How would you pronounce Frances?

[JessicaBearx]

I would pronounce it FrARNces. Is this how most pronounce it or do you pronounces in Fran ces?
Asking because i don't want to pick a name we are pronouncing "wrong". Thanks

I'd don't understand the hambag comment MrsHathaway

Are you saying there are people who call a hand bag a hambag?

As before my name is Frances. It is pronounced fra as in far and it does not end in a z as some people on here think it does nor is it pronounced differently to Francis, both Frances and Francis are pronounced the same. It just the spelling that is different. Whether or not you put a northern accent onto it or not. The correct pronounciation phonetically is frahnces.
Not fraances as in ran.

Absolutely agree with you re the other variations Franny frannie frankie or fran....horrible!

Just because you have this name does not mean you get to decide on the definitive pronunciation. A Frances from a different part of the country could well favour a different pronunciation to you. Put up with it. Or stay in your hometown forever.

It is pronounced fra as in far

That doesn't even make any sense.

But anyway, I think it's fantastic that such a very, VERY long 'how would you pronounce...' thread involves a simple name like Frances and not Sorcha, the usual offender

Fran siss

Its DB's name everyone just calls him Frank.

Those who pronounce it Frarn-ces, do you pronounce it Frarn-cesca or Francesca?

I pronounce it Fran (short a) - cesca.

Surely it is clear now, that there is no rhyme or reason to this, just as there is no rhyme or reason to many of the quirks of the English language.

And again, it's not just SE English people who pronounce it Frahn-ces/cis, it's also Kiwis and Aussies.

I had never even heard of the short A pronunciation until this thread.

And I'm still boggling over the notion that there are people who pronounce father with a short A!!?

And yes, 'hambag' is a new one on me.

Are you saying there are people who call a hand bag a hambag?

No, I'm saying that in normal conversation almost everyone says "hambag", because it's quite difficult to say "hand bag" with the d and b next to each other. Not rocket science difficult obviously but tongue-twister difficult. So although you can enunciate "hanDBag" it's likely that in conversation you don't. It's not laziness, but How Language Works.

Which is an enormous tangent from poor little unborn Frances...

I wouldn't ever say hambag,that sounds like something a child would say.

Francesca is an Italian name - Italian pronunciation is different

but English Francescas don't speak with an Italian accent!

And English Sophies don't speak with a French accent and yet they still pronounce their name in the French way.

Amazing.

I find it exceptionally easy to pronounce handbag the way it's supposed to be.

Hambag? Really

Well I do fucking apologise for my terribly pretentious pronunciation of Frances. I'll go for elocution lessons straight away to train myself into the 'correct' northern pronunciation. 🙄🙄🙄🙄

I thought I was going nuts and had dreamt every phonology lecture and supervision I ever sat through so I have been watching handbag videos on YouTube. Not one pronounced "d" among them.

So with that I'm out.

To try and explain it one more time for the hard of understanding: the name Frances is derived from the country name France. Therefore whatever your accent, you'll pronounce 'Frances' the way you pronounce 'France'. If your accent gives it a short 'a' ('Frants') that's how you'll say Frances. If your accent gives it a long 'a' ('Frahnce'), that's how you'll say Frances.

Is that clear enough? Or is the southern pronunciation of 'France' also terribly stupid and pretentious?

I never expected that a thread about the pronunciation of Frances could get so heated But all the insights into different accents and pronunciation have been fascinating!

Can I digress and ask posters from NI, Wales or Ireland if Hannah rhymes with banana to them, as it does to Scots but not to the English, regardless of accent?

I say hanbag. The db part of handbag is a bit clumsy so I just scoot over it.

This thread has given me an aha moment re the American programme"Girls" whose main character is called Hannah and whose parents call her Banana pretty systematically. Never knew why!

The only way I have head HAND-BAG is when people are taking off Lady Bracknell and putting on a deliberately snooty, old- fashioned ultra precise voice.

Bookworm, I guess as in French, France is "fronss", technically we are all wrong and it should be fronss-iss

PS, I'd love to throw a "Sam-widge" in the works here

Oh god, Beyond - don't give them ideas!

dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/handbag