Re: UNDERWEAR LINGERIE

Bob Cunningham wrote:

The English speaker pronouncing "commencement" or "lingerie" is not
mangling a French word. He or she is pronouncing it as the English
word should properly be pronounced.

In my experience, English "lingerie" is pronounced "lahnjeray". To
me, any other pronunciation would sound affected. A Frenchman
reading English text in English and pronouncing "lingerie" as he
pronounces it in French would be mangling the English word.

If "lingerie" were pronounced according to English pronunciation rules,
it would rhyme with "injury". I would have no objection to calling that
a correct English pronunciation. The "lahnjeray" of your region or the
"lawnjeray" that's common in Australia are the result of people
attempting to sound French, and failing dismally.

It's too late to change it by now, but it's a pity that we're stuck with
a pronunciation that is incompatible with both French and English norms.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
For an e-mail address, see my web page.
.

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