French Borrowings with French Sounds

Pronounce academic and cultural words that kept French spellings and sounds.

Words borrowed from French after the medieval period often kept French pronunciation, so English rules mislead you. The ending -ique is pronounced 'eek': technique, critique, unique. The ending -esque is 'esk': picturesque, grotesque. A final -et is often silent t: ballet, buffet, debut. G before e or i may be the soft 'zh' sound: genre (ZHAHN-ruh), regime (ray-ZHEEM), beige. The cluster eu sounds like 'uh' or 'ur': entrepreneur, connoisseur. Oi can be 'wah': bourgeois (boor-ZHWAH), reservoir.

Worked example: an art history text describes 'the artist's distinctive technique and a picturesque genre scene. ' A reader applying English rules might say 'tek-nik-way' and 'jen-er. ' Recognizing the French patterns produces tek-NEEK and ZHAHN-ruh. These words are common in literature, art, music, and cuisine, so the patterns pay off quickly.

• 1-ique = 'eek'; -esque = 'esk'; final -et often silent.
• 2Soft g as 'zh' in genre and regime.
• 3Eu as 'ur'; oi as 'wah.'