There are some, it's easy, they are known, no one (or almost) makes a mistake anymore, unless they are in bad faith or knowingly want to irritate the native. Chamonix, for example, the Haute-Savoie and world mountaineering capital. Everyone (or almost) knows how to say it:
Chamoni
, without pronouncing the -x. Others, however, are the subject of major questions. Avoriaz for example, the famous ski resort clinging to its cliff above Morzine: should you pronounce the 'z'? Should we make the 'a' sound?
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During each stay in one of the two Savoyard departments, it is the same problem: the traveler hesitates on the pronunciation of the words in -X and -Z: La Clusaz, Bernex, Semnoz... The worst is that the locals hate it, foreigners who mispronounce the names of their village. They even have an adjective for these ill-mannered tourists: monchus. It historically designated haughty city dwellers. Today, helping social networks - many Facebook groups in particular (like the extremely funny “Histoires de monchus”) - it more generally designates the slightly clumsy tourist, who ventures for example on snowy roads with perfect all-season tires for the descent of the Champs-Elysées, in Paris. So, to avoid upsetting the Haut-Savoyard and the Savoyard, you might as well know the rules.
A silent Z
Let's start with -Z words. It’s simple, “
he’s always silent
,” recalls Alain Favre, vice-president of the Savoyard language institute. The -Z is an accent sign, it is used to make the last syllable unstressed and the penultimate one accentuated.
Let's take the example of La Clusaz, this beautiful village resort near Annecy and facing the Aravis. The addition of the final -Z means that we must emphasize the 's', we will therefore pronounce "La CluSa" by barely marking the final '
a
'. With words in -x, the principle is the same: the final consonant is not pronounced either, but there is a difference with -z, the -x indicating a tonic accent on the last syllable and not the front -last. Thus, Chamonix is pronounced
Chamoni
, as Combloux is pronounced
ComblOU
. If Chamonix were written Chamoniz, the town would almost say “
Chamone
”.
Arpitan
Let's summarize: the endings in -z and -x are graphic devices. They are silent and indicate which syllable should be stressed, nothing more. Why a consonant addition? To understand, we have to go back to the Middle Ages, around the 13th century. “
At the time, when Latin became established, local scribes had to find a way to transcribe the local patois into Latin
,” explains Alain Favre. This patois is Arpitan or Franco-Provençal, the Savoyard language spoken in the State of Savoy, the two current Savoyard departments, but also French-speaking Switzerland and the Aosta Valley, in Italy.
“
They then decided to add unnecessary consonants from the Latin alphabet, the 'x' and 'z', to certain words to distinguish the Latin pronunciation from the patois and mark the stress of the syllables
,” continues the dialectologist. This process is no different from that used for other French words: nose, eyes, hair, Bordeaux.
“Our history is not taught”
Problem: there is the rule and its distortion through use. Today, bad habits have become part of everyday language. Semnoz, for example. This mountain near Annecy, everyone calls it
Semnoze
and not
SeMNo
. The same goes for Bernex, the resort in Chablais: the locals themselves pronounce the final '
x
'. “
I am scandalized,”
says Alain Favre.
We should say “
Berney
”.
The Savoyard points out the influence of tourists.
“There has been such an influx of people coming from elsewhere for a long time that even local people have adopted the wrong pronunciation.
»
Unlike Breton or Basque, recognized by the Ministry of National Education since 1951, Franco-Provençal has only been teachable in schools since 2022. “
We are a decultured people and our history is not taught
,” regrets Alain Favre.
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