Visitors ask...How do you pronounce "Notre Dame?"

I think I need to start a new blog! These things are popping up left and right now.

I presume the individual was not asking about the University in South Bend, IN which we all "Cheer, cheer for old...". That has been americanized to "Noter Dame" where the "a" in Dame is a long and hard "a". Some do pronounce the "Notre" as "Nut-rah" realizing its French roots.

Here is the pronounciation as given by someone knowledgeable in French. In France, the Cathedral is pronounced as follows:

There are plenty of examples where a mispronunciation of a foreign word or phrase has become standard - Notre Dame, for instance. French speakers would pronounce it “no-truh dahm”, but in this country it is and always will be “noh-ter daym”. No doubt the ears of Francophones are offended every time those words are uttered, but it’s become a fixture.

Found it here... Been there too... Amazing!


Comments