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[Facts] French Jeanne
Hi, I have a question about the French pronunciation of Jeanne.
According to this site it's pronounced "zhan," but I wonder how they differentiate between Jeanne and the masculine Jean? "zhan" just seems a bit masculine for a female name. Does anyone know of an alternate French pronunciation or a way to phonetically differentiate between Jeanne and Jean? Thanks!
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I'm pretty sure they are different. Jean and Jeanne being pronounced the same is more of an Anglophone thing.
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You don't really pronounce the last N much in Jean, where is in Jeanne, you do.Here are some examples:
JEAN: http://hearnames.com/name-categories/french-names/jean.htmlJEANNE: http://hearnames.com/name-categories/french-names/jeanne.html
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In French the -n of Jean really exists only as a signal that the vowel is nasalised. For practical purposes, one doesn't hear it. But the -nne of Jeanne definitely sounds as if it's there! Same, in French, with Simon and Simone.
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Yes, Jeanne and Jean don't really sound that similar at all in French.
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