I've heard it pronounced day-gah. If that's the case why isn't it spelt Dégas (with the accent).
On the family tomb the name is spelt 'de Gas', in which case it should be pronounced der-gah.
Can anyone help me out here?
2007-03-11 11:21:51 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Visual Arts ➔ Painting
It is NOT pronounced day-gah! It's French and there is no accent mark above the 'e'. The 'e' is pronounced as any other French schwa, [ə], sound.
In IPA phonetic notation: ɛdɡɑʀ dəɡɑ/
It's hard to describe how to pronounce the first syllable of his last name, but it is somewhere between 'duh' and 'doo'. The lips must be forward and rounded for the French schwa.
You can listen to the pronunciation of 'Degas' at Merriam-Webster's site: http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?bixdeg01.wav=Degas
You can also hear how the [ə] (schwa) sound is pronounced here: http://www.languageguide.org/francais/grammar/pronunciation/ (Scroll to the bottom of the page.)
Or here: http://french.about.com/library/media/wavs/e.wav
Last syllable is 'gah'. However, because vowel sounds are much shorter in French than in English, the 'a' sounds somewhat like short 'ar' sound to many English speakers.
Refreshingly, it seems that everyone knows the final 's' is not pronounced.
BTW, his first name is Edgar, not Edward.
Finally, for all the people who think it's pronounced day-gah, you need to listen to the following french pronunciations:
je: http://french.about.com/library/media/wavs/je.wav
Denis: http://french.about.com/library/media/wavs/Denis.wav
se demander: http://french.about.com/library/media/wavs/sedemander.wav
tennis: http://french.about.com/library/media/wavs/tennis.wav
petit: http://french.about.com/library/media/wavs/petit.wav
2007-03-11 11:43:05 · answer #1 · answered by greymatter 6 · 5⤊ 1⤋
Edward Degas
2016-09-28 13:48:03 · answer #2 · answered by ortis 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Believe this or not but as I write this my daughter is sitting with me doing her A level Art homework and has just done two pages on Degas as she is looking into movement and studing ballet with her art. Her teacher said it is Day Gar prounounced.
I also saw a programme on the great man and it is daygar!
2007-03-11 11:35:46 · answer #3 · answered by momof3 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I think you have got it the nearest. Yes he did change his name to Degas dropping the aristocratic de Gas . But it should sound the same although he changed the spelling the pronounciation is not changed . So it is dga but the g is emphasized so dGa and the a is short . So it is d as in dog ,g as in got and a as in ah ha. . If you are american i may have got ah ha wrong, in english ah ha is soft like a sigh .And in this case short
2007-03-11 18:32:44 · answer #4 · answered by shetland 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Day-gah..but his Christian names were:Hilaire Germain Edgar. Born 1834, died 1917..I think you've got the wrong bloke. You did mean the French Impressionist painter and sculptor didn't you?..Degas.
2007-03-11 11:28:16 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
It's pronounced day-gar.
2007-03-11 11:30:27 · answer #6 · answered by munki 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Your first answer is right, with the accent on the second syllable. The s is silent because it's French.
2007-03-11 11:57:37 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'd pronounce it, day - gar
2007-03-12 02:35:35 · answer #8 · answered by Mona Lisa 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Would never be pronounced "der gar". "Der" would be German. He was French, therefore, silent "s" when pronouncing the name like most French words: Day gaa.
2007-03-11 11:34:03 · answer #9 · answered by reallocojava 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
For the best answers, search on this site https://shorturl.im/avljD
im from australia Lay-sh-n-ole
2016-04-11 04:19:21 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