r/typography • u/smartalecvt • 2d ago

Pronouncing "sans"

I know the convention is to pronounce it like "bans", but why? And can we do anything to lobby for pronouncing it like "cons"? It's such an American bastardization of a term, and I feel like a rube every time I say it.

0 Upvotes

24% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

19

u/TeuthidTheSquid 2d ago

Why not just use the real French pronunciation instead of choosing from two wrong ones?

2

u/Neutral-President 2d ago

It sounds like "brawn" but the "n" is silent.

5

u/jenesaisquoi 2d ago

If you’re not going to use the one that rhymes with bans, use the French pronunciation (like you started saying the word song but stopped just as you thought the letter n). Or don’t, because it will still be a bastardization but also English speakers will be confused. 

Let things be bastardized. The French vowel and consonant sounds are hard to reproduce with an English set of phonemes. It’s way more awkward when people accurately pronounce sauté or Paris in English speech. We borrowed their words and pronounce them differently because that’s how language works. The French use the word weekend but it doesn’t sound like weekend. 

I think you are trying to be well-informed and respectful of a borrowed word, but it’s been anglicized for so long (m-w says 14th century). Just lean in to being part of the evolution of borrowed words. 

20

u/Judgeman2021 2d ago

Language is fluid and fleeting, just because we pronounce it one way doesn't make your way any more proper. So live with it or live sans it.

3

u/AnAbyssInMotion 2d ago

The z in bastardization is another hideous American bastardisation

3

u/smartalecvt 2d ago

lol touché

1

u/ReeveStodgers Display 2d ago

I like the idea that we could petition some central bureau of language that would dictate how we pronounce words. I'd love to hear their ruling on gif.

English regularly takes other languages into a dark alley and steals their words. If we then bend those words into new pronunciations and spellings, that is the prerogative of the thief.

-1

u/MikeMac999 2d ago

Because a is not o?

3

u/tobiasvl 2d ago

The letter A represents many different sounds (or phonemes). Just think of "saw" and "father" vs "bans".

And "sans" is a loan word that was originally in another language where the phonemes are different again, although in this case the consonants are different as well.