AIBP (pretentious) to pronounce L'Occitane "LOCK SEE TAN"?

[MardyBra]

Especially when friends and family call it "LOCKY TAIN"?

The Franglais thread is fantastique, but may give the linguists on here apoplexy

Brilliant idea mardybra, I would love it as I have indeed loved reading this thread. So interesting to read about the origins of Occitania - I didn't know any of that stuff.

The blog is Alexpolistigers, wait, will try to find it. Here it is, Glossologics, marvellous blog. I follow her on Twitter too.

Come on MN, it's Christmas, give us our own Special Corner!

Seeing as we're on the subject, I only discovered a few years ago how to pronounce "Jojoba" thanks to the aussie hair product adverts on the tube haha

Oh beast, j'adore le threads de Franglais! They are tres amusant and make me oui a little reading them.

I love how Talc on it has taken to calling me 'Pacifique' - I may just NC to that

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/site_stuff/1945805-Any-chance-of-a-topic-about-language-and-linguistics

That's the one Nell. Thanks

David Crystal's blog is worth a peek too

I refuse to put "light-hearted" in a thread title to pander to the thread dementors who want to suck the life-force and fun out of MN.

I love you, Mardy

Fab thread. I'm in for a language-exploring corner. Although I will still pile in if people will persist in using 'text' as the past tense.

Oh and Mardy - YANBP!

Thanks Mardy, will go and have a look at David Crystal's blog now instead of cleaning the house.

Thanks CJ and Nell.

Pacifique, je suits une linguiste et j'adore le franglais. I moechte auch ein deutschlish thread but would probably be alleine on that one. And my iPads spellchecker might explode.

My DH pronounces with coffee brand correctly Doo-vay Eck berts, so I just totally take the piss and say Dowee Eggy bits

I just don't buy Douwe Egberts.

Saves embarrassment all round!

Yes please to the linguists' thread.

I'm very curious as to why "apoptosis" would be pronounced with a silent "p" by people who had studied Greek.

I am a fluent Greek speaker - I assure you that there are no silent letters in Greek. You would definitely pronounce the "p", just as you would say the "p" in "pteranodon" or "pterodactyl" or whatever.

Oooh.

I have no idea alex!

Is it maybe down to Ancient Greek versus modern Greek?

Science is littered with Latin and Ancient Greek terminology - designed specifically to make people like me, who have no Classical background, look daft!

Well, I could pretend that we all know about ancient Greek pronunciation, but the real truth is that it's all hypothetical.

We don't actually know how ancient Greek was pronounced, because we weren't there to listen in, and no one had invented any recordings.

We can assume the pronunciation was a certain way based on the letters, the names of the letters, the way the words were represented in other known writing systems, using modern Greek, Latinised versions of words, all sorts of things. But the REAL truth is we just don't know.

But I think that ancient Greek was a very logical language - in my considered opinion, it's unlikely that they would have used any silent letters.*

*Unless they were looking into the future and did it specially to confuse you, Salmotrutta!

Interesting, Alex. We don't pronounce the p in pterodactyl as English speakers, though. I could ask my sons GF who is Greek?

You definitely pronounce it in Greek, Beastofburden.

You also pronounce it in "ps" words, like "psychiatric".

BeastofBurden, I'll come on any Deuschlish thread - and in fact I have been on sehr lustige ones .

Interesting about the silent 'p' - I agree it makes no sense to have silent letters at all and yes, in German all 'ps' are pronounced.

Anybody interested in an alternative spelling of the word 'women'?

Prima!

Alex, I meant ask her what Greek kids are told about the difference between modern and Ancient Greek.

But it may well be on very dodgy ground as far as scholarship goes. I personally loathe the old fashioned Latin pronunciation, all that wenny weedy weaky bollocks and I say veni vidi vici but lots of old people tut.

I do actually have to give the odd Latin address as part of my job and there is a lot of tutting if you use a different system.