Armailhac - Otto nailed it. Definitely Yak, as in Robert A’s taste.
French words ending in “C” - I know a family called Fioc - the C is silent. Every “rule” has its exceptions!
Aramis - the S is definitely sounded, as in the video.
Basically, it is best to ask someone - but even then, there can be surprises.
I assumed Durfort-Vivens was pronounced “Derfort veevons”, and you’ll find countless videos on Youtube where people claim that it is, until I heard Claire Villars-Lurton pronounce it “Derfort veevans”, and being married to Gonzague, I expect she would know! Mind you, she also said Kiervon when talking about Kirwan, rather than the Kier-wun pronunciation I have always heard, so who can say?
This caused much debate at dinner last night, my wife insisting it was “err a loy (like boy)”, so like in Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” I had to phone a friend - my son - who went to school nearby, who confirmed it is pronounced like this:
Broken down into components it gives:
“Ooh air a le oy” as Phil says,
So in real terms, it sounds like
“Where a loy”.
Tough one!
Phil, you win a seat at Michel Rolland’s lecture tour of Canada, where he will present his new paper:
“Freshness, Authenticity and Terroir (FAT), where I went wrong”
Also, my apologies to Andrew - I forgot to reply to his query about Lit-et-Mixe - I’m not a linguist so I don’t know the rule but the T is not normally sounded with lit (eg un lit et un oreiller). Just another of those Gascon traps - like the département The Lot (sounded T) or Lot-et-Garonne.
Like I said, there came a real curveball. I have no idea how the locals manage to make that -luy into -loy, but if the place is in the south or southwest, the pronunciation rules for the local languages are always full of surprises! Or then they have a different, local historical name for the place and that Oeryeluy is just a French approximation of the local name, not entirely corresponding to how they pronounce it. Does anybody know more about this?
I’m fairly certain that Oeyreluy is Gascon. Luy is the name of a river next to it, so I’m guessing that Oeyre means a crossing or a ford, because there is another village further south called Oeyregave, also next to a river called the Gave.
Talk about a rabbit hole!
It’s “ah-boot” time I won something! I just hope Michel’s lecture in Montreal won’t be on April 1st of next year since I’m already attending another lecture: Bodacious Superlatives (BS), how to describe your wine in the 21st century.
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I have no idea how the locals manage to make that -luy into -loy, but if the place is in the south or southwest, the pronunciation rules for the local languages are always full of surprises! Or then they have a different, local historical name for the place and that Oeryeluy is just a French approximation of the local name, not entirely corresponding to how they pronounce it. Does anybody know more about this?