Reference: Hermes Pronunciation Guide

[Nolia]

Could someone confirm "togo"?
How about "izmir" like the colour blue izmir?
Guilloche?
Gris Tourterelle?
Argile?

 

[6310254]

This post is so lovely!!! Big thanks to everyone who contributed!!!


P.S. I recently placed a order on H.com Canada, and the customer service representative who called me to confirm my address actually pronounced Hermes in the English way.... LOL I was totally surprised by that

 

[Jahna]

Could someone confirm "togo"?
How about "izmir" like the colour blue izmir?
Guilloche?
Gris Tourterelle?
Argile?

toe-go
iss-meer
ee-osh (like the o in ocean) the "g" at the beginning is barely there
gree-tour-teh-rell-a (rel like rel(ative) with a short lingering (a) "uh" at the end
are-gheel-a (see above for ending)

corrections, augmentations welcome!

 

[Nolia]

toe-go
iss-meer
ee-osh (like the o in ocean) the "g" at the beginning is barely there
gree-tour-teh-rell-a (rel like rel(ative) with a short lingering (a) "uh" at the end
are-gheel-a (see above for ending)

corrections, augmentations welcome!

Thank you!

 

[Melora24]

I'm curious, is this a guide for a French or American way of saying words?

 

[Melora24]

It's a proper noun, so rules for common nouns do not apply.

If Hermès were a common noun, then 's' would probably have been silent like in "après". On the contrary, in proper nouns, the "ès" combination often means that "s" will be pronounced. E.g., a girl's name Agnès is also pronounced with an "s".

This is the correct pronunciation of Hermès: http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/hermès/39686?q=hermes#39608

Wow, I can't believe that I never noticed (learned!!!) that rule, even though I pronouce the S in Agnès, Hermès, Barbès, Inès, and don't pronounce it in après, près, grès...

 

[Melora24]

The audio in the link above has the emphasis on the last syllable... yet in other posts here it says the first syllable has the emphasis... Sooo confusing!!

I know this question is old, but one rule is easy: in French, the emphasis is ALWAYS on the end of the word, except if the last syllabe is one with a mute E: laboratoir(e), or Hermès

 

[crazyforhermess]

Say I have an Hermes or a Hermes, since it should be pronounced as 'air mess'?

 

[swezfamily]

I always say "an Hermes"…it sounds better, but I'm not sure if it's correct.

I think my SA says it this way too.

 

[catsinthebag]

"An" because the "H" is silent.

 

[GenieBottle26]

It's pronounced "air mez".

 

[Melora24]

It's pronounced "air mez".

Seriously, why would you use a Z to pronounce an S at the end of a French word??

 

[crazyforhermess]

Thank you as I, too, uses 'an' until recently I doubted it.

 

[QuelleFromage]

It's "an Hermès". Like "an homage", etc.

The "z" guide for English speakers is because "s" in French is much less sibilant than in English. Correct is probably somewhere in between from a US/UK Anglais point of view.

 

[Melora24]

Maybe there is something wrong with the way I learned English, but I definitely pronouce the S sound the same way in Hermès and in mess