Carrefour - How Do You Pronounce It?

[uwe_rayong]

Here you can hear it, that is maybe better then the whole phonetic spelling...

http://dict.leo.org/lf?2849683

I also think, since it is a French company it should be pronounced in French.

Car four or Karfoer sounds very funny. [Do you remember the joke with the American who asked a stranger to paint his por(s)ch(e)?]

I would think Thai people pronounce it quit ok, it is just the last "r" which is difficult to spell for them.

[karazyal]

I have no idea how to say it for thai taxi drivers, but it's a french word, so the pronunciation is

ca-reuh-foor

Exactly.

Sort of like "crap on floor???"

[Prakanong]

When I lived in Belgium the French speaking Belgians called it CarFour - then agan I might have heard wrongly.

They do say carfoor in Singapore but then Singaporeans have a very stange accent

Not when in Singapore.

Well those at work think I am Scottish!!!!

[onzestan]

Here you can hear it, that is maybe better then the whole phonetic spelling...

http://dict.leo.org/lf?2849683

I also think, since it is a French company it should be pronounced in French.

Car four or Karfoer sounds very funny. [Do you remember the joke with the American who asked a stranger to paint his por(s)ch(e)?]

I would think Thai people pronounce it quit ok, it is just the last "r" which is difficult to spell for them.

Well done. Nice voice too

cheers

onzestan

[raro]

Well with all these issues with just sayin the dam word im off to TESCO or is that LOTUS ?

(btw yup i know it used to be just lotus before tesco saved its sorry arse and bought it out)

Can you get your facts right?

with the risk going off topic...if I remember well, that's the way it was....

[tropo]

Definate pronounciation tip :

Kar (a sound as in cat) foorrr (oo sound prolonged)

cheers

onzestan

(si c'est pas français c'est pas bon)

That's a classic. Receiving "pronounciation" tips from someone who "definately" cannot spell.

Edited September 2, 2007 by tropo

[tropo]

Here you can hear it, that is maybe better then the whole phonetic spelling...

http://dict.leo.org/lf?2849683

I also think, since it is a French company it should be pronounced in French.

Very few people will be able to pronounce this word in the original French, and that includes most English speakers.

Foreign words need to be interpreted locally in a way that local people can get their tongues around it. Carrefour should have considered this when they introduced their company to the world. They know French is a difficult language to pronounce and Carrefour is a good example.

How many people pronounce "Paris" the French way?

Edited September 2, 2007 by tropo

[Westerner]

I have no idea how to say it for thai taxi drivers, but it's a french word, so the pronunciation is

ca-reuh-foor

Exactly.

Sort of like "crap on floor???"

[Naam]

Definate pronounciation tip :

Kar (a sound as in cat) foorrr (oo sound prolonged)

cheers

onzestan

(si c'est pas français c'est pas bon)

That's a classic. Receiving "pronounciation" tips from someone who "definately" cannot spell.

well... i know that Onzestan's mother tongue is not english and it is mine neither. but to me it is surprising how often native english speakers use the wrong spelling of "definitely" and "pronunciation" and especially "loser".

[wilko]

Howard Miller says - "Cah-foo" but that is wrong (horribly so)....listen to a Thai person say it, for some reason they tend to pronounce French words really well - or just remember you're an English speaker and say "Crossroads"

[wilko]

Don't forget to pronounce the "rr" as the French do - kind of rolling of the back of the palette!

[Heng]

It's pronounced "Foodland."

[ZombieQueen]

I just say "CAR-FOR"

[itsbill]

When I lived in Belgium the French speaking Belgians called it CarFour - then agan I might have heard wrongly.

They do say carfoor in Singapore but then Singaporeans have a very stange accent

In Spin its Carafour , e is pronounced 'a' in Spanish

[onzestan]

Definate pronounciation tip :

Kar (a sound as in cat) foorrr (oo sound prolonged)

cheers

onzestan

(si c'est pas français c'est pas bon)

That's a classic. Receiving "pronounciation" tips from someone who "definately" cannot spell.

