Re: I'm finally asking (re French)

mb wrote:
On Nov 10, 1:17 pm, Harlan Messinger
...
While I'm at it, the name Le Chatelier,
is it not pronounce leh sha-tel-lyey?
Yes.

How's that?
Who (apart from Anglos) would ever understand it with that final
glide?

Anyone who understands Americans who speak French with a strong American accent understand it. They may wince, but they understand it. We return the favor by understanding them when they pronounce "th" like "s" and replace "r" with those weird gargles in the back of the throat.

And how come he can easily avoid the glide in "leh"?
How come he pluralizes?

No one would argue that he was intending to give a precise phonetic rendering. Besides, he probably thinks (as many French people do) that "les" is /le/ (which he would render "lay" or "ley"--as would I for a casual audience) rather than /lE/. You're welcome to give him a lesson in French phonology if you'd like.
.

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