My observations have been that it’s pronounced bom-bar-dey-ay when folks are describing their aerospace products but bom-bar-dee-er when they’re talking about their snowmobiles, ATV’s or jetskis.
Maybe just different crowds?
I used to work for a company that produced several motorsports-related publications, and I had contact with several Bombardier employees. People within our company and theirs (other than French Canadians) consistently used a “Franglais” pronunciation of the company name, something like bom-BAR-dee-YAY.
The name of the snowmobile, on the other hand, was pronounced “SKEE-doo.”
ETA: And PWC were called Sea-Doos, never jetskis. Although idiomatically Sea-Doo, WaveRunner and Jet Ski are used interchangeably, they are trademarks of Bombardier, Yamaha, and Kawasaki, respectively.
Jesus, are you serious? That makes as much sense as a Bombardier Tiger Moth.
Just to add a little diversion, reading “ski doo” made me think of sgian dhu (Scottish Gaelic, the g is pronounced like a k). This is the name of the dagger that men wearing kilts have in one of their socks.
And, since I have known Bombardier beer for a long time but have only just heard of the train-manufacturing company of the same name, my sympathies are with the English pronunciation.
Quebecois pronunciation of the -dier suffix is all over the place. I had an acquaintance from Quebec named Pelletier, and she pronounce it Pell-tee.
Me too!
Is anybody else picturing zombies riding snow machines and personal watercraft?
This seems unlikely to me. I’ve never heard Pelletier pronounced without a [e] sound at the end. Where precisely was your friend from?
Trois-Rivières, and she was a francophone, so I assume it was authentic.
Do people actually say “snow machines” in Alberta? In these parts it’s either skidoo used generically, or “sled”. As in, “We were out skidooing last weekend. That new sled of Bob’s is so fast I nearly shit myself when I hit the throttle.”
Something I don’t understand: Where does the brand name Rotax fit in? Rotax are small aircraft engines (usually ultralights), but they’re made by Bombardier (I think). Whenever I try to look up anything Rotax online its like the name doesn’t exist.
Please. It’s either Sgian-dubh (Scots Gaelic) or Skean Dhu (Anglicsed) but don’t mix up the two together.
Really? It used to be a separate company, based in Austria, which made engines for snowmobiles including Ski-Doos. Bombardier bought it in 1970.
They also didn’t get into the rail business cold, but by buying Montreal Locomotive Works and Hawker-Siddeley Canada and, later, Budd and Pullman-Standard.
It was probably an idiosyncrasy of hers, because I haven’t heard of people from Trois-Rivières having a particularly different accent.
BRP Rotax: www.rotax.com
Bombardier split into Bombardier Inc., with the Aerospace and Transportation divisions in 2003. Rotax, which had already merged with Bombardier in the '70s as ElvisL1ves says, remained with the newly formed Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. (BRP). The Bombardier/Beaudoin families are part owners of BRP, as they are of Bombardier Inc.
I’ve never heard someone use that pronunciation for what is a very common name in Québec, however a strong regional accent could make the final syllable sound a bit like “tee” to a non-French speaker. “Pel-tee-ay” said quickly would sound a little more like “Pel-tzee” or “Pel-tzey”.
It’s always very hard to describe certain French sounds using English ones; there are several that just don’t exist in both languages!
ETA: 22 seconds into this video, an interviewer says “Annie Pelletier” in a rather typical manner, though in a well-enunciated radio voice.
I agree, French-Canadians don’t pronounce ‘Pell-tee-ay’ the way Americans pronounce ‘Pell-tee-ay’.
This is the last name of family members…pronounced “Bom-bar-deer”
Not by any of the members of the Bombardier family, it isn’t. Nor by workers in all the various facilities in Québec, where the company (and the family) is from.
Here, at timestamp 1:30, (and at 2:04 and 2:20)Hélène Gagnon pronounces the company name in the English fashion, saying the “m” sound. Here she does it in French, without the "m"sound (or a weaker one) at 1:38 and a couple times later on too.
People elsewhere may mispronounce the name as “Bom-bar-deer”, but it is a mispronunciation of the family and company name.
So sorry. My response meant that MY family members, whose last name is Bombardier, pronounces it “Bom-bar-deer”.