(Untitled)

[schaeffer]

Would you pronounce ambience as

1. am-bee-uhns

or

2. ohm-beyonce

Edit: 2 is the anglicized version of "ahn byahns" without the nasal sounds. The 'm' sound substituting for nasal sounds makes it more pronounceable for anglophones.

Comments

[tckl]

is this the vehicle to sends sick ppl to hospital? both pronounciation are incorrect

[schaeffer]

then may i know what's your suggestion to pronounce the vehicle that sends sick pple to hospital?

[tckl]

jiuhu car

[schaeffer]

so creative...

[nikheart]

i think this borrowed word has not been fully naturalized into English yet. Think: "restaurant". This is a French word that has been around in English for so long that it has acquired English pronounciation without any qualms. But as for "ambience", not fully naturalized into English yet. Personally, I use pronounciation 2.

[schaeffer]

hmm the french pronunciation for ambience is "ahn-byahns", it's not an exact match to #2 but does attempt to bring out the flavour..lolz

Is #2 pronunciation localised or you have heard it else where too in UK or US?

[nikheart]

I've heard the pronounciation before yes... that's why i use it! It is interesting that you brought up the original French pronounciation too! It goes to show that it is now PARTIALLY NATURALIZED. See how it adjusted to more "natural" English pronounciations of the alphabets.

Oh and btw, phoneme /n/ is also a nasal sound not just /m/!

[gaara83]

both pronounciation are acceptable?

i usually pronounce it as 2.

[everythingoes]

i like to pretend i'm tres chic. so numero deux please.

[schaeffer]

Je suis d'accord, mon chouchou. lol