Most annoying mispronunciation

posts   Monday, May 23, 2005, 21:41 GMT
Speaking of 'Chirac' is the proper pronunciation 'cher-rac' or 'chir-rac'. I like his and Thatcher's last name.
Hm, guess the 'ch' sound has a nice ring to it.
greg   Monday, May 23, 2005, 22:07 GMT
If you want to say <Chirac> fairly close to its Standard French pronounciation, you've got to start from <sheerahk>, then shorten <ee> as <i> in <bit> while keeping it almost sounding as in <bee> (no diphthongation, not even a slight one), and, at the same time, shorten <ah> on the condition, though, that <ah> remains longer than the shortened <ee> (the light accent is on <ah>, not <ee>). As for the <r>, a trilled one like in Spanish (or even a light and rapid <l>) would sound better than the English <r>...
posts   Monday, May 23, 2005, 23:53 GMT
That name sure requires quite the explanation.

Thanks Greg :)