I went to the board for Alain Resnais, but there are little to no posts there. So can someone please tell me how to correctly pronounce the last name "Resnais"
Thanks.
The best way I know how to explain, without you being able to hear someone speaking would be:
Resnais= Renee
" technology...an extension of the human body...It's inevitable that it should come home to roost."
Just think "ray-ne" ("ne" sounding like in "never") and in french of course the "r" is pronounced differently.
shareI say it like re-s-na-ee-s
my ymdb site
http://www.ymdb.com/mehsuggeth/l35858_ukuk.html
Just watched an interview on the "Hiroshima..." DVD. The interviewer said it "ruh-nay." Kind of like the female name Renee...maybe more like
Wren-ay.
I'd say that's pretty much it, but I'd write it more like REH-NAY.
shareIt's reh-nay, like the guy above pointed out. I never thought that Renais was a hard name to pronounce. I guess it helps when you know french though.
share[deleted]
Just like the previous posters said - it's like the English sounds REvolutionary and NAval - REH-NAY, and if you ever heard a French person pronounce the letter R (with a kind of growling sound deep in the the throat) then you'll hear how the first letter is pronounced. But really, if you just pronounce it in the regular way, REH-NAY, then that will suffice.
sharearrogance
shareO.K. The French mispronounce everything and don't even give a damn, so don't get a complex about this, but it is pronounced something like
"ray-NAY", except the "ay" is really more like the "e" in "red" and the "r" sounds almost like a guttural "h". Anyway, "ray-NAY" is closer than "ruh-NAY".
No I study French, and just took a course in La Nouvelle Vague cinema, with French lecturers. [reh-NAY] is definitely the closest equivalent, with the stress falling on the second syllable. The 2 's's are silent. 'e' is normally pronounced [uh] (eg 'le' = [luh]), but often when it is the sole vowel in the first syllable of a multi-syllabic word, and especially if there is a silent letter after it, then it changes from an [uh] sound to and [eh] sound. The silent 's' acts sort of like an accent. So Resnais = [Reh-NAY]. Of course the 'r' is a rolling 'r', as is normal in French. But we don't have an equivalent sound in English, so using our normal 'r' should neither cause offence nor seem ignorant.
shareI'm glad you study French and have just taken one course in "La Nouvelle Vague cinema", but I don't see how your explanation is different from mine.
share[deleted]
The rolling 'r' does exist in English, but is limited mostly to Scottish speaker of English, and is a little different to the French variety. In Scottish accent, it is a simple 'rrr' (I think Belgian Francophones do the same actually) and in French it is more of a 'hrr'. But again, it's not that important.
shareIn English with a Kalahari Bushman accent the "r" would have more of a "zzsr <click>" sound which for Canadian Francophones would be pronounced "zzsr <eh>?"
One thing for sure, you are all wrong when it comes to the last syllable. It doesn't sound like NAY. You have no sound like it in English that's why you Americans and Brits always say Renay instead of Renee, or "el presidentay" instead of "el presidente" etc etc.
It's just a long "e". Like the "e" in "red", but long (as long as you would say the "ee" sound in "me" for instance). So say "nay" but stop before you say they "y" part.
I clicked on the thread because I was intrigued that it had so many posts when it was just about the pronounciation of a name. The thread makes me laugh as everyone ergues about how it should sound. Pronounciation will differ according to regional dialect. For sure one can be taught a classic version of any language but that's not how the language may sound when you're in the country in different places.
Fatima had a fetish for a wiggle in her scootshare
Rene Russo
share