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Ok, It's the offseason, Question: "How do You pronounce Lafayette"?.. Or should I ask, what is the proper way to pronounce it?.. there are two basic pronounciations.. The way I know... Laff-ee-yette. And the alternative Lah-fay-yette.. (which is how Stevie p pronounces it.. no offense stevie.. I guess it's just how you learned...I know we have name issues with the university, but lets get on the same page with the city name also. this might be a good "poll' question.....
Laff-ee-yette, unless you have a Cajun accent, then laf-fie-yette is acceptable. :-)
igeaux.mobi
The French way is correct like General Lafayette. In Mississippi there is a Lafayette but pronounce it La Fayette. BTW You do realize we all say New Orleans wrong including the locals in NOLA. It should be pronounced like the city in France. R Lay Ons!:)Quote:
Originally Posted by leeman
I say Laf-ee-yette. And cringe when I hear people say Laf-i-ette.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ULtimateCajun
I always wondered why a city that embraces the French and Cajun culture doesn't pronounce the city name with a French accent.
Well, it's certainly become more than just a French culture around Lafayette. French is only part of it. There's also the African, Spanish and Indian cultures, not to mention the American culture, that add as much if not more flavor to the mix.
Take Chartres Street in New Orleans. It's pronounced "charters," when the "real" French pronunciation would be something like "shartr". Just the way it's evolved.
You can't forget about the African influence. Without them we wouldn't have gumbo, okra or jambalaya. Can you imagine South Louisiana without gumbo!.~.Quote:
Originally Posted by AirBill
Woops! I'm a coullion for that one! Fixed it.
I've never figured out the real pronunciation of Chartres. whether it's char-ters, shar-tre's, or something elseQuote:
Originally Posted by AirBill
I say shar-tres. Of course i'm not french so.
It's funny how NOLA has so much French their but they don't pronounce anything the way the french do. Like Trahan Richard, etc.
I would imagine 100 years ago they pronounced it correctly but as English took hold it went away. I love how 95% of the tourists think that Bourbon Street is named after the whiskey.Quote:
Originally Posted by ULtimateCajun
forget about steve. he can't pronounce the "h" in houston. either way is acceptable. the problem with the way people like stevie say it is if you're gonna give the first syllable the french "lof" pron., then finish it off with the rest of the french pron., "foyette." thus, the french "lofoyette" with the "o" sound as in "top." it has always been an anomaly that the anglicized version has become more prevalent even as we sell our frenchness to outsiders. it stems partly from our being made to feel inferior to the "americans" who invaded in the '50's and 60's. but that's a topic that's best left to barry ancelet.Quote:
Originally Posted by leeman
It depends... the same person will pronounce it different ways, depending on who he is talking to, and of course, what language he is speaking.Quote:
Originally Posted by leeman
LAH FIE YET with all syllables emphasized is the French and the Cajun pronunciation. The rest of the time, it's LAUGH ee yet. In Mississippi, it's la FAYE et County (faye rhymes with say), wherein lies Ole Miss.
As for New Orleans, the Creole language has long been gone, replaced by English spoken with Irish-German-Italian accents, the same immigrant groups that give New Yorkers their accents. Which is why New Orleans and New York accents are similar.
So most of the names in New Orleans are pretty much uglified.