There’s not only the Marseille (Fr) / Marseilles (Eng) change mentioned previously, but also Lyon / Lyons, Reims / Rheims, and Dunkerque / Dunkirk, plus probably others that I can’t think of right now. Admittedly they are just minor alterations of the spelling, but they exist.
Actually, rivière des Outaouais is one of only three examples that I can come up with where a different transliteration is used for a watercourse’s aboriginal-derived name in English and French, besides accents (lac Érié, rivière Matapédia).
The other two are the Restigouche River (rivière Ristigouche) in New Brunswick, and Lake Timiskaming (lac Témiscamingue), on the (heh) Ottawa River between Ontario and Quebec.
In these cases, it’s really the English whose spelling varied, as the French were there before they were. (“Outaouais” is the French term for the Ottawa people, as well as the modern demonym for people from the city of Ottawa.)
All others are the same (lac Winnipeg, chutes Niagara, rivière Athabasca). See the fedgov’s Names of Pan-Canadian Significance for examples.
Turin was at one time capital of the Kingdom of Savoy (Savoie) which encompassed parts of both Italy and France. (Albertville, which had the winter Olympics in the early 90s is also in Savoy). The French write “Turin” but the “in” sounds more like a short “an” with the ‘n’ not really finished.
To those criticizing the different rendering of city names in different languages - remember that there has been interaction and trade between the European peoples for millennia, borders have fulctuated; traders have spoken each other’s languages I don’t think there is any arrogance about it, we’re certainly not telling the French how to pronounce Paris for example. The situation just evolved naturally here.
Well, Nouveau Orleans became New Orleans, but that was presumably after the city had been under new management for a fair amount of time.
I’m kind of amused at how American cities formerly founded by people from other nations (most notably the old Spanish/Mexican cities and towns in the Southwestern US.) In most cases, they pretty much are spelled the same but pronounced differently. Towns and cities that straddle the Texas/Mexico border may have similar names (Laredo and Nuevo Laredo) or completley different ones (El Paso and Cuidad Juarez).
In any case, I would like to suggest that how WE say “Paris, France” in College Station is The Correct Way to say it. In College Station Texas, that is. Similarly, whatever odd way of saying “College Station, Texas” they may have in France, if they ever bothered to formulate their own pronounciation for our quaint college town, would be The Correct Way to say it. In Paris, France.
Well, Nouveau Orleans became New Orleans, but that was presumably after the city had been under new management for a fair amount of time.
I’m kind of amused at how American cities formerly founded by people from other nations (most notably the old Spanish/Mexican cities and towns in the Southwestern US.) In most cases, they pretty much are spelled the same but pronounced differently. Towns and cities that straddle the Texas/Mexico border may have similar names (Laredo and Nuevo Laredo) or completley different ones (El Paso and Cuidad Juarez).
In any case, I would like to suggest that how WE say “Paris, France” in College Station is The Correct Way to say it. In College Station Texas, that is. Similarly, whatever odd way of saying “College Station, Texas” they may have in France, if they ever bothered to formulate their own pronounciation for our quaint college town, would be The Correct Way to say it. In Paris, France.
Agh, I just want to apologize to everyone for the rash of double posts from me lately, my internet connection is all sorts of weird these past couple weeks.
Indiana’s state river is the Wabash. Near Terre Haute, Indiana (on the Wabash river) is an elementary school named Oabache.
[hijack]My (Hoosier) friend called up the school district asking for the number of ‘Oh-ah-bah-chee’ school. The person didn’t know what she was talking about. “Oh, you mean ‘Wabash’ school.” The person on the phone thought my friend was stupid because she didn’t know the pronunciation of Oabache. Well, if you go years always seeing it spelled Wabash…[/hijack]
Also, the Illini tribe/nation had a chief called Illiniwa (English transliteration). Naturally, the french spelled it Illinois. Now, of course, we pronounce that “ell-<schwa>-noi” (I’m originally from right near Illinois)
(I have no idea how to write out pronounciations)
One is in Italia and the other’s in Italy.
Which might explain why you pronounce it wrong. Most people I know here (in Illinois) pronounce the first syllable “ill”, not “ell”.
There’s a hilarious joke in there somewhere, but I can’t think of a single notoriously unattractive french woman’s name to use. But trust me, it’s funny.
[nitpick]
La Nouvelle Orléans in French, although I’ve also seen it without the definite article in front. Cite (note that the linked page consistently refers to la Nouvelle Orléans, but the page’s title is Consulat de France de Nouvelle Orléans.)
[/nitpick]
Would that be related to la vache qui rit? Because that joke would just be cheesy.
Sorry…
Continuing the hijack, I once received a package from my folks in Saskatoon, sent to where I live in Missouri. Apparently the customs folks mistook Saskatchewan Canada for Szechuan (Sichuan) China – and I got a big whopping import bill from them in the process. :rolleyes: