Lynsay

You know how when you try to tell someone something and they do not believe you?

Well I have a friend who wants it straight from you. How do you pronounce/ annunciate Etienne? Does it translate to a different name?
I told her how you broke down Argeneau pronounced Ar--zsa--no.

Have read through all the previous posts to see if this question has come up before.

You are the only one she will believe because you are the author.

Then I can show the post to her and she will be happy.

Loved Vampires are Forever. Of course I love them all. Thank you for sharing your stories with us.

Thank you for this help.

Cindy

If I remember high school French correctly, Etienne is French for Stephen. We always pronounced it like the letters A-T-N. We'll see what Lynsay says, though.

Stephen is the translation from French that I remember also, Denise.

I'm not sure how to pronounce Etienne correctly. In the morning, I'll ask my sister...who I have turned to for teaching the foreign language class.

wren

Wow i never new that i always pronaced it A-regu-new
and how do u pronace Bastien i've benn pronacing it like this is it right Bas-in

A-T-N isn't bad but you sort of want to blend T-I-E part almost as if you're adding a hint of "ch" to it. And the n sound should be soft.

Bastien is very similar to Etienne I think. 3 syllables. That's if it's pronounced like the French Sebastien which I'm assuming it is.

Thanks

That is what I told her. I thought also.

Cindy 1 of AE3

There are always big smiles at spice acres when the subject of names and their pronounciation arises.

The Argeneau names, for the most part, are pronounced as written, so A-T-N is pretty accurate for Etienne.

The names of characters in the historical novels - well that's another story. Anyone want to have a go at Tearlach McAdie in the anthology Highland Thirst?

Dave (who is standing in for Lynsay while she heads off to find some sunshine)

Poor Mr Spice all alone.

Poor Mr.Spice....if you get lonely we are always here!

As for the name...If memory serves from my time overseas...TEARLOCH MCADIE ,I think it would be tear-lok, but the k is almost not heard ( bearly) Mic-addy. is that close??

g.3 of AE3

Gena - to quote Lucern Argeneau back in the days of Single White Vampire...


No!



Dave

Mr. Spice,



G 3 of AE3

Mr. Spice

How about pronouncing the C hard like:
Muk Addie?


C1 of AE3

The McAdie is the easy part - it's pronounced either mac-add-ee or mac-ay-dee. I'll have to ask the boss which of the two is correct.

It's Tearlach that's difficult. It's from Scots Gaelic and pronounciation of words in that language is so far removed from English you wouldn't believe it.

Tear is pronounced 'char' and lach is like the French word la but with a short 'a' sound and an expelled breath after the 'a' - in a similar way to how Scots say loch.

So it's char-la - or as near to Charlie as you can get - which is actually what it is in Gaelic.

And, by the way - In Gaelic the word Gaelic is pronounced 'gallic'.

Is everyone confused now? Good, so now we can move on to lesson two. Please translate the following...

Mr. Spice

We are waiting with bated breath for our next lesson...

C1 of AE3

Mr. Spice...
People think I can be a bit of a nerd, but you really through me there!! I love the scotch & irish accents, so the lesson was fun!! thanks, g.

ps-> anytime you want to bring on round two, I am game! Its kind of fun trying to guess at the names.

G.

I don't even attempt to pronounce anything Welsh or Gealic. I just ask. Neither ever sound like they are spelled.

Well, I was somewhat close. I had it as Mac-Aye-dee, with the accent on Aye pronounced either long /a/ or long /i/...as in, all those in favor say "aye"
Doesn't Mc or Mac mean "son of?" I'm descended from a long line of Mc/Macs on both sides of the family from the Irish & the Scottish.

I had Tearlach as Tar-loch, accent on the first syllable and lok with short /o/ sound in second ending with /k/ sound.../c/ being silent, not /ch/. Not too bad for a guess?

As for Gaelic...is "gallic" like gal-lic with a short /a/ sound or more of a swcha sound in the first syllable like gall-ic...and what about the /c/ at the end...soft or hard sound. Eagerly awaiting our next lesson, Mr. Spice. You have started something now that you can't drop!

As for Etienne, I have always heard it pronounced
E-T-N, with an almost short /e/ beginning rather than an A, and very soft consonants the way Connie described, with barely an accent on the first syllable. That's how my sister pronounces it from her French classes, but we are not native speakers. Unfortunately, neither is my half-french husband. It's time to call my sweet sis-in-law anyway, and I'll ask if she remembers.

****SPOILER-Vampires Are Forever****

Inez cracks me up when telling Thomas off in her native language. I guess she brings up good memories. My mom-in-law always told my dear pop off in very rapid French, that the kids nor I could follow, when he deserved it...flashing eyes and all! For a tiny, very ladylike Frenchwoman, you would have never guessed she could put such a big guy in his place. It didn't happen often, but when it did...take cover! My dh can remember that from when he was little. As for me, she tried to teach me some French, but my southern US drawl got in the way. We would try the word over & over, then she would give up in giggles or sheer frustration.

wren...

Bumping for newbies.