At least my French is correct.

onzestan

[onzestan]

How many people pronounce "Paris" the French way?

All the French and Belgians and any other French speaking country. Maybe these countries are not on your map, but they do exist you know. And I agree that most native English speakers have problems with the correct pronunciation of French words, but you can hardly blame the French for that can you?

onzestan

[billp]

Still its pretty bad style to choose a name that nobody knows how to pronounce.

LOL Since it's the world's 2nd-biggest retailer (after Walmart), this doesn't seem to have caused them any problem.

[tropo]

How many people pronounce "Paris" the French way?

All the French and Belgians and any other French speaking country. Maybe these countries are not on your map, but they do exist you know. onzestan

Talk about missing the point. Obviously French speakers pronounce French correctly, but very few others.

French is a bitch to pronounce and personally I don't even try because whatever comes out usually sounds stupid, not to mention that French people don't generally appreciate others trying to speak their language anyway.

[onzestan]

How many people pronounce "Paris" the French way?

All the French and Belgians and any other French speaking country. Maybe these countries are not on your map, but they do exist you know. onzestan

Talk about missing the point. Obviously French speakers pronounce French correctly, but very few others.

French is a bitch to pronounce and personally I don't even try because whatever comes out usually sounds stupid, not to mention that French people don't generally appreciate others trying to speak their language anyway.

I think you are missing the point. The French call their companies whatever they want and they don't care how English or any other native speakers pronounce it, they're French and proud of it as well they should be.

Please don't take it personally but because you are an English native speaker doesn't mean the whole world has to oblige to name everything so that the English native speakers can pronounce it. I speak French in the Belgian way, with a slight but significant difference, and not one French person has ever taken offense at my pronunciation as you seen compelled to do when a non native English speaker makes a spelling mistake.

My English is not perfect but I do try, and you should appreciate that.

No malice intended.

Onzestan

[tropo]

How many people pronounce "Paris" the French way?

All the French and Belgians and any other French speaking country. Maybe these countries are not on your map, but they do exist you know. onzestan

Talk about missing the point. Obviously French speakers pronounce French correctly, but very few others.

French is a bitch to pronounce and personally I don't even try because whatever comes out usually sounds stupid, not to mention that French people don't generally appreciate others trying to speak their language anyway.

I think you are missing the point. The French call their companies whatever they want and they don't care how English or any other native speakers pronounce it, they're French and proud of it as well they should be.

Please don't take it personally but because you are an English native speaker doesn't mean the whole world has to oblige to name everything so that the English native speakers can pronounce it. I speak French in the Belgian way, with a slight but significant difference, and not one French person has ever taken offense at my pronunciation as you seen compelled to do when a non native English speaker makes a spelling mistake.

My English is not perfect but I do try, and you should appreciate that.

No malice intended.

Onzestan

With all due respect, you are still missing the point.

The point is as I stated in an earlier post. Company names will usually be interpreted locally and not always be pronounced in the original language. In this case, we are talking about an English and a Thai translation of the french word "Carrefour".

A poster earlier gave us a link to hear the original French pronunciation which is beyond most of us English speakers. Thai speakers will say "Cafoo" and English speakers will say "Carfor". Other nationalities will have their own particular translation...this is quite normal anywhere in the world.

You say you speak French in the Belgian way, well that would be a substantial improvement on anything I could say in French. To even compare your French with my feeble attempts at its pronunciation would be ridiculous.

Edited September 3, 2007 by tropo

[onzestan]

With all due respect, you are still missing the point.

The point is as I stated in an earlier post. Company names will usually be interpreted locally and not always be pronounced in the original language. In this case, we are talking about an English and a Thai translation of the french word "Carrefour".

A poster earlier gave us a link to hear the original French pronunciation which is beyond most of us English speakers. Thai speakers will say "Cafoo" and English speakers will say "Carfor". Other nationalities will have their own particular translation...this is quite normal anywhere in the world.

You say you speak French in the Belgian way, well that would be a substantial improvement on anything I could say in French. To even compare your French with my feeble attempts at its pronunciation would be ridiculous.

