How do you pronounce 'Lili'?

[Rocket]

I have a question for you all. How do you pronounce 'Lili'? Is it Lily? LeeLee? LieLie? LieLee? LeeLie?

[Amelie]

lol i just had this question in my head when i saw this topic LOL. i pronounce it...very short "i"'s not like "ee" like "i" from "it".

[RadioactiveMan]

We sent Solaris on a FunTV quest to determine this some time ago, but he hasn't reported back. o_O

[B_M_E]

.... LeeLee

[Killian]

I always pronounced it like the flower.....

[Addict]

in the funTV interview she says "leelee" at around 7:45

hope that helps :)

[B_M_E]

I am telling you, if you want to pronounce it in a French way, it's "leelee" ... and this is coming from a French man :p

[Killian]

HAving just listened to the FunTv interview, I did hear the French pormounciation. I guess I had always heard the English way before because that is what I expected to hear.

[Fish]

LeeLee. I used to pronounce it with short 'i's but then I remembered this is french:blink:

[Ricardo]

Leelee...and do you guys pronouce Ah-lee-ZAY? (it's in the homepage) I've never pronounced like that, it sound like English people trying to reproduce Latin accents :p

[SilentFox]

LeeLee is how is how it sounds from Lili

[Fusoya]

Hm, I havent thought much about this before....I guess I'll pronounce it leelee like most of us here

[RMJ]

It's pronounced like Lili.

[espire]

It's pronounced like Lili.

RMJ is right. It's pronounced however you pronounce Lili.

Just as Alizée is pronounce however you pronounce Alizée.

[Solaris]

We sent Solaris on a FunTV quest to determine this some time ago, but he hasn't reported back. o_O

Hey now you try watching that interview and not getting lost in Lili's cute smile and voice. But yes it does sound like leelee.

[rcs]

I may have been wrong, but I say it like the flower.

[fsquared]

RMJ is right. It's pronounced however you pronounce Lili.

Just as Alizée is pronounce however you pronounce Alizée.

That's a somewhat circular statement, isn't it? Presumably we are trying to ascertain a "correct" pronunciation, e.g., how she would say her own name and nickname. Thus it makes sense to attempt to convey that pronunciation in terms most familiar to speakers of English.

[Duncan]

at first i pronounced it like the flower, but then i heard it in a video and now if think of it like lee-lee

[Zack -Alizee Lover-]

lili..........

[Cooney]

Leelee is how it's pronounced. She's the one that told us that's her nick, and that's how she pronounced it when she did.

[nurvonic]

in case you didnt get it yet, its Leelee.

i pronounced it like the flower also, until i found out i was ill informed.

[fsquared]

Reminds me of the "is it 'Lee-nux' or 'Lie-nux'" debates; eventually Linus Torvalds posted audio of himself pronouncing it on his website.

[Rev]

RMJ is right. It's pronounced however you pronounce Lili.

Just as Alizée is pronounce however you pronounce Alizée.
Ouch. :eek:

[RMJ]

Lili pronounced it Lili.


Reminds me of the "is it 'Lee-nux' or 'Lie-nux'" debates; eventually Linus Torvalds posted audio of himself pronouncing it on his website.
It's pronounced Linux. Derived from Linus, which is pronounced Linus.

[Hylas1896]

I'd guess "Lee-Lee" for "Lili" and "LIN-ux" for "Linus."

But then again, I say 'mountain' as 'Moun-tuhn' (with a soft 'tuhn') not 'Mount-ayhn' (with a more noticable 't'). Even pronunciation differences in the US are fascinating: take a look at American English Regional Differences. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English_regional_differences)

Hylas

[nurvonic]

Lili pronounced it Lili.


so what you're saying is, Lili is pronounced Lili...

[espire]

It's pronounced Linux. Derived from Linus, which is pronounced Linus.

The Linux analogy doesn't help, because it's too good an analogy; Linus used to pronounce it "Lee-noose" but now that he's lived in America for so long, he pronounces it "Lye-nis." The famous sound clip he put out was from the time that he was still living in Finland.

FF, exactly ;)

[marik]

i pronounce it "Lee-Li" :)

[RadioactiveMan]

It's pronounced like Lili.

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/8430/nowaion5.png

[Capn]

I pronounce it lily if I am correct didn't she say it once like that in an interview

[brad]

i say it like Lily, cause i like it better that way :p

[Runner Simon]

Lilie, or whell writen by the swedish language, or voculabry. Or whatever :D

[RMJ]

I pronounce it lily if I am correct didn't she say it once like that in an interview

Why would she say so when it's Lili ? And French pronounces Lili as Lili. Lili comes from the second syllable of Alizée which is pronounced like the two syllables of Lili.

[Joey_adore_Jung]

i always liked when you said it like the flower, thought it added something more to the nick other than it being hers.

[kdn]

Lili in French or in my language are both pronounced "Lili", it's because our writing alphabet was adopted from French in the early 20th century. But I guess in English it's something like "Leelee".

[The Cap]

Why would she say so when it's Lili ? And French pronounces Lili as Lili. Lili comes from the second syllable of Alizée which is pronounced like the two syllables of Lili.

So, phonetically, it's LeeLee.

[Rocket]

Wowzers! Four pages without drifting from the subject. Color me impressed! :D

[marik]

Lilee i think ! that it is! yeah Li-Lee!

[atra201]

i've always pronounced it like leelee or lily but i guess i've been proven wrong

[marik]

i've always pronounced it like leelee or lily but i guess i've been proven wrong

well it depend on a person that he/she pronunce it so no worries ;)

[Runner Simon]

Wowzers! Four pages without drifting from the subject. Color me impressed! :D
What color you whant? (Couldn't help it)

[RMJ]

So, phonetically, it's LeeLee.

Phonetically it's [li.li] aka Lili.

[kdn]

Wowzers! Four pages without drifting from the subject. Color me impressed! :D
Well, maybe this thread has something different. And what ever it is, it keeps the guys focus.

[Killian]

Phonetically it's [li.li] aka Lili.

RMJ, ?lili? would be the French phonetic form, if you want to write it phonetically for an English speaker , it's leelee.

[nurvonic]

yeah, just think of Bruce Lee Lee.

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cKAeyUS91I8&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cKAeyUS91I8&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

[Steven0022]

Lili = LEE LEE!!!! WEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! YOUPI!!!!!!!!!!!

[Solaris]

I thought the thread said how do you PROMOTE Lili....

[RMJ]

RMJ, ?lