Quote:
Originally Posted by Capsicum
What's your default expectation for pronouncing a French name if you're talking in an obviously Anglophone context but don't have the chance to ask ahead of time how he or she would like it pronounced (eg. I'd like to speak to Mr./Ms. X)?
In Canada, since most people at least have some exposure to French through elementary school (even if it's really basic, at the very least the phonology wouldn't be totally foreign), I'd expect the French pronunciation would be the "default".
People probably have higher expectation of French surnames, geographical place names and other name pronunciation not being anglicized, that they would not have with say Polish or Korean surnames or something, because of French's familiarity in Canada. Also, though indirect exposure if they live in a place without a large Spanish-speaking demographic (often via the US), most Canadians probably pick up how some Spanish names and words are (for instance the Spanish "j").
|
Always, unless and until "corrected", I'd say. Except where the local pronunciation is well known (e.g. in K-W, Lavigne is "La-VING" and Mombourquette is "MUM-burr-cat"). Also in K-W, I've found that Portuguese surnames are far more likely to be anglicized that Spanish surnames.