Pronunciation of Jet'aime?

Hey y'all, I know there are people from all over the world that go to the forum. Any French folks here? I am having a friendly argument with a friend about the pronunciation of this French word: "Jet'aime". She says it is pronounced as "Jaymee". I say it pronounced as "Jaytahm" or "Jay-time". Who is correct? I kow how the "J" is pronounced in French, just don't know how to express it with typing. Thanks.

Dave

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Permalink Reply by Erwan on February 22, 2012 at 10:35pm

I'm not good in writting phonetically. So here is a link with some pronounciations .

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on February 22, 2012 at 11:11pm

I think your friend is pronouncing "j'aime" rather than "je t'aime"?

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Permalink Reply by David Middleton Edelen II on February 23, 2012 at 2:41am

Thanks y'all. It turns out I was correct. But she still says you can say it either way, dependign on whether male or female.

Thanks,Dave

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on February 23, 2012 at 5:26am

?? The pronunciation of "je t'aime" doesn't depend on whether anyone is male or female. I think your friend must be thinking of another expression?

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Permalink Reply by Charles D on February 23, 2012 at 5:27am

"j'aime" is "I love"--J'aime la cinema = I love the movies.

"je t'aime" is simply "I love you".

There is a decided difference.

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Permalink Reply by David Middleton Edelen II on February 23, 2012 at 11:44am

Thanks so much. that clarified it for me.

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Permalink Reply by cesare Brocco on February 23, 2012 at 6:10pm

listen here http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|Jet%27aime..........Je tm....Je t-em

we must go by the pronunciation of the french alphabet to have a close pronunciations

You wrote Jet'aime it is Je t'aime it is not jet je t' aime 3 words 2 pronunciations

"Jaymee>"Ja T-me" (Ja-tahm" cole not close enough) or "Jay-time" no at all

listen fallow the linck http://www.reverso.net/translationresults.aspx?lang=EN&directio...

bon chance mon ami (listen:http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|bon%20chance%20mon%20ami)

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Permalink Reply by jorge che on February 23, 2012 at 7:30pm

well, the question is about the pronunciation of the word JE in French, depending on what you have after, we use a lot of abbraviation. Before a word starting with C, F, P or T, je becomes sh, so je t'aime is said sh't'aime when we speak, a good lesson about Je is here: http://www.frenchspanishonline.com/magazine/?p=2291.

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on February 23, 2012 at 7:34pm

Yes -- I assume that the original poster was talking about a "careful" pronunciation of "je". But in general, the "j"consonant will actually undergo alterations depending (in particular) on the following sound(s), style of speech, rhythmic considerations... But I don't suppose they were wanting to go into this level of detail.

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Permalink Reply by jorge che on February 23, 2012 at 7:45pm

well, if you know that's good! I had a student in London and once in Paris he asked for his way, and the French guy replied something like shépa and my student thought it was a new word he did not find in his dictionary. he did not see this with his previous tutor, that shépa means je ne sais pas. So a correct pronunciation is, of course, good to know, but if you can't understand French people when they speak to you, you are going to question the lessons you took and maybe your tutor too. ;)

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Permalink Reply by Charles D on February 23, 2012 at 10:37pm

You can alway sask the person to slow down when he or she speaks to you. Parisians with their French, just like us New Yorkers with our English, have a tendency to speak rapidly, often smashing their words. A polite, "doucement, s'il vous plait. Je ne suis pas un vrais francais" ought to do the trick. Of course, languages in the street are never the languages in books or in classrooms--that's true every where, not just in France. If you can't truely understand someone, ask someone else.