Emanuel Lowi wrote:
The rule with Germanic type names in France is that they retain their Germanic pronunciation.
This is the case with most of the names of Champagne producers (almost all of German origin). Bollinger is not Bo-lawn-jay. It is Bo-ling-ger. Same with Heidsieck, Roederer, Mumm, Krug, etc. Ditto for all those Alsatian winemakers. They may be citizens of France, but their names retain the original pronunciation.
The French are sensible about such matters. Paris has a Boulevard Hausmann.
No doubt about it, Alex Singer was no Frenchman. His name says it all. I imagine he was a Hungarian Jew, actually. Don't Francisise his name in an attempt to sound sophisticated. It is Sing-ger, not San-jay. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I've not traveled in France, and speak no French, but I think that Mssr. Lowi stretches in his generalization. My mother's friends in Frankfurt (Germany) were Lustigers, with the German pronounciation. First Cousin Jean-Marie, the late Cardinal of Paris (and a wonderful, brilliant, conversationalist) was always refered to as "Lustijea(r)" with a French pronounciation as an adult.
But, the proof of the pudding comes, as it must, from an old Texas joke. Q: You know how to tell a Real Texan? A: He knows how to prounounce "Schlumberger" (as Schlumberjea).
The firm, founded by a geophysicist from Alsace-Lorraine, became one of the foremost in the field of oil-well instrumentation.
harvey sachs, returning you now to our regularly scheduled diet mcLean va usa.