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Pronunciation of Chamonix
I am informed by French teachers that the x is sounded whereas I don't hear it when visiting Chamonix.
Replies to This Discussion
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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on -
Apparently ..... (well ,according to one of the posters in this SnowHeads website forum)
"Most French would call it sham-oh-knee but just to confuse matters chamoniards( natives from chamonix) call it sham-oh-nicks."
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Permalink Reply by Chantal Savignat on
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hello
Yes, pronunciation in France may be different depending on the region where people live. Sometimes even depending on the town. And a lot of towns have names that may have different pronunciations.
A lot of French say the "x", but the residents from Chamonix and its region don't say the " x".
(but all French will say to you that the residents from the Savoie and Haute Savoie (where is Chamonix) have a very strong accent ... )
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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on
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This reminds me of the town of "Metz", commonly pronounced "mets", whereas denizens of the town will insist that it is pronounced "mèce" (like English "mess").
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Permalink Reply by Chantal Savignat on
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yes, the difference is often with a final letter "S" or "Z" (that have a similar sound in french)
like Carpentras, pronounced "CarpentrA" or "CarpentraSS".
but there are others
like Bourg-en-Bresse, sometimes we hear "Bour Ren bresse" and sometimes "bour QUen bresse"
it's the same thing for people's names
Marguerite Duras : DurA or DuraSSSS
the ex-president Mitterand : "mi-tran" or "mi-té-ran"
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