(no subject)

[bluegenedream.livejournal.com]

I have a last name pronunciation question. I have an awful tendency to pronounce any French name I see with a French accent. (I used to confuse some people so badly when I said 'New Orleans') How would you pronounce Foucault or Feucault (the person has awful handwriting) correctly in English?
Would you pronounce it the French way? Fu-Ko (Foucault). Or Feu-Ko (Feucault). I don't even really know how to correctly write out the French pronunciation for "feu" in English but yeah... Any help?

And another more, what do you think, type of question.

Does a name own a person or does a person own a name?


Ok, that wasn't terribly eloquent so I'll try to elaborate.

Of course a person isn't always defined by their name but I was wondering how much you guys let your impression of a name affect your impression of a person. Like, you know, when you hear things like "She just doesn't look like a Jennifer, she looks like an Evelyn instead." Does it take a while for your preconceptions of a name to settle with a person? Are there some names that you feel need a certain personality or flair for someone to "own" it properly?

And then of course, on the other spectrum is a person who owns a name so completely that you can't ever think of it without that person. Like...for me it'd probably be...Ariel. I always think of The Little Mermaid. No questions asked. And when I finally met an Ariel, who was not little mermaid-like in any way, (he was actually a boy) I couldn't stop imagining him with flowing red hair and a tail. What are some names that are already so owned by a person you can never shake off the connotations?

Basically, I thought it'd be interesting to hear some of your thoughts. What sort of names etc...etc

Comments

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

I have this problem with my own last name, which is French. I grew up in an area with a large francophone population, and so have gotten used to the French pronunciation of my name, and that is generally what I use myself. When I visit my Dad's family, however, they all use a heavily anglicized pronunciation of the name. It doesn't bother me, but it used to. I still get annoyed with anglicized French words in everyday conversation though, particularly as they are usually pronounced the French way here but the English way in a lot of the media.

Anyway, all that to say that it should be foo-KO. In the case of this name I'm not really sure how you would anglicize it that it would sound significantly different than that. If anything I think it would be a change in the second syllable, perhaps including the pronunciation of the L.