Re: Mon choux marche avec...

[chrisw@miso.wwa.com (Chris Williams)]

>In article <960315180704_246984538@emout06.mail.aol.com> IEDSRI@aol.com writes:
>>The second syllable would be the latter half of a poetic pronunciation of the
>>word "marche" (as "marche-euh", so to speak) -- a stylistic nicety that Kate
>>Bush made sporadic use of in "Un Baiser d'enfant" and "Ne t'enfuis pas". 
>>
>
>It's been eight or nine years since my last class in French Literature,
>but as I recall, the poetic pronunciation of 'marche' only applies when
>the following word begins with a consonant or an aspirate h.  For example,
>the phrase 'marche vite' (walks quickly) would be pronounced 'mar=che vite'.
>However, 'marche avec' (walks with), ought to be pronounced 'marche a-vec',
>since 'avec' begins with a vowel.
> 
>I hate to be nitpicky about this (as if no one were EVER nitpicky on
>r.m.g.  ;) ;) ;), but surely Kate is more careful with her French 
>pronunciation than this.  

   Ever since "Ne t'enfuis pas" and "Un Baiser d'enfant" first appeared
various French speaking Kate fans have been picking apart Kate's
pronunciation. As she's never lived in a French-speaking area (except
for the time at Superbear Studios recording Lionheart) we have no
idea how often she's able to use her French. I don't recall her ever
being interviewed in the language on any of the French TV shows.

   I don't know how much French she had in school. I'll have to assume
that it was no more than the average amount a typical English student
would get in a convent school.

   The only French-speaking Love-Hound who thinks differently is IED.
He is of the opinion that Kate's pronunciation is perfect and it's the
*French* who have it wrong, and need to change.

--
Chris Williams of
Chris'n'Vickie of Chicago
chrisw@miso.wwa.com
"How perfectly goddamn delightful it all is, to be sure." - C. Crumb