BS: Proulx pronounced?

Subject: How is Proulx pronounced?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 20 Sep 02 - 07:44 PM

Annie Proulx is a writer hailing from Wyoming, and she's written some good stuff, including a book, The Shipping News, which was made into a pretty fine film (with some good Newfoundland music).

So, how should her name be pronounced? "LX" is an unusual consonent combination. I think it's pretty bad manners to pronounce names the wrong way, the wrong way being some way that is widely at odds with how the person themselves would be likely to pronounce it (or the natives of the locality in the case of a place name)- and I'd like to be able to refer to her in talk without being discourteous.

Subject: RE: BS: Proulx pronounced?
From: Glade
Date: 20 Sep 02 - 07:58 PM

My book group pronounces E. Annie Proulx' surname as "Pro." And we have some French members who add a glottal stop & gurgle at the end but it still comes out sounding a lot like pro. I think the name's French, isn't it? so I think we've got it right. 'The Shipping News' is my favourite book - it's so uplifting & life-affirming.

Glade

Subject: RE: BS: Proulx pronounced?
From: Glade
Date: 20 Sep 02 - 08:03 PM

P.S. McGrath, you might look her up in "The NBC Pronunciation Guide" (that's very close to the title - sorry, I'm not in my library right now). I thought she was from the New England area? She has written a book of short stories(?) set in the west and I'm going to read 'Accordion Crimes' soon.

Subject: RE: BS: Proulx pronounced?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 20 Sep 02 - 08:14 PM

It must be a French name to start with - but the book here says she lives in Wyoming. Which isn't to say she mightn't have her roots elsewhere.) And I know names sometimes take on different sounds out in the West of America.

One encouraging thing about Ms Proulx, however it's pronounced - she published her first novel at the age of 56.

Subject: RE: BS: Proulx pronounced?
From: GUEST,Glade
Date: 20 Sep 02 - 09:01 PM

I just checked in a biographical dictionary of writers and it's pronounced "proo" Glade

Subject: RE: BS: Proulx pronounced?
From: Midchuck
Date: 20 Sep 02 - 09:23 PM

Thats how Mario Proulx - builder of acoustic guitars, way the hell and gone up in North Ontario - his instruments are considered by those who should know to be superb - "proonounces" it.

Peter.

Subject: RE: BS: Proulx pronounced?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 20 Sep 02 - 10:03 PM

You can get the low down on anything here. Thanks indeed.

Subject: RE: BS: Proulx pronounced?
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Sep 02 - 11:24 PM

Well if she really is in Wyoming, it probably gets pronounced every which way but correct. I've always pronounced it prew, but that's because I've had some French. In Wyoming, they do change things a bit. If you go to the town of Dubois and pronounce it "Doo bwa" they will know you are a "furriner" because a native will say "due-boyz." There are a few others, too, including Belle Forsche (S. Dak) which is commonly called "bel for shay" instead of bel foosh. So, wherever she may be, in Wyoming, I'll bet one or two have called her Mz. Prewl or Prewlex.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Proulx pronounced?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Sep 02 - 01:49 AM

And in Illinois, Bourbonnais (south of Chicago) just had a town vote on whether to keep the traditional (for them) "Bur-BONE-ness" or go with the technically correct "Bur-buh-NAY." The town voted for the old Bur-bone-ness, but the media is insisting on using the French form ever since the Chicago Bears moved their training camp there. But I paid them back while we were there on vacay, by translating Bares into Beers every chance I got. Cuz I'se a Mudcatter you know, and if we know anything it's bear. And what else for Chicago but bear, in Burboness or anywhere else?

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Proulx pronounced?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 21 Sep 02 - 02:40 AM

I've heard her interviewed where the announcer called her prew. She didn't laugh or correct him so thats the one I'm goin'with ;)

Subject: RE: BS: Proulx pronounced?
From: Willie-O
Date: 21 Sep 02 - 05:53 AM

Prew.

Subject: RE: BS: Proulx pronounced?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Sep 02 - 07:20 AM

For place names it's not just America - near us we've got Theydon Bois, pronounced "Boys", and Furneaux Pelham, pronounced Furnex; and then there's Beaulieu, pronounced Bewley, and many others like that.

It seems right to me that people pronounce where they live the way they want; mispronouncing other peoples names, or the names of the places they live, that's a bit different. Seems an unfriendly thing to do. "You may think you know what you're called, and where you live, but we know better."

Subject: RE: BS: Proulx pronounced?
From: Sooz
Date: 21 Sep 02 - 01:38 PM

Accordion Crimes is a very good book. However she pronounces her name!

Subject: RE: BS: Proulx pronounced?
From: Don Firth
Date: 21 Sep 02 - 02:56 PM

In Washington State where I live, place names, courtesy of the Duwamish, Suquamish, and other tribes, can get pretty interesting, and often provide great amusement, amazement, and great confusion to tourists and other flatland furriners.

The Duwamish river runs through part of south Seattle (city named after a Suquamish chief). Dosewallops, Duckabush, Stillaguamish, Snohomish, Skykomish, and Snoqalmie are nearby rivers. Sequim (pronounced "skwim," but tourists invariable call it "SEE-kwim") is a small city up on the Straits of Juan de Fuca (which is named after a Greek, Apostolos Varianos, who called himself "Juan de Fuca" because he was employed by the Spanish to try to find the western outlet of the Northwest Passage, and may or may not have discovered the Straits in 1592). Kathlamet, Wahkiakum, Klickitat, Yakima—all in all, it's kinda hard to ask directions around here without chipping a tooth.

What's in a name. . . ?

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Proulx pronounced?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Sep 02 - 04:16 PM

I want Klickitat for my next Mudcat name.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Proulx pronounced?
From: MudGuard
Date: 21 Sep 02 - 04:25 PM

I always think it is funny if people try to explain the pronounciation of a word and use a language for that purpose where pronounciation has nothing to do with spelling...

tough, though, through, thought all use the letter group "ough" but in all these words the letter group is pronounced differently...

Or take the sentence "I read the book".
Depending on whether I finished reading the book, the pronounciation is changed...
Or ...

MudGuard

Subject: RE: BS: Proulx pronounced?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 21 Sep 02 - 04:38 PM

Or the guy who came to England to improve his English,but had a lot of trouble with words spelt the same and pro- nounced differently,and word pronounced the same but spelt differently.He gave up and went home after seeing a poster outside a theatre which read 'CATS-Pronounced Success!'.

Subject: RE: BS: Proulx pronounced?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Sep 02 - 07:02 PM

So you've got to be careful about the way you write down the words that are supposed to give people a rough and ready clue. So you say "ruff" instead of "rough" for that purpose, and "true" instead of "through". English isn't so irregular that it's too hard avoiding the kind of pitfall Mudguard points out.

And using some other more phonetically consistent language wouldn't really work for people who haven't a clue how its phonetics work. After all, I am assured that Welsh is a very regular language which doesn't have these problems...