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Help[Opinions] Re: Hortensia
in reply to a message by queenv
Hortensia - hor-TEN-sha to me, and it's the botanical name of the hydrangea.
South Africans are, generally speaking, not good at French, though we did have French Huguenot immigrants in the 17th century, who gave us some fns and lns. I was at school with an Elizabeth who had a little sister Hortense, which they pronounced Hor-tenss and nicknamed Tahnsie. That's as close as I can get, but it was the nasalised French version of -ten-, and then -sie on the end like Topsy or Nancy. I found this unfortunate.
South Africans are, generally speaking, not good at French, though we did have French Huguenot immigrants in the 17th century, who gave us some fns and lns. I was at school with an Elizabeth who had a little sister Hortense, which they pronounced Hor-tenss and nicknamed Tahnsie. That's as close as I can get, but it was the nasalised French version of -ten-, and then -sie on the end like Topsy or Nancy. I found this unfortunate.
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