# 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:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [December 3, 2020, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/21 "2020-12-03T05:26:20Z")
Hmmpf. They brought the good news from Ghent to Aix, not Aachen. 🙂 ---
**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 4, 2020, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/22 "2020-12-04T09:11:30Z")
I can see that literary significance, but on the other hand the name Aachen has the charm of being undisputed first in alphabetic lists of towns and cities. Which is a status the city, by the way, is very protective of: Aachen is an officially recognised spa resort, which under German law entitles it to prefix its name with “Bad”. Normally that honorific is quite prestigious and coveted, but Aachen foregoes that option so as not to ruin its first rank in alphabetic listings. The usage of a translated name rather than the local one in English seems to be an historic thing (as it is for many other place names). English [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aachen) has it as Aachen. ---
**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 6, 2020, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/23 "2020-12-06T09:23:04Z")
I have to correct myself. Seems the etymology of Aix as a town name goes back not to Augusta (which was a frequent component of the names of _coloniae_, settlements the Romans founded in conquered provinces) but rather to Aquae (Latin for “waters”), a word that the Romans would often use for places that had hot springs and were therefore well suited for the establishment of a town featuring their beloved thermal baths. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2020, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/24 "2020-12-06T11:46:49Z")
Aix-en-Provence = Aquae Sextiae, founded 123 B.C. Current inhabitants are Aixois, or, optionally, aquisextains. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/25 "2020-12-07T00:03:01Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > 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) Many place names ending in x or z in Southeastern France/Switzerland come from the Francoprovençal language, and in this language these letters actually indicate the tonic accent so shouldn’t be pronounced. See [this blog post](https://francaisdenosregions.com/2020/09/30/toponymie-alpine-les-noms-de-lieux-en-oz-az-ex-et-ix/) from _Français de nos rĂ©gions_ (in French). However, in many cases the pronounciation might have been frenchified, which would mean that the letter would now be pronounced. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685/26 "2020-12-07T01:01:07Z")
The map on that blog post shows only one commune ending in -oz outside of the Arpitan dialect area. It’s right up against the Belgian border. I immediately guessed what it was because it’s the site of a large nuclear power station: [Chooz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chooz,_Ardennes). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-chateau-dax/926685.md?page=1)