mispronouncing French

Martin

Message 32522 · 13 Nov 2002 09:17:16 · Fixed-width font · Whole thread

At 22:36 12/11/02, you wrote:
>Here in Nova Scotia (where you'd think French would be correctly pronounced)
>Port Mouton is Port MouTOON. Go figure.

Historically normal.
(fr) salon -- (eng) saloon
doublon -- dubloon
ponton -- pontoon
pantalon -- pantaloon
marron -- maroon (colour)
rigaudon -- rigadoon (no longer off topic !)

It's a way of giving emphasis to the final sylable, and thus making it
sound more like the original French. On the old days, spelling
often reflected pronunciation.