# How to pronounce "Chateau d'Ax" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 28, 2020, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685 "2020-11-28T18:29:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/1 "2020-11-28T18:29:01Z")
There is an international chain of furniture stores called Chateau d’Ax. There is a branch of the store near me with the name on the sign transliterated\* in the local language (Hebrew) as “Shat-oh Ducks”. Is this correct? If I remember my high school French from 50 years ago, I think it would be pronounced as “Shat-oh Dah” – \*(grammar lesson: transliterated does not mean translated. It means written in the alphabet of another language) ---
**Author:** ![Acierocolotl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acierocolotl/32/6241_2.png) [@Acierocolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acierocolotl)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/2 "2020-11-28T18:34:58Z")
The x is pronounced. “Shat-oh Dacks”. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/3 "2020-11-28T18:37:42Z")
thanks…now for the followup: Are there any other words in French which end in an x , and the x is pronounced? I thought it was a silent letter. (but it’s been a long,long time since I studied French. I once spent a couple days in Paris, but haven’t used any French for 4 decades or so. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/4 "2020-11-28T18:47:06Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Are there any other words in French which end in an x , and the x is pronounced? Aix-en-Provence Aix-la-Chapelle ---
**Author:** ![Acierocolotl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acierocolotl/32/6241_2.png) [@Acierocolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acierocolotl)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/5 "2020-11-28T18:51:21Z")
“Six” is one example, though a weird one. The x gets a hard s pronounciation. So you’d say it “seess”. “Sixième” makes the x gain a z-sound, like “seezyem”, but that’s also an artifact of “liaison”. Off the top of my head, the silent forms are x’s that follow “eu”, like “yeux” or “généreux”. If it follows an “i”, it becomes a hard s. If it follows “a”, it gets the conventional hard x sound. Do you ever wind up totally second-guessing yourself when you know a rule innately but not formally? That’s me right now. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/6 "2020-11-28T19:04:03Z")
The French name Félix has a non-silent X at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/7 "2020-11-28T19:18:43Z")
Then there’s composer [Jean Françaix](https://www.yourclassical.org/programs/composers-datebook/episodes/2015/08/09): > Years ago, an announcer at a station in New York wrote the composer himself requesting the definitive P.C. [“pronunciation correctness”] answer, and was told, yes, technically it was “Frahn-SEX,” but that he was used to being called “Frahn-SAY” and had given up correcting people, joking that perhaps “Frahn-SAY” sounded more French, or maybe people just didn’t want to say “SEX” out loud. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/8 "2020-11-28T19:30:42Z")
> [@Acierocolotl](#): > > If it follows an “i”, it becomes a hard s paix ‌ ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/9 "2020-11-28T20:18:47Z")
The first thing to note is that proper nouns are unpredictable. The x in Aix is pronounced ks, but there is a French Swiss town called Chateau d’Oex where the x is silent. There is a prominent Quebec family Pouliot who insist that the t be pronounced. Then there are six and dix where the x is pronounced as s. There are some words, mostly borrowed, where it is ks: flux, redux, cowpox, apex, codex, index,… Then there is the French graphic novels Asterix in which all the names end in x, pronounced as ks. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/10 "2020-11-28T21:10:36Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Then there are six and dix where the x is pronounced as s Except when it isn’t 🙂 🙂 : dix fleurs, dix arbres But if you have Japanese or English spelling figured out, French is comparatively easy-peasy; no need to get worried! ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/11 "2020-11-28T21:23:15Z")
I speak no French. My answer is “sh’TOAD AKS.” ---
**Author:** ![FrenchDunadan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frenchdunadan/32/5449_2.png) [@FrenchDunadan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrenchDunadan)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/12 "2020-11-28T21:38:54Z")
I will let a Swedish actress pronounce it: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/E6lZZDl1uuU/hqdefault.jpg "La Star - Publicité Chateau d'Ax") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6lZZDl1uuU) official ad of Chateau d’Ax. Does it help? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/13 "2020-11-28T21:41:45Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Aix-en-Provence I once flew a light aircraft from the U.K. to Aix, mispronouncing my destination to various French ATC along the way. Since they are generally total dicks to private pilots from the U.K. anyway, I did not discern much difference in their behavior. I didn’t realize my mistake until after I arrived, and to this day I don’t know if they figured out what I was trying to say or if they just decided they didn’t really care where I was going. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/14 "2020-11-29T03:22:08Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > There is a branch of the store near me with the name on the sign transliterated\* in the local language (Hebrew) as “Shat-oh Ducks”. > Is this correct? I’m curious how they wrote that in the Hebrew letters. Was the nikkud (vowel points) included? (ETA: In particular, was “Ducks” pronounced like “ducks” in English? How do you express that vowel in Hebrew?) ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/15 "2020-11-29T05:15:24Z")
The Hebrew sign reads: שאטו דאקס (In case your screen doesn’t display Hebrew fonts, that’s “shin aleph tet vov daled aleft kuf samech” Which correspond to the English letters: Sh A T O … D A K S When I used the spelling “ducks” in the OP I wasn’t being accurate. I just wanted it to be readable for English speakers, because my question is about the KS at the end of the work, not the vowel. (Besides, I am amused by the image of web-footed birds waddling over expensive furniture. 🙂 ) > [@Senegoid](#): > > ? How do you express that vowel in Hebrew? You are right that the letter short vowel U doesn’t exist in Hebrew. The Hebrew is pronounced like “shat-oh- Docks”, and I should have written it that way in the OP. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/16 "2020-11-29T11:23:52Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Aix-en-Provence I’ve been to Aix-en-Provence, and they definitely pronounce the “X”. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/17 "2020-11-29T15:36:28Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I once flew a light aircraft from the U.K. to Aix, mispronouncing my destination to various French ATC along the way “My destination is Lima Foxtrot Mike Mike” works well. Or Lima Foxtrot Mike Alpha as the case may be. We phoneticize a _lot_ of supposedly pronounceable fix names, destinations, etc. Between noise, crappy radios, thick accents, limited bilingualism, and all the rest, it pays to be stupid-explicit. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/18 "2020-12-02T12:02:23Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Except when it isn’t 🙂 🙂 : dix fleurs, dix arbres Actually, that second example is wrong. When the number is followed by a word starting in a vowel, you do pronounce the last consonant (it’s called a ‘liaison’). So it would be pronounced as ‘deez arb’ Yeah, proper names are tricky. In my experience, the majority of placenames ending in X do not pronounce it. But there are exceptions. The francophone Swiss town Bex (pronounced ‘bay’) is only 75 km from a French town called Gex (pronounced as it is written) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/19 "2020-12-02T13:32:51Z")
z =/= s that is, we have at least three distinct pronunciations of x as in dix (the same word, depending on what follows it), none of which are ks as in Aix. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/20 "2020-12-02T17:52:53Z")
And all other towns and cities named [Aix](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aix), which are differentiated from each other via suffixes. As for Aix-la-Chapelle, that is actually in Germany, and known in that country under its German name of Aachen, but the French still use the traditional French name. By the way, the proliferation of Aix as a town name is due to the fact that it developed from the Latin word Augusta, which is an adjective formed from Augustus, a title borne by most ancient Roman emperors. Many settlements the Romans founded in their provinces under imperial rule had that word in their name. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685.md?page=2)