French pronunciation, great new site

[furrypine]

Now I know how to say "Maison Francis Kurkdjian" thanks to Frag Name of the Day at http://fragnameoftheday.blogspot.com/

After I discovered the site I sent in a list of more than 20 names that I wondered about and Bela has recorded some of them already. She welcomes requests and adds new sound files every day. I am using an ordinary PC without any extra-special software and the sound plays fine, not sure how it works on Mac.

[jwpianoboe]

I agree that it's a great site and she's doing some of the more tricky names that people mispronounce frequently and that the online speech-generating websites might also mispronounce. (Rochas, Lutens, Mugler, etc)

[furrypine]

I go there to replay "Guerlain" as a reminder to myself that the "u" is silent. Somehow I really want to say the u, but i shan't

[narcus]

Thank you for this link, furrypine!
At long last French perfumes and perfumers perfectly pronounced and in clear sound on my (DOS) machine also!

I'll be back there tomorrow - just for the fun of it, and to remind me of the ending 's' in Fraca(s) and Rochas which I always had the other way around. Also Gian in Franco Ferré came as a total surprise to me (isn't Gian Franco also an Italian name ?)

[MFJ]

Works just fine on Mac, thanks for sharing.

[Young Dro]

so its ''mess'' in Hermes, I always thought it was ''mez'' lol..

[mtgprox05]

You know the thing is, it's a great site, but french is such a hard language. Even when I HEAR how it's supposed to sound, doesn't mean I can repeat it.

[Bela]

Hello everyone!

Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback. It really makes it all worthwhile. Please don't hesitate to request names for me to record. And, once you've done so, please be patient: I will post them on a strict first come first served basis. I will also sometimes post names that haven't been requested but that I think should be included so your requests might take a little longer to appear.

I see someone else recorded a number of names last year. I swear I had no idea; I wouldn't want to tread on someone's toes. This has been a little pet project of mine for a very long time (ever since I joined MUA in 2002). I always said I would do it 'one day'. The day has finally come. :-)

[socalwoman]

What a wonderful thing to do ~ thank you Bela!

[Bela]

Thank you so much, sweetie. :-)

[Sorcery of Scent]

This is fab! I could spend hours just hitting all these play buttons!

Cuir is a surprise to me... pronounced almost "queer". Enlightening!

Bela, I would like to link your site from my perfume blog.

[knit at nite]

Bela, you are belle!
wonderful site.

O la la! I KNEW I was pronouncing Guerlain correctly (runs off with netbook to play file for that snotty sales assistant)

[MFJ]

You know the thing is, it's a great site, but french is such a hard language. Even when I HEAR how it's supposed to sound, doesn't mean I can repeat it.

You don't say...

I can't even do "Guerlain" the way it is *supposed* to sound.

And thanks Bela, you're very kind to educate.

[JaimeB]

Great! Now we don't have to have long discussions on how to pronounce French. We can just click and listen! A very nice voice and (of course) perfect pronunciation!

[Trufflehunter]

I see someone else recorded a number of names last year. I swear I had no idea; I wouldn't want to tread on someone's toes.

That would be me! And you're certainly not treading on anyone's toes, Bela. My attempt has disappeared into the bowels of Basenotes history, together with all its broken links! You've done a beautiful job and finally we can put to rest all the discussions about french pronunciation. Super! Génial!

[gupts]

OMG...I can't speak with that french accent in a 100 years.......
On another note did someone check 'Fracas' on the 2nd page........lol

[Bela]

Sorry for the delay, Dimitri. I see you already have. I was going to say I'd be delighted if you linked Frag of the Day to your lovely blog. Thank you for asking. :-)

[Bela]

That would be me! And you're certainly not treading on anyone's toes, Bela. My attempt has disappeared into the bowels of Basenotes history, together with all its broken links! You've done a beautiful job and finally we can put to rest all the discussions about french pronunciation. Super! Génial!

That is very generous of you, Trufflehunter. Thank you very much.

[mrcologneguy]

How totally cool is this!?! Very nice. Thank you!!

[Ron199]

Give this one a shot....AT&T Labs Natural Voices® Text-to-Speech Demo

[Renaissance_Man]

Hello and welcome Bela! Thank you for your wonderful work.
Can we please try these:
-Lubin
-Idole de Lubin
Thank you!
RM

[Bela]

Give this one a shot....AT&T Labs Natural Voices® Text-to-Speech Demo

These kinds of sites are OK for the odd commonly used word, but not for strings of words because they work by sticking isolated, prerecorded syllables together. Therefore you don't get the French 'liaison' that is sometimes needed between two words. You won't find proper names there either: their pronunciation cannot always be predicted, e.g. you might think that the final 'ens' in 'encens' and the one in 'Lutens' would be pronounced in the same way, yet it isn't. An engine can't tell you that.

[Bela]

Hello and welcome Bela! Thank you for your wonderful work.
Can we please try these:
-Lubin
-Idole de Lubin
Thank you!
RM

Thank you very much, Renaissance_Man.

I will just add Idole de Lubin to my 'To do' list, I think, b/c Lubin is pronounced the same whether on its own or accompanied by other words. :-)

[Bela]

If I may... please use the comments form on the Alphabetical list post on Frag Name of the Day for your requests rather than posting them here. It will save me having to look in two different places for them. TIA :-)

[Trufflehunter]

These kinds of sites are OK for the odd commonly used word, but not for strings of words because they work by sticking isolated, prerecorded syllables together. Therefore you don't get the French 'liaison' that is sometimes needed between two words. You won't find proper names there either: their pronunciation cannot always be predicted, e.g. you might think that the final 'ens' in 'encens' and the one in 'Lutens' would be pronounced in the same way, yet it isn't. An engine can't tell you that.

Exactly! Although French (despite popular belief!) is generally a very well behaved language in terms of its 'rules of pronunciation', like any language, it does have its exceptions. 'encens', as Bela just said, is one common trap (in fact it's two!). Final 's' is a problem: we're taught in French classes at school (I am a french teacher!) that the final 's' is silent. Generally it is, but watch for the exceptions! These text-to-speech engines simply can't cut it and, if you take them as gospel, you'll end up pronouncing certain things completely wrong.

Trust Bela! Do NOT trust the text-to-speech engines!

[Bela]

What can I say? I'm very touched. :-)

[furrypine]

Bumping this thread to let people know that the Frag Name site has grown considerably in content and I want to make more BN'ers aware of this terrific reference tool.

[_FP_]

French is my primary language myself and I admit that its a good site with the right pronunciation. A Good idea!

Superbe travaille Bela.

I don't know if the word Fraiche is in there but it would be a good one to have, its maybe the most butchered word I hear in youtube review's. Im not saying this with any arrogance btw, just thinking that it could help a lot. I admire the effort of trying to pronounce it the right way.

[Livingdead]

just used that link to check a few pronunciations before making a few phone calls to France and to Harrods. Spared me a few awkward moments I would say lol.

[Bela]

French is my primary language myself and I admit that its a good site with the right pronunciation. A Good idea!

Superbe travaille Bela.

I don't know if the word Fraiche is in there but it would be a good one to have, its maybe the most butchered word I hear in youtube review's. Im not saying this with any arrogance btw, just thinking that it could help a lot. I admire the effort of trying to pronounce it the right way.

Sorry, I never got notification re. this post. Thank you for your kind words.

Yes, the word Fraîche is there, under Miscellaneous. :-)