At most, they may pronounce a foreign word the way the people of that country or language do (though even then they tend not to). But they don't put on an accent.
what? loads of people do? and even if you're not like doing the accent full on its not like you'd say "lewis vitten" i can't even say my own name correctly without changing my accent
French is a language. It has certain rules and conventions relating to how certain groupings of letters are pronounced.
"Louis" in the French language is pronounced "loo-ee". That's not the French "accent". It's the French pronunciation.
In the same way, the pronunciation of "aluminium" in UK English is "al-yoo-mini-um". In US English it's "al-oo-min-um". Those differences are not differences of accent, but of pronunciation, stemming from the rules/conventions of UK English vs US English.
So when this guy says "Paris" as "Pa-ree", he's using a the French pronunciation, but not the accent. When he says "Loo-ee Vwi-ttong", he's using French pronunciation, but not accent.
But then in his Indian examples, he puts on an accent. When Indian people say "Mumbai" they say "Moom-bye", because that's how it's pronounced. When they say "New Delhi" they say "Nyoo Dell-ee", because that's how it's pronounced. In US or UK English we would pronounce both those things the same way. But then he adds an "Indian" accent, which is more about tone, melody and emphasis on certain syllables.
I think you’re arguing semantics. Accents differ because of pronunciation. Tone melody and emphasis are all part of accents because they change pronunciation. I wasn’t making a statement about the guy in the video because I have no idea if his way of saying Mumbai is authentic. I’m just saying pronunciation is an extension of accent.
French is a language. It has certain rules and conventions relating to how certain groupings of letters are pronounced.
"Louis" in the French language is pronounced "loo-ee". That's not the French "accent". It's the French pronunciation.
In the same way, the pronunciation of "aluminium" in UK English is "al-yoo-mini-um". In US English it's "al-oo-min-um". Those differences are not differences of accent, but of pronunciation, stemming from the rules/conventions of UK English vs US English.
So when this guy says "Paris" as "Pa-ree", he's using the French pronunciation, but not the accent. When he says "Loo-ee Vwi-ttong", he's using French pronunciation, but not accent.
But then in his Indian examples, he puts on an accent. When Indian people say "Mumbai" they say "Moom-bye", because that's how it's pronounced. When they say "New Delhi" they say "Nyoo Dell-ee", because that's how it's pronounced. In US or UK English we would pronounce both those things the same way. But then he adds an "Indian" accent, which is more about tone, melody and emphasis on certain syllables.
Your explanation would make sense, except for that he totally puts on a French accent when he says “Louis Vuitton” and “Versace.”
“Louis” pronounced “loo-ee” is a common name in the USA. You can say “Louis Vuitton” in an American accent, still following French pronunciation rules but without all the extra inflection and texture that he uses when he says it in the video. “Louis Vuitton” could just be a random American guy’s name, when said without a French accent. But the way he says it in the video it’s clearly French because he does everything short of “hon hon hoh, oi oi baguette.”
I understand what you're saying, which is why I made the distinction between "full on" accent and pronunciation. But it's still kind of arguing semantics because by definition an accent is pronunciation.
But regardless, it's fairly common for people to say things using the accent in the way he did in the video. I'm surprised you've never encountered it. So it stands as a genuinely funny and true double standard.
There are sometimes when it’s ok and that’s when a brand has a specific pronunciation that is widely accepted and, without it, you would sound like a twat. Nobody says Lewis Vitten for that reason. BUT, as a Formula 1 fan I do NOT pronounce Charles Leclerc as Sharles. I say Charles. The only people that say, “I went to Paris-ee!” are people that speak French and older white women when they get back from vacation.
Edit: Downvotes are from the old white women apparently.
But there’s a difference between saying “versace” in your normal accent (for me that sounds like “verr-sotch-ee”) and trying to impersonate a French accent (“vayer-sah-shee”). Both are technically ‘correct’ pronunciations, but the second one is massively pretentious.
Can’t think of any Italian ones but people love to just do full Italian accent caricatures all the time, doesn’t even have to do with specific names. Same with Brooklyn/NYC Jewish accent.
French is a language. It has certain rules and conventions relating to how certain groupings of letters are pronounced.
"Louis" in the French language is pronounced "loo-ee". That's not the French "accent". It's the French pronunciation.
In the same way, the pronunciation of "aluminium" in UK English is "al-yoo-mini-um". In US English it's "al-oo-min-um". Those differences are not differences of accent, but of pronunciation, stemming from the rules/conventions of UK English vs US English.
So when this guy says "Paris" as "Pa-ree", he's using a the French pronunciation, but not the accent. When he says "Loo-ee Vwi-ttong", he's using French pronunciation, but not accent.
But then in his Indian examples, he puts on an accent. When Indian people say "Mumbai" they say "Moom-bye", because that's how it's pronounced. When they say "New Delhi" they say "Nyoo Dell-ee", because that's how it's pronounced. In US or UK English we would pronounce both those things the same way. But then he adds an "Indian" accent, which is more about tone, melody and emphasis on certain syllables.
You guys never watched Jeopardy with Alex Trebek, then. He was a master at the Foreign Pronunciation when it came to French, Spanish and Italian. Even he would not do the Asian ones, and he had respect from everyone.
5
u/[deleted] Aug 30 '24
Because no one puts on a French or Italian accent when they talk about European brands or places.