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From: aawest@CritPath.Org (Anthony West)
Subject: Re: Q: [French] Is "vie" [vi@]?
Message-ID: <DMsuxz.2H3@CritPath.Org>
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 1996 04:25:11 GMT
References: <FURUFURU.96Feb9230002@kongming.ccsr.u-tokyo.ac.jp> <4fpie8$atn@news.NetVision.net.il> <DMs45n.Bor@world.std.com>
Organization: Critical Path Project
Lines: 34

In article <DMs45n.Bor@world.std.com> jcf@world.std.com (Joseph C Fineman) writes:
>avi_jaco@netvision.net.il (Avi Jacobson) writes:
>
>>One of the hallmarks of lyric diction is that _all_ schwa-e's are
>>syllabized.
>
>From stray French songs that I have heard, I get the impression that
>modern popular songwriters feel free to avail themselves of the extra
>syllable when convenient, without being consistent.  For example, in
>"La Vie en Rose", the e is pronounced in "rose" but not in "vie"
>(perhaps because the latter is followed by a vowel?)
>
In this case, that's the rule. "e" is *not* pronounced /@/ before
another vowel.

> or "voie".  Later
>on, to make "ca me fait quelque chose" scan, some suppress the e in
>"quelque", and some the one in "me"!
>
>Maybe in old songs too?  "Et le quatre les plus grands ivrognes"
>needs the extra syllable in "ivrognes" but not in "quatre".
>-- 
>        Joe Fineman             jcf@world.std.com
>
Absolutely. Pop music, modern or past, does what it has to do in
French to make the meter. If it needs a schwa, it slings one in.

But if your song has any pretensions to being a "chanson" in the
cultural sense, you will probably try to use the "lyric" schwa
consistently.

-Tony West


