French Jeanne
Hi, I have a question about the French pronunciation of Jeanne.
According to this site it's pronounced "zhan," but I wonder how they differentiate between Jeanne and the masculine Jean? "zhan" just seems a bit masculine for a female name. Does anyone know of an alternate French pronunciation or a way to phonetically differentiate between Jeanne and Jean? Thanks!
According to this site it's pronounced "zhan," but I wonder how they differentiate between Jeanne and the masculine Jean? "zhan" just seems a bit masculine for a female name. Does anyone know of an alternate French pronunciation or a way to phonetically differentiate between Jeanne and Jean? Thanks!
Replies
In French the -n of Jean really exists only as a signal that the vowel is nasalised. For practical purposes, one doesn't hear it. But the -nne of Jeanne definitely sounds as if it's there! Same, in French, with Simon and Simone.
Yes, Jeanne and Jean don't really sound that similar at all in French.
You don't really pronounce the last N much in Jean, where is in Jeanne, you do.
Here are some examples:
JEAN: http://hearnames.com/name-categories/french-names/jean.html
JEANNE: http://hearnames.com/name-categories/french-names/jeanne.html
Here are some examples:
JEAN: http://hearnames.com/name-categories/french-names/jean.html
JEANNE: http://hearnames.com/name-categories/french-names/jeanne.html