Pronunciation of Tavernier

[calscot 0]

No disrespect, but it is always rather "interesting" to see British (or English-speakers in general) trying to figure out the "correct" pronunciation of foreign names and words. Preferrably in English syllables et al, rather than the phonetic alphabet (which usually gives the word its actual and native pronunciation) Thus we end up with post Great Vowel Shift English stuff for pre Great Vowel Shift pronunciations, which includes "quite a bit" of all non-English words. Or, in other words, look at Paris (the French capital, not the US lass). The French and us Germans have an "open a" (as the a in Glasgow or park), in phonetics [paˈʁi](and the Germans usually have the s at the end), whereas the English speakers ... well you know what they say for both, the capital and Ms Hilton. UK: /ˈpærɪs/ or in "normall letters": PARR-iss. Now, imagine a non-English speaker sees the latter and tries to figure out its correct pronunciation ...

 

That's all very interesting but when it comes to names, there is so much variation that rules go out the window. You need to hear it from the horses mouth so to speak.

 

For instance, with names of places, in my area there are Woughton, Loughton and Broughton, all within a few miles but each one is pronounced differently.

 

W-u-fton - as in woof

L-au-ton - as in lout

Br-o-ton as in brought

 

There is just no way of working it out, you have to find out from the locals.

[der Berliner 3,217]

Etymology can have its interesting moments. Chester, Manchester, Worcester, Cirencester, Lancaster ... all essentially come from Latin castra. I do remember though that few people had difficulties with Graeme LeSaux, for some reason.

 

EDIT: the end bit of Tavernier would actually be pronounced like Le Tissier

Edited August 21, 2015 by der Berliner