How do you properly pronounce . . .

[beaujolais]

How do you properly pronounce . . .

1. tourmaline

Is it:

tour-ma-lean or ter-ma-lean?

2. cabochon

Is it:

kab-a-zhan?

3. tsavorite

Is it

sav-o-rite or save-o-rite?

----

Thanks.

 

[pwendyp]

 

[jstarfireb]

Good idea to start a pronunciation thread!

I''m not sure what''s proper, but I say CAB-uh-shon, TSAV-uh-right (I pronounce the T and use a short A in the first syllable), and TOUR-muh-lean (first syllable like a tour of a museum).

Also, it sounds kinda simple, but I was never told how to pronounce spinel. I say spuh-NEL, but is that right?

 

[T L]

BTW, for the longest time I though "Mahenge" as in Mahenge spinel, was pronounced "Mah-henj", but a spinel dealer told me it''s pronounced "Mah-heng" with a hard G sound at the end vs a J sound.

 

[Arkteia]

It would be interesting to know how it is pronounced in Tanzania, since it may be different. Logically, it should be like MA-HEN-GE, but I never heard it pronounced by the locals.

 

[chrono]

Date: 1/19/2010 11:39:34 AM
Author: crasru
It would be interesting to know how it is pronounced in Tanzania, since it may be different. Logically, it should be like MA-HEN-GE, but I never heard it pronounced by the locals.

I think Eric once told me it was pronounced as Ma-hen-ge.

 

[RockHugger]

How about Briolette...

Bri-o-lite?
Bree-o-let?
Broy-o-lite?

That one always confused me.

Also..
Praiba...

Pa-re-ba?
Pa-ra-ba?

 

[packrat]

TL, I thought it was that way too! Thanks for the heads up!

I never thought about spinel..I say it like spin-el.

ETA: oops, I see it's different now..I think I'll just stick to saying "ooo look at this pretty stone"

 

[stepcutgirl]

Oh lord. I just realized I have been saying catch-ah-bon. Looks like i have little dyslexia with that word!

 

[Arkteia]

Date: 1/19/2010 11:47:17 AM
Author: Tropicgal10
How about Briolette...

Bri-o-lite?
Bree-o-let?
Broy-o-lite?

That one always confused me.

Also..
Praiba...

Pa-re-ba?
Pa-ra-ba?

Briolette is French so it should be like BRI-O-LETT, with stress on the last syllable a short E. Not AI or OY. I think "EE" in your second version should be short, and actually the sound is coded like "I" (just checked "prononciation" of different sounds on a baby "alphabet ball).

 

[Arkteia]

Date: 1/19/2010 11:47:17 AM
Author: Tropicgal10
How about Briolette...

Bri-o-lite?
Bree-o-let?
Broy-o-lite?

That one always confused me.

Also..
Praiba...

Pa-re-ba?
Pa-ra-ba?

Logically it should be PA-RA-II-BA (stress on II but maybe but I think one of our esteemed collectors knows more than I do. Talking to a jeweller, though, that is how I''d pronounce it.

 

[Arkteia]

Date: 1/19/2010 11:48:43 AM
Author: packrat
TL, I thought it was that way too! Thanks for the heads up!

I never thought about spinel..I say it like spin-el.

ETA: oops, I see it''s different now..I think I''ll just stick to saying ''ooo look at this pretty stone''

I read somewhere that "spinel" comes from Greek "spina" (forgot what it was, bit it is not spine) so you should be right.

 

[Harriet]

I know that Paraiba is pronounced "Pa-ra-e-ba" in Portuguese. One of my dealers, who spends a lot of time in East Africa, says "ma-heng-gay" and "sah-vo-right" (soft ''a'').

 

[silverfreak]

I''ve never heard anyone pronounce Tsavorite beginning with the hard ''T'' sound. That''s a new one

 

[packrat]

I thought tsavorite was kinda like tsunami where the t is just barely discernible (sp?)

 

[Porridge]

Good grief, I never thought about it before now...I had always said (in my head):

tsave-or-ite (long a, and ditto packrat on the soft "ts")

spine-el (long i, short el) !!

According to my dictionary pronounciation, I''m way off base

Oh how annoying it''s going to be to try to get used to the right ways!

I also pronounced mahenge like mah-henj, paraiba like par-eye-bah

 

[Kim Bruun]

Date: 1/19/2010 11:52:56 AM
Author: stepcutgirl
Oh lord. I just realized I have been saying catch-ah-bon. Looks like i have little dyslexia with that word!

My aunt, who had her own jewelry store many years ago, pronounces it "cab-ree-SHONG".

I think the tendency in my native Danish would be to end it on an "ng" sound as in the original French, where Americans seem to end it on an "n".

 

[LD]

Date: 1/19/2010 12:00:19 PM
Author: crasru

Date: 1/19/2010 11:47:17 AM
Author: Tropicgal10
How about Briolette...

Bri-o-lite?
Bree-o-let?
Broy-o-lite?

That one always confused me.

Also..
Praiba...

Pa-re-ba?
Pa-ra-ba?

Briolette is French so it should be like BRI-O-LETT, with stress on the last syllable a short E. Not AI or OY. I think ''EE'' in your second version should be short, and actually the sound is coded like ''I'' (just checked ''prononciation'' of different sounds on a baby ''alphabet ball).

I think it''s BRI O LAY - that''s how it''s pronounced in French.

Paraiba - pronounciation depends whether you''re in Brazil or not. If you are, it''s pronounced PAR EE AY BA. If not it''s pronounced PAR EE BA

Similarly, Cabochon is pronounced CAB O SHON

I thought that Mahenge was pronounced MA HEN GAY ? No?

 

[Arkteia]

I think it should be BRI-O-LAY if it were "briolet", like "cabriolet". But with briolette? Like, Georgette? Claudette?

Regarding Paraibas, I totally defer to you. With stones like yours...
Richard Wise once featured an aqua briolette on his website. He should know.

Don't know at all about Mahenge, but in "Madagascar II" the lion's name was "Macumba" so I think the vowels are harsher in African languages. Just my guess. I think one should pronounce it like it is pronounced there just as a tribute to people who mine it.

As to Tsavorite...You would pronounce "Tzar" with a "T" but "Tsavorite" comes from "Tsavo", the river, so it should be "Z".

 

[Porridge]

Date: 1/19/2010 1:57:04 PM
Author: crasru
I think it should be BRI-O-LAY if it were ''briolet'', like ''cabriolet''. But with briolette? Like, Georgette? Claudette?

Yes you''re right crasru. In French, it''s the last letter that isn''t pronounced. So in briolette, you hear the "t" at the end. So it''s bree-oh-let.