I was under the impression that the OP asked for the correct pronunciation of Carrefour. I tried to oblige.

I'm sure that there are very few French that can pronounce Mc.Donalds or Burger King correctly.

That doesn't stop these 2 companies from doing well in the world markets.

Carrefour started out as a French company for the French, and did also very well, so I'm sorry that I cannot concede to your point of view, and as in every forum we each have our own opinions. You're entitled to yours and so am I to mine.

But plse don't expect me to give in to the notion that everything should be understandable in English.

Again no malice intended.

cheers

onzestan

[tropo]

.

But plse don't expect me to give in to the notion that everything should be understandable in English.

I don't hold or expect you to hold to that notion.

I mentioned that foreign words will be pronounced in a local way irrespective of where they (the words) originate from.

You were presenting the argument that a French company name should be pronounced in the French way. I was saying that this will never be the case in any country outside of France where French is not the spoken language because basically it's impossible for most non-French to get their tongue around French words.

Edited September 4, 2007 by tropo

[Crooner]

I really cannot believe that you can have a debate on the pronunciation of a shop. Sad. Go out enjoy yourselves. how do you pronounce onamatapaiea?

[onzestan]

.

But plse don't expect me to give in to the notion that everything should be understandable in English.

I don't hold or expect you to hold to that notion.

I mentioned that foreign words will be pronounced in a local way irrespective of where they (the words) originate from.

You were presenting the argument that a French company name should be pronounced in the French way. I was saying that this will never be the case in any country outside of France where French is not the spoken language because basically it's impossible for most non-French to get their tongue around French words.

Dear Tropo

You do want to have the last word don't you.

If you would kindly read my posts on this topic, I NEVER said that a French company should be pronounced in the French way.

It was you that claimed that a French company should alter their name to be more easy to pronounce for English speakers, and I fail to see why they should.

Again no malice intended. I however consider this topic closed.

cheers

onzestan

[wilko]

Onomatopoeia!!! .....

is how you spell it...

can you tell me what English Language pop song had this word in the backing vocals????

I presume you really know what it means and how to pronounce it

[tropo]

.

But plse don't expect me to give in to the notion that everything should be understandable in English.

I don't hold or expect you to hold to that notion.

I mentioned that foreign words will be pronounced in a local way irrespective of where they (the words) originate from.

You were presenting the argument that a French company name should be pronounced in the French way. I was saying that this will never be the case in any country outside of France where French is not the spoken language because basically it's impossible for most non-French to get their tongue around French words.

Dear Tropo

You do want to have the last word don't you.

If you would kindly read my posts on this topic, I NEVER said that a French company should be pronounced in the French way.

It was you that claimed that a French company should alter their name to be more easy to pronounce for English speakers, and I fail to see why they should.

Again no malice intended. I however consider this topic closed.

cheers

onzestan

My apologies, it was another poster who suggested a French companies name should be pronounced in French.

You misunderstood. I've never suggested that a French company should alter their name. I've suggested that if a French company has a desire to have their name pronounced their way, then they would be disappointed.

[tropo]

I really cannot believe that you can have a debate on the pronunciation of a shop. Sad. Go out enjoy yourselves. how do you pronounce onamatapaiea?

You maybe surprised to learn that I've been out today already, and later I will go out again. It doesn't take a long time to type half a dozen posts...but thanks for your concern.

"onomatapaiea" or "onomatapoiea" is easy to pronounce, hard for you to spell, but try pronouncing "Carrefour" in perfect French.

Edited September 4, 2007 by tropo

[mr_hippo]

If you want to pronounce 'onomatopoeia', please do as Wilko has already said - spell the word properly -

onomatopoeia

I have had no problems with my French pronunciation, maybe it's because I was taught by a Welshman!

Carrefour is still pronounced 'catfood' in my house

[Crooner]

If you want to pronounce 'onomatopoeia', please do as Wilko has already said - spell the word properly -

onomatopoeia

I have had no problems with my French pronunciation, maybe it's because I was taught by a Welshman!

Carrefour is still pronounced 'catfood' in my house

BANG

[mr_hippo]

BANG

???