Difficult Designer / Brand Pronunciation

[EdanChrysler]

i thought only vowels at the end of the word can be pronounced in french
so chanel. L is not vowel. so omitted

Well no not really ... in French, it is indeed true that certain consonants are silent at the end of the word, but I must stress the word "certain".

French pronunciation is tricky because it uses nasal sounds which we do not have in English and there are a lot of silent letters. However, if a word ends in C, R, F or L (except verbs that end in -r) you usually pronounce the final consonant.

The above excerpt is from the French page at IELanguages.com - based on it I can safely say that in the name "Chanel", the final "-l" is indeed pronounced.

Let's get more help from that website.

6. And of course, the nasals. These are what present the most problems for English speakers. Here are the orthographical representations, and approximate pronunciations. Nasal means that you expel air through your nose while saying the words, so don't actually pronounce the n fully.

[...]

awn on the desk en, em, an, am, aon, aen ohn my [...]

In other words, in "Christian Dior", the "Christian" would be pronounced to the effect of "krees-tee-awn" (with the "awn" part ending in a nasal sound rather than a clear "n" sound). And "Dior" would likely be something to the effect of "deeyeor" - one syllable.

Best way to learn the pronunciation of these names, of course, is to actually hear someone pronounce them - here's the About.com article which I believe has been posted somewhere in this thread.

http://fashion.about.com/cs/designers/l/blpronounce.htm

Of course, you don't have to do all the French gargles for the r's, but getting the vowels, stress, and nasal sounds right will definitely make you sound classier (or maybe a bit more pompous, but at least you won't end up saying things like "channel" for "Chanel" or mess up the languages and pronounce "Versace" as "vuh-sahs" - which, er, frankly, was a mistake I made before I seriously got into this whole fashion thing haha).

 

[stilettogirl84]

..... but at least you won't end up saying things like .... "Versace" as "vuh-sahs" - which, er, frankly, was a mistake I made before I seriously got into this whole fashion thing haha.

me too ...... we live we learn

 

[FashionJunkie]

Chanel is like that Sh (as in engli-sh) a (as in apple -ah-) nel.

You do say clearly the l in the end

 

[Taylour72]

aww, this made me think of 'Showgirls' where no one tells the poor girl she can't pernounce Versace corectly haha.

"I love your dress"

"thank you, it's Ver-say's"

 

[manolocraver]

Hopw do you pronounce Hermes?
Some pronounce it Hermezz and other pronounce it Hermay...
Which one sounds nice?

 

[stilettogirl84]

I called the phone # listed in their ads once, (800 441 4488) and the recording on there pronounced it as ehr- mez

kind of air kind of ehr - halfway between like

 

[EdanChrysler]

manolocraver: I've heard a lot of different pronunciations too, but generally the more recognised ones would be either "airrrh-maze" or "airrhr-mays". The latter is the one heard in the audio file on About.com's article on pronouncing designer labels, and personally I'd prefer it too. The voiced counterpart sounds a little too pompous.

 

[La bordélique]

My teacher said Lagerfeld the other day and pronounced it with a soft G? Was my teacher incorrect? Isn't Lagerfeld a German name?

 

[LAMALONE]

Im having trouble pronouncing this designers name.And I love her line.
Behnaz Sarafpour.But I cant continue going on loving her line and can't say her name.

 

[EdanChrysler]

La bordélique: That depends on whether you want to pronounce it with the French way or the German way. Pronouncing "Lagerfeld" with a soft "g" sound (i.e. like the "s" sound in "treasure") would be the French way while pronouncing it "Lah-gehr-fehld" would be German. I prefer to read it the German way because it IS a German surname after all and I don't want to sound like some French tai-tai (that'll be a rich lady in the mid-forties to late fifties).

 

[CHEAPandCHIC]

Isn't Hermes her-meez?

 

[kanita]

Isn't Hermes her-meez?

I think it is hermé, but my French is horrid

 

[BaroqueRockstar]

h is silent
er is english "air" sound and me is kind of like "mei"

 

[Luca*]

... while pronouncing it "Lah-gehr-fehld" would be German.

It's rather like "Lah- gehr (g as in ghost) -feld (like "felt" with a d in the end)"

 

[EdanChrysler]

Isn't Hermes her-meez?

CHEAPandCHIC: Well no, not exactly ... for starters, the accent (or is that a grave - can never distinguish between the different French markings on the vowels - natives, aidez moi, s'il vous plaît) clearly indicates that the second "e" (or rather "è") isn't intended to be pronounced "ee" - rather it's intended to be pronounced like an "eh" sort of sound - the exact sound I am unsure of, but it's something to that effect if I'm not mistaken.

 

[MissAnia]

such an useful thread

 

[MissAnia]

Isn't Hermes her-meez?

more like "ermee" I guess....

 

[mimiko]

I can't pronounce french labels and designer's names
so I prefer saying LV,YSL
yves what

 

[JuiceMajor]

What about Lanvin?

 

[mimiko]

^lanvin is hard to pronounce