Imagine the scene: you have just left the shop with a Louis Vuitton bag model, you are calling your girlfriend to tell her the surprise, you hear the phone ring and suddenly it comes to your mind: "I have not the faintest idea how to pronounce the name. of the bag without looking stupid. " Take it easy! Whether you want to figure out how to pronounce "Louis Vuitton" in the Italian style, whether you want to say it with a classy French accent or say exactly the name of the actual model you have purchased, all you will need is some basic indication (and a little practice) to look très chic.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Using an Italian Pronunciation
Step 1. Say “Luì”
If you are looking for a basic Italian pronunciation for "Louis Vuitton", the first word will be a breeze. All you have to do is pronounce the French name "Louis" (Luigi's correspondent) in a way more or less similar to the Italian third-person masculine pronoun, with the accent on the final i, and that's it. No additional effort required.
Fun fact: the Louis Vuitton brand takes its name from its founder, Louis Vuitton, a French craftsman and businessman who founded the company around 1850. This is why the first word of the company's brand corresponds to the name "Louis"
Step 2. Say “Vit”
The second word, "Vuitton" might scare you slightly more, but it's actually not that hard to pronounce in Italian. The first syllable will be pronounced "vit". Forget the U, in the Italian pronunciation it is almost silent.
You can also choose to use a less marked "vut" if you prefer
Step 3. Say “Ton”
So, to finish "Vuitton", say the second syllable "ton" and put the stress of the word on this syllable. In French, unlike Italian, the accent almost always falls on the last syllable, so it is "vit-TÓN" and not "VÍT-ton".
In Italian, the accent on the last or penultimate syllable is reserved for the words truncated and sdrucciole. However, in this case, most native speakers do not find it complicated, perhaps precisely because it is a word of foreign origin
Step 4. Put it all together
Now you have everything you need to say "Louis Vuitton"! Try a few: "Lu-ì Vit-on". Practice makes perfect, so don't be afraid to start saying it out loud, even when other people are around.
Step 5. Optionally, ends with nasalized French “Toh”
Some like to look chic when they talk about the new bag they just bought, adding a touch of French pronunciation to the end of the classic Italian version of "Louis Vuitton". To do this, instead of ending with the normal "ton", try a nasalized "toh" (with a closed o). So it will be almost as the French pronounce it, for an average normal Italian it is a good compromise compared to trying to learn the complex French vowel system.
To be even better, try to blow some air out of your nose when you finish the word. If you do it right, it'll just sound a bit tapped, the perfect compliment to that "you've just bought a brand new bag" feeling
Method 2 of 3: Use a French Pronunciation
Step 1. Pronounce "Louis" correctly
Saying "Louis Vuitton" with the true French pronunciation is a little more difficult than saying "Louis Vuitton" in its Italian form. First, let's face "Louis". The pronunciation is similar to that used in Italian, but not identical. In French, "Louis" is said very quickly (almost as if it were a single syllable). The result is that the "lou" sound at the beginning of the word becomes very short. For an Italian speaker, the simplest thing is to get close to the correct pronunciation simply by shortening and quickly pronouncing the word "luì".
Step 2. Say "Viui"
Unlike Italian, the U in "Vuitton" is not really mute in French. Corresponds to the ü of some dialects of northern Italy, a rapid sound connected to the following I. Don't dwell too much on the U, trying to prevent your lips from tightening too much. In Italian there is no such sound, so the syllable can be a bit difficult and not intuitive to pronounce, be patient and you should do it with some time.
The I of "Vuitton" corresponds to the Italian I. However, it should be pronounced very quickly, so if it ends up accompanying and assimilating to the previous ü, that's fine
Step 3. Say “Toh”
In French, the final "-on", with rare exceptions, has a silent "N". This means that in fact you will simply have to say a closed "O" (as in "pósto" [place] and "cólto" [educated]). However, to sound truly French, it will be necessary to "nasalize" this vowel by pronouncing it partially through the nose. Try to prevent the lips from contracting too much like in the English "O" for example. Instead, keep your mouth slightly open, with your tongue in the center.
Try this simple test to see if you are saying "toh" correctly: put your finger just under your nose, as if you were about to sneeze, then try saying the syllable. You should feel a subtle puff of air come out of your nose; this, and many other French words, require nasalized sounds for correct pronunciation
Step 4. Put it all together
Now you are really ready to say "Louis Vuitton" like a native French speaker. Follow the rules given above and combine the syllables you have learned together into a complete expression. Your pronunciation of "Louis Vuitton" should sound a bit like "Luì ViuitOH". Practice makes perfect, so don't be afraid to try practicing yourself a little bit at first before you start saying it in public!
If you are having trouble, try listening to a native French speaker how they pronounce the words. If you don't know any, simply use your favorite search engine to run a short search like: "Pronounce French Louis Vuitton", you should easily be able to find some useful video guides
Step 5. For perfect pronunciation, use the French sound “ou”
The instructions given above will lead you to say "Louis Vuitton" roughly with the actual French accent, but not really perfectly. In French, the combination of vowels "ou" can sometimes result in a sound that is not actually present in many other languages. In order for your pronunciation of "Louis Vuitton" to be perfect, you will need to practice this sound and use it in "Louis" instead of the normal Italian "u" you have made so far.
To practice this new "ou" sound, start by pronouncing an "OU" similar to the English sound for "glow" or "snow". Squeeze your lips together, as if you were drinking from an invisible straw. Finally, without moving his mouth, he begins to say a long "I", as in English "free" or "tree". The sound you should produce should correspond to a combination of "OU" and "I", which tends to be a bit strange for a native Italian speaker. This is the sound you need to say "Louis"
Method 3 of 3: Pronounce Louis Vuitton Products Correctly
Step 1. Pronounce Damier, "da-mié"
Once you have mastered the brand name perfectly, try to learn how to pronounce some of the French tongue twister names of its products as well. For starters, try "Damier". The first syllable is easy: "from"; and also the second is not so difficult: "mié", with the accent on the final e as in "cupcake". Do not forget to let the I in the word be heard, it is "DaMIÉ", not "DaMÉ".
Keep in mind that in French, the final "-ier" practically always has a silent R
Step 2. You say Multicolored, "multi-color"
To pronounce the name of this bag, you need to spell out the long vowels for each syllable. The first syllable is "mul" and the next is "ti", both pronounced as they are read. The third syllable "col", and finally, the last "lor", with a soft R, produced by pressing the back of the tongue against the back of the palate.
Don't forget that in French the U is closed like in the dialects of northern Italy (not like the normal Italian U). So you don't have to say "multi-color" as you would read it in Italian, but a sort of mülti-color, with the final r as explained above
Step 3. Pronounce Tahitiennes, "ta-i-ti-en-n"
The difficult part of French pronunciation is almost completely ignoring the way the word is spelled, which is quite misleading for an Italian reader. Simply spell out the first three syllables, "ta", "i" and "tien". The last two are a little more complicated and are pronounced with a prolonged n "enn-uh", without an S at the end, although written. Do not forget to pronounce the syllable of the silent e ("euh"), it must be light but still audible.
Note that the French H is practically silent like the Italian one. There is no aspirated sound like in English
Step 4. You say Popincourt, "pop-in-cur"
Clearly spell "pop", "in" and "cur". It uses the French "moscia" R, different from the vibrant Italian one, making it feel slightly.
Do not pronounce the T at the end of the word, the final consonant is once again silent
Step 5. Pronounce Batignolles, "ba-ti-gnoll"
In French, the consonant pair "gn" corresponds to the Italian "gn", as in "swan". With this in mind, along with the fact that the final letters are often not pronounced, you say "Batignolles" by spelling the syllables "ba", "ti" and "gnol" followed by a silent "e" which roughly corresponds to an extension of the "l". As in Tahitiennes, the final S is not pronounced, but there is nevertheless a fourth syllable (the "e muta" in fact) very little marked.
