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[Opinions] How do you pronounce Genevieve?
What do you think of the name?Thanks. :)
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I find it needlessly long and frilly. And as for pronouncing it, I don't use French pronunciations in an English context, or indeed English ones in a French context. Only you know your context!
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Jenn - short i - vEEvI love it
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Genevieve pronounce ZHE-NEH-VYEV. It's beautiful old name.
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I pronounce it both the English way and the French way in my head. I think the French one is lovely, but the English one doesn't bug me. I love the name though.
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jen-a-veev. I really like it. Too bad it's Grant's ex's name.
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I'm Swedish, so none of the pronunciations is really natural for me, but I have pronounced it the French way since I first saw it. I only quite recently realized that it's pronounced differently in English... I like it a lot in French, but it's nice in English too.
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I'm inclined to pronounce it the French way Ge-ne-vee-ay-ve, rather than the English one, which I understand is Ge-ne-veev. I prefer the French pron, it's a nice name.
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I love the name!
And I say it Jen-eh-veeev.
Haha, I don't know all the technical ways to show how the letters sound so I just put it the best I could :)
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I pronounce it zhe-nə-VYEV but I also spell it Geneviève. Not a fan of the americanized pronunciation.
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I pronounce it the English way because I speak English. People in the US would automatically pronounce it in English. The French pronunciation is lovely, but I think it would seem pretentious to go about making people say it in French.That said, I think it's a gorgeous name.
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Well, I obviously love the name.I pronounce it the English way, and everyone I've ever known with the name (all English speaking) pronounced it this way. I prefer the sound of the English pronunciation over the French one.You said you live in a bilingual area. In that case I think you need to either a) accept the fact that different people will pronounce it different, depending on their native tongue or b) use it as a MN so it doesn't cause as much trouble. Norah Genevieve is lovely. ETA: Oh sorry, the bit about the bilingual city was not posted by the OP, but by another poster. So my last paragraph is in response to Lilibet's post.

This message was edited 6/11/2010, 10:02 AM

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People keep correcting Genevieve for us.Ah -- Norah Genevieve. So pretty. When trying to introduce Genevieve (english), we get rather pushily corrected. One woman even said "Would you consider pronouncing it (French) Genevieve?"We either have to roll with it, or drop it as a first name.
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LOVEit. I went with Chloe Genevieve for my baby. Took me forever to decide. I pronounce it the english way, sort of like Jenna veev.
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I say JEN-eh-veev and I like it.
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Genevieve I'd assume "JEN-uh-veev". If it was spelled Geneviève, I'd say "zhahn-VYEV".

This message was edited 6/11/2010, 9:00 AM

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I use the English pronunciation JEN-e-veev. I sometimes fancifully consider the French zhawn-VYEV but that's about as far as I ever run with it. I'm somewhat of a francophobe when it comes down to the language; French pronunciation in general tends to be most foreign and inscrutable to me among foreign (European, at least) languages.
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francophobe!Francophobe! What a fabulous term! I'm stealing it for my own usage... very apt for where I live.
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It's one of my favorite terms. I offer it with the disclaimer that it's the language itself, not the actual people or people who speak it, that I'm wary of. With a sense of humor, of course. :-)
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Ha ha! Well, thanks for the disclaimer! I live in a bilingual city, so I'll hold my commentary on whether my Francophobia extends to individuals vs language.
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I pronounce Genevieve JEN-a-veev, and I pronounce Geneviève zhawn-VYEV. I've also heard Geneviève pronounced zhe-nə-VYEV, but I prefer zhawn-VYEV.Genevieve and Geneviève are pretty. I think I prefer Geneviève, but Genevieve is more practical in the U.S.
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JEN-e-veev.I know that the French pronunciation is JEN-vee-EV, but I consider that pretentious in an English-speaking country.I like the name well enough. It's pretty.
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I say it "Jenna-VEEV", but I also looove the French version, "zhan-VYEV".I like it, it's a pretty Jennifer-esque name that isn't too wacky or dull. It's a lovely middle-of-the-road surprise.
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Well there's a French and an English pronounciation. Being that I am not French I would say Jenna-vive, a French person may say 'jen-vee-ev'. I using the English pronounciation, I love the name.
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We are in the process of naming our baby this as part of her name. We live in a bilingual city, so people correct the anglo pronunciation all the time. It is quite contentious, not sure if swinging between the two pronunciations is a pro or a con for this name!Genevieve Norah
or
Norah Genevieve
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I like Norah Genevieve best, it flows better. I do love both names though!
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Thanks, Jen. This is going to be a tough decision.
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