How to Pronounce Your Favorite Director's Name

[Tommaso]

Thanks for Borzage!
As to Siodmak: In German, it's definitely Si-odd-mak, but take care to make it a hard 's', almost like in 'zoo' in English. The accent may be on the first syllable, though.

[denti alligator]

Méliès

Is this, like Duras, where the final 's' is pronounced?

[Cabiria21]

Méliès

Is this, like Duras, where the final 's' is pronounced?

yes

[M]

Strange, for is not the 's' in Alexandre Dumas silent?

[denti alligator]

[never mind]

[M]

You should have left your response. That concisely explained things. I apologize- I have to learn to keep my hand off the edit button sometimes.

[Kinsayder]

These guys get it about right.

[denti alligator]

You should have left your response. That concisely explained things. I apologize- I have to learn to keep my hand off the edit button sometimes.

No, I thought you wrote "isn't the 's' in Duras silent." In Duras, no. In Dumas, I'm pretty sure it is.

I have no idea what the rule is, though, if there is one.

[M]

You should have left your response. That concisely explained things. I apologize- I have to learn to keep my hand off the edit button sometimes.

No, I thought you wrote "isn't the 's' in Duras silent." In Duras, no. In Dumas, I'm pretty sure it is.

I have no idea what the rule is, though, if there is one.

Oh, yes, I see. I had thought the 's' in Alexandre Dumas was silent, but I'd been unsure. Do you know if the accent grave on the second 'e' in Melies produces the proper pronunciation of his name?

[Skritek]

Do you know if the accent grave on the second 'e' in Melies produces the proper pronunciation of his name?

I think that this might be the reason, but it still wouldn't explain why the s is pronounced in Duras (of which I'm not sure anyways).

[Tommaso]

Pure speculation: might this be a regional difference, depending on where these people (or rather: their families originally) come from in France? Perhaps even with Dumas and Duras both would be possible?
I'm thinking of chasonnier George Brassens, for example, whom most Parisiens would pronounce Brasson (stress on second syllable), whereas he himself insisted it was Bras-ssens (stress on first syllable).

[Magic Hate Ball]

Ah...ow you say...Teem Burrton? Yes? Roll the tongue on the r?

(I'm kidding something fierce)

[Tommaso]

Ah...ow you say...Teem Burrton? Yes? Roll the tongue on the r?

LOL. Do you prefer a French or a German 'r' on this?

[justeleblanc]

Anyone up for turning this thread into an alphabetical listing, much like upcoming criterion thread?

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Do you know if the accent grave on the second 'e' in Melies produces the proper pronunciation of his name?

I think that this might be the reason, but it still wouldn't explain why the s is pronounced in Duras (of which I'm not sure anyways).

The "S" in "Duras" is pronounced for the same reason "Wodehouse" is pronounced "Woodhouse": orthography is hard. (No other parallels between Wodehouse and Duras should be inferred.) Maybe it was once a regional thing, but even Standard French has plenty of non-silent final "S"'s.

And if you think that's confusing, try your hand at "Alexandre Dumas fils".

[MichaelB]

(No other parallels between Wodehouse and Duras should be inferred.)

Yes, it's hard to imagine Duras adapting Wodehouse. Mind you, Resnais and Alan Ayckbourn seemed a bit of a stretch once upon a time...

[denti alligator]

I asked this on page one of this thread and someone else on page 5 I think, but still not answer:

Erice

???

Please help. Listening to the natives say it on the Spirit supplements is no help whatsoever.

[Zazou dans le Metro]

Air--ee--thay

[colinr0380]

Not exactly a favourite director but how would I correctly say Jaume Balagueró?

[Faux Hulot]

Johnny To -- does the surname rhyme with "oo" or "oh"?

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Rhymes with "oh," more or less, but the T represents an unaspirated sound that's closer to the English "d".

[LQ]

Not exactly a favourite director but how would I correctly say Jaume Balagueró?

this is kind of hard for me to write phonetically, but its.."jahow-muh Bah-lah-geh-ro", soft on that w. and said at top speed. There! I saw an interview with him on spanish tv, so I'm going on that authority.

[swo17]

I asked this on page one of this thread and someone else on page 5 I think, but still not answer:

Erice

It should be eh-REE-say, where you say 'REE' by just tapping the end of your tongue against the front of your mouth (it actually sounds more like a D then an English R), and you say 'say' with a lisp (if you want to say it how they would in Spain--in all other Latin American countries they would just say 'say' without the lisp).

[zedz]

It should be eh-REE-say, where you say 'REE' by just tapping the end of your tongue against the front of your mouth (it actually sounds more like a D then an English R)

"the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth"

[lordrsb]

Wong Kar Wai... What's his last name and why does the order keep changing? Are the w's pronounced as w's? Is it Vim Venders?

I was speaking to a friend of mine about his films (she's from Shanghai, like the director), and she initially didn't know who I was speaking about, and upon comprehension corrected my pronunciation of the 'Kar' part to 'Jar' or 'Zyah' (Chinese has notoriously subtle pronunciation, so I can't be entirely certain), rather than the harsh 'K' sound that is suggested by the transliteration. She made no comment about my use of the English 'w' pronunciation, which she used similarly.

During our conversations she made some erroneous comments about subjects unrelated to linguistics, but I'll give her credit for being more knowledgable about her native language than I am.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

Anybody?

Ah-pee-chart-pong Weer-uh-sayt-ah-koon seems to be a decent approximation. The "r" in his first name might be a soft "r," I'm not sure.

Thanks for clearing that up, I was wondering myself.