arr Lah fayn dzu moaned You knee brew And, for a good all-purpose toast, San-tay. [/QUOTE] Merci! ---
**Author:** ![ArmenE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ArmenE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArmenE)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/6 "2006-12-19T04:05:00Z")
[QUOTE=Cuckoorex] Merci! [/QUOTE] I second that! Thanks loads. My beergeekery rating just shot up 20 points. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/7 "2006-12-19T06:00:44Z")
Well, I took French for four years in high school and college, and I wouldn’t call myself fluent, but **xnylder** ’s pronunciation guides may explain why I get along okay in France, but can never understand a word Québecois say. 😃 Here’s how I’d try to convey them. Maudite: Moe - deet. (I have no idea where **xnylder** is getting anything like a Z sound from the D.) Don de Dieu. One word at a time: Dawn, but the N is a sort of swallowed nasal sound. Cut it off short. De is not day or der, although if you try to say “der” and stop before getting to the R, you’re pretty close. Dee-yeu, not dee-yoo. Chambly Noire: Shawm-blee no-arr. (Swallow the R at the end.) La fin du Monde: La fan doo mawnd (with the nasal sound on both Ns). Unibroue: Finally I agree with **xnylder**. You-nee-broo. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/8 "2006-12-19T06:06:53Z")
I meant to add that I was given a three-bottle set that included Maudite, Fin du Monde and a third that I can’t remember. I’ve already consumed that one and the Maudite, but I’m a little scared to try the Fin du Monde. 😉 Enjoy them. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/9 "2006-12-19T06:07:24Z")
[QUOTE=xnylder] Lah fayn dzu moaned [/quote] I think that made me a little homesick. ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/10 "2006-12-19T06:20:04Z")
Well, this francophone agrees 100% with xnylder. 🙂 Et oui, il a du goût. (Savais-tu que j’ai trouvé un paquet d’bieres de che-nous ici, à Minneapolis? Unibroue, mon pit… même ici! Ah, ce que ca fa’h du bien, 'nak! Maudit que j’mennuie d’chez nous des fois.) ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/11 "2006-12-19T08:52:31Z")
[QUOTE=commasense] Maudite: Moe - deet. (I have no idea where **xnylder** is getting anything like a Z sound from the D.) [/quote] That is a teense Quebec-y. Also the ‘o’ wouldn’t be drawn out quite as much as ‘moe’. It’d be ‘mo’ clipped quickly after the o. ‘Deet’ is too ‘e’ - it’s much more a very clipped ‘i’ like ‘it’. > [@](#): > > Don de Dieu. One word at a time: Dawn, but the N is a sort of swallowed nasal sound. Say ‘Dawn’ and you’re signalling ‘Hey, I’m English’. It’s Dohn as xnylder said. But of course you don’t pronounce the ‘n’ - you just almost do. And you wouldn’t say ‘der’ that I’ve ever heard. It’s more ‘duh’ but again very fast. ‘Dieu’ would be ‘Dyeu’ - you don’t stretch anything out in French. Say dee-yuh and, again, you might as well stamp the Union Jack on your forehead. > [@](#): > > Chambly Noire: Shawm-blee no-arr. Shawmblee-nwahr. > [@](#): > > La fin du Monde: La fan doo mawnd (with the nasal sound on both Ns). The closest I can think of to the ‘i’ in ‘fin’ would be almost the Canadian ‘eh’ so ‘fehn’ but again without pronouncing the n. ‘Du’ is again not dooo but it’s probably the hardest one to get across. Try saying ‘ew’ with your mouth pursed as though to whistle and you might come close. Here is where you might hear a ‘y’ sound (‘dyu’) or a ‘z’ (‘dzu’) Born in PQ, me. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/12 "2006-12-19T12:24:29Z")
guys, focus your efforts. Learn just one, have a couple of those and then it doesn’t matter how you TRY to pronounce the rest. It will all be a slurry mess. ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/13 "2006-12-19T13:56:18Z")
Ben, yoyons donc… 😛 I’m a product of the Montreal educational system: Picked up street French in summer day camp, then educated by Belgian and Parisian high school teachers. So my multiple-personality accent varies from classy to joual depending on the mood and context I’m in. In other words, ton kilometrage peut varier. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/14 "2006-12-19T14:31:31Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] That is a teense Quebec-y. [/QUOTE] For what it’s worth, the Unibroue brewery is in Quebec…so maybe there’s some regional variation that really _is_ valid there… ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/15 "2006-12-19T15:24:27Z")
It’s going to be hit-and-miss trying to explain phonetics this way. The only big mistake in the OP was this – > [@](#): > > La fin du Monde (Lah feen do mon-day?) “Monde” is one syllable, not two. A plain _e_ at the end of a word is generally silent in French. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/16 "2006-12-19T15:30:57Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] “Monde” is one syllable, not two. A plain _e_ at the end of a word is generally silent in French. [/QUOTE] I think you’re on thin ice there. The “e” is silent, but you have to pronounce the “d” somehow. It’s as if there were two words: “Mon de.” I get two syllables, and even in this Christmas season, I’ll fight to the death anyone who claims there’s only one. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/17 "2006-12-19T15:34:15Z")
I think I overstated the way I pronounce the second “syllable” of “monde”. I say it much more like “Moan-deh” where the “deh” has an extremely short “eh” vowel sound. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/18 "2006-12-19T15:40:06Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] I think you’re on thin ice there. The “e” is silent, but you have to pronounce the “d” somehow. It’s as if there were two words: “Mon de.” I get two syllables, and even in this Christmas season, I’ll fight to the death anyone who claims there’s only one. [/QUOTE] :dubious: How would pronounce the English word “fund”? (CVCC) The “on” in French is not a vowel+consonant. It’s simply a (nasalized) vowel, so “monde” is M (consonant)-ON (vowel)-DE (consonant). One syllable (CVC). ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/19 "2006-12-19T15:40:39Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] I think you’re on thin ice there. The “e” is silent, but you have to pronounce the “d” somehow. It’s as if there were two words: “Mon de.” [/QUOTE] 😕 “Monde” doesn’t end roughly like English “pond” (different vowel, of course)? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730/20 "2006-12-19T15:44:58Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] :dubious: How would pronounce the English word “fund”? (CVCC) The “on” in French is not a vowel+consonant. It’s simply a (nasalized) vowel, so “monde” is M (consonant)-ON (vowel)-DE (consonant). One syllable (CVC). [/QUOTE] See, in this phonetic environment, I always thought that the /n/ regained saliency. My source, from memory, is a scholarly book titled \*The World’s Major Languages \* (Bernard Comrie, ed). I won’t be able to double-check until I get home. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-speaking-dopers-how-do-i-pronounce/384730.md?page=2)