# Pronounce "Cannes". **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 24, 2007, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782 "2007-10-24T02:18:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/1 "2007-10-24T02:18:52Z")
Can, as in able to, or cahn with a soft “h”. I hear it both ways from those who should know. Bonus: French pronunciation. Thanks, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/2 "2007-10-24T02:42:32Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] Can, as in able to, or cahn with a soft “h”. I hear it both ways from those who should know. Bonus: French pronunciation. Thanks, mangeorge [/QUOTE] Your second guess is closer. The word has two syllables in French, the second with a schwa vowel, sounding something like “CAN-neuh”. It’s pronounced almost like one syllable though, with the last part practically inaudible. I hope that makes sense… ---
**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:** [October 24, 2007, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/3 "2007-10-24T02:43:14Z")
The pronunciation of English _can_ in many British dialects (e.g. RP) is pretty much on the mark. This vowel in Parisian French is midway between those in Midwestern American English _lack_ and _lock_, with a slight cheat towards the latter. I would think that so long as the vowel isn’t drawled (“cay-un”), either of the pronunciations in the OP would be acceptable to a native French speaker … certainly understandable in context. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/4 "2007-10-24T03:03:37Z")
…As in Madeline Kahn, with an extra emphasis on the “n” so it makes the little half syllable **xnylder** ’s talking about. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/5 "2007-10-24T03:05:45Z")
Khaaaaaaaaaaaan!!! ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/6 "2007-10-24T03:27:46Z")
Sorry, I Cannes’t. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/7 "2007-10-24T04:52:31Z")
The flip side to this question is how should an American pronounce Cairns? You damn R swallowing Aussies make it completely confusing. I’ve noticed Americans pronouncing it Cairns, all letters pronounced sort of like hair with and -ns appended to it. I prefer the bastardization “cans” like, I can’t believe all the great sets of cans you see in Cairns. ---
**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:** [October 24, 2007, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/8 "2007-10-24T06:43:13Z")
[QUOTE=xnylder] Your second guess is closer. The word has two syllables in French, the second with a schwa vowel, sounding something like “CAN-neuh”. It’s pronounced almost like one syllable though, with the last part practically inaudible. I hope that makes sense… [/QUOTE] I think I know what you’re trying to say, but what I would say is that the word has one syllable, but the ‘n’ sound tends to drag on a little while the tone drops. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/9 "2007-10-24T13:43:22Z")
[QUOTE=Darryl Lict] The flip side to this question is how should an American pronounce Cairns? You damn R swallowing Aussies make it completely confusing. I’ve noticed Americans pronouncing it Cairns, all letters pronounced sort of like hair with and -ns appended to it. I prefer the bastardization “cans” like, I can’t believe all the great sets of cans you see in Cairns. [/QUOTE] My general rule of thumb is to pronounce it as close to the way the natives do, without inventing new sounds that don’t naturally occur to you. So, I say “Cans”, since I can. Not identical to the way an Aussie would say it, but close enough. Of course I’m from New England, so I’m no stranger to swallowing an “R” now and then. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/10 "2007-10-24T13:49:18Z")
> [@](#): > > Of course I’m from New England, so I’m no stranger to swallowing an “R” now and then. Yeah, but then you cough it up where it doesn’t belong, as in “sawr”, the past tense of “see”. (That final "r’ also helps distinguish it from the tool you use to cut wood, which is _always_ “saw”) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/11 "2007-10-24T13:49:29Z")
Come on folks you were asked to pronounce it, not write about how it is pronounced…so altogether now…C ---
**Author:** ![Themenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ee59a6/32.png) [@Themenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Themenin)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/12 "2007-10-24T17:49:39Z")
I seem to remember trying this a while back, and getting stomped, but here goes… In France the ‘long a’ as in RP ‘car’ or ‘genghis khan’ is uncommon, except along the border with Germany. You sometimes hear it in old movies (Jean Gabin) and in some of the more affected parisian ‘underclass slang’. Some ‘purists’ will use that sound in words with a circumflex ‘a’, such as ‘plâtre’, but it’s getting to be rare. In Paris, Cannes is pronounced pretty much like an American newscaster saying “because he _can_”, but with a slightly shorter vowel sound, and a nasalized ‘n’. In some mediterranean accents (though not so much in Cannes itself), the ‘a’ sound is a little more complex, and the ‘n’ gets a little more traction - like ‘kay-eng’, but one syllable. Some people in the Mediterranean ‘back country’ may add a second syllable to the word if it’s followed by a consonant sound - ‘je descends à Cannes-neuh ce weekend’. I should probably learn to write phonetic symbols one of these days. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/13 "2007-10-24T18:16:14Z")
‘Cannes’ has a nasal N? I had no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Themenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ee59a6/32.png) [@Themenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Themenin)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/14 "2007-10-24T19:32:38Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] ‘Cannes’ has a nasal N? I had no idea. [/QUOTE] Well, in the south the ‘n’ is often clearly articulated, but away from the Mediterranean the ‘n’ is much less apparent, although still slightly stronger than in ‘cain’ for example. Then again, if we get into the difference between ‘teint’ ‘ton’ ‘tant’ etc. I’m definitely giving up ! ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/15 "2007-10-24T22:37:29Z")
Now that that’s settled, how does one pronounce Caen, the city in Normandy? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/16 "2007-10-24T23:04:46Z")
I’ve always heard it pronounced like French “quand”. The really non-intuitive one is Reims - something like “Rance”, I think. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/17 "2007-10-24T23:14:27Z")
[QUOTE=Usram] I’ve always heard it pronounced like French “quand”. The really non-intuitive one is Reims - something like “Rance”, I think. [/QUOTE] Just don’t pronounce “Caen” with the lips at all rounded, because that would make “con” – a naughty word. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/18 "2007-10-25T01:35:03Z")
Go to Cairns in northeast Australia. Ask one of the townfolk to pronounce the name of their city. What you hear is pretty close. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/19 "2007-10-25T01:50:28Z")
[QUOTE=Rysdad] Go to Cairns in northeast Australia. Ask one of the townfolk to pronounce the name of their city. What you hear is pretty close. [/QUOTE] Not 'barbie" I hope! I was talking to a guy from Down Under, and he said ever time he talked to someone here, all they wanted to talk about was barbies. He claimed that they eat hot dogs and waffled and such. 😛 He was pretty cool about it, and he loved California. I get the impression that Aussies don’t travel a lot. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782/20 "2007-10-25T03:07:15Z")
How about Saint Saens? “Sahn- Sohn”??? with the final "s’ getting lost? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounce-cannes/423782.md?page=2)