"French Pronunciation for Wargamers" Topic

OK, it's a very, very good explanation of French pronunciation for English speakers. link

(She also has funny short videos.)

Ask 4 wargamers to pronounce "cuirassiers" and you will get 5 answers.

I just ask my daughter-in-law, who is a native French speaker (though not French).

But if you pronounced the French correctly, would your fellow gamers know who or what you were talking about? The purpose of language is communication, after all.

French wife and bilingual daughter correct me mercilessly, but with a chuckle.

robert p +1

You mean my heavy cavalry aren't "CUE-RAZORS"?

TVAg

No, and they're not "see ross ee yays" either.

How do Americans pronounce "cavalry"? I often hear them saying
"cal-vary". I would dearly love to hear someone say, out loud, " Mah French cue-razor cal-vary." It would be an education.

and of course there's "nucular"

I think it's worth making the effort to learn. Many years ago a friend of mine decided to build a Seleucid army, as in 'Selusid'. We all said it that way. then I discovered it was a hard c Seleukid – in fact now it is often spelt that way, although interestingly, spellcheck here changed it back to Seleucid . . .

I've learned some French and German, and understand a bit of a few other languages. I always want to learn how better to pronounce at least the wargaming words in the relevant languages of the armies I use or play against.

Cheers,
John