4 ms·

"French tries really hard to embed everything required for pronunciation in the spelling, but because of dialects and phonetic drift that leads to some pronunci

"French tries really hard to embed everything required for pronunciation in the spelling, but because of dialects and phonetic drift that leads to some pronunciations having multiple viable spellings." Agreed, but this often leaves native English speakers perplexed for want of understanding. For example, an English speaker would likely contend that there's little or no difference in the pronunciation of Bordeaux and, say, 'Bordo'. Said speaker would also contend that the four-letter eaux is overkill for what could be satisfactorily replaced with just a single 'o'.

YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago
Well, "o" and "eaux" are not pronounced the same in French. The "au" in the middle signals a real difference in pronounciation. Consider e.g. "deors" (outside) or "mouton" (sheep). Now try saying "de-eauxr-s" and "mout-eaux-n" (with a silent s and n). It's not the same sound.
- seszett 3y ago
  'o' has two (or more) possible pronunciations: o and ɔ (open and closed), while "au" has only one: o "Bordeaux" is pronounced the same as "Bordo" would be, and "eaux" is the same as "ô" or "au". The rules for "o" are a bit complicated but it's mostly always open before two consonnants, like in "dehors" and the first occurence in Bordeaux. It depends a lot on local accent, but "cosse/Causses" have different "o" sounds in the standard pronunciation, while pose/pause have the same closed sound.
  - YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago
    Thanks for correcting my spelling :) ... and my accent <_< I pronounce "Bordeaux" like in "eaux" but I guess I haven't heard it pronounced very often. I grew up in Greece and I speak French from an early age and haven't lived long in France so there's nuances I miss probably.
    - seszett 3y ago
      Bordeaux should be pronounced like eaux so that part is correct :) I just mean that Bordo would be the same, it's all closed o sounds. In the north and the south east (Toulouse, not Bordeaux) people tend to only use the open o sound though (especially obvious since Toulouse's nickname is la ville rose which should be a closed o) but that's not standard. Interesting that you're from Greece, I have met quite a few Greeks who speak rather good French and it's always fun to notice how much of French comes from Greek.

YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago

Well, "o" and "eaux" are not pronounced the same in French. The "au" in the middle signals a real difference in pronounciation. Consider e.g. "deors" (outside) or "mouton" (sheep). Now try saying "de-eauxr-s" and "mout-eaux-n" (with a silent s and n). It's not the same sound.

seszett 3y ago
'o' has two (or more) possible pronunciations: o and ɔ (open and closed), while "au" has only one: o "Bordeaux" is pronounced the same as "Bordo" would be, and "eaux" is the same as "ô" or "au". The rules for "o" are a bit complicated but it's mostly always open before two consonnants, like in "dehors" and the first occurence in Bordeaux. It depends a lot on local accent, but "cosse/Causses" have different "o" sounds in the standard pronunciation, while pose/pause have the same closed sound.
- YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago
  Thanks for correcting my spelling :) ... and my accent <_< I pronounce "Bordeaux" like in "eaux" but I guess I haven't heard it pronounced very often. I grew up in Greece and I speak French from an early age and haven't lived long in France so there's nuances I miss probably.
  - seszett 3y ago
    Bordeaux should be pronounced like eaux so that part is correct :) I just mean that Bordo would be the same, it's all closed o sounds. In the north and the south east (Toulouse, not Bordeaux) people tend to only use the open o sound though (especially obvious since Toulouse's nickname is la ville rose which should be a closed o) but that's not standard. Interesting that you're from Greece, I have met quite a few Greeks who speak rather good French and it's always fun to notice how much of French comes from Greek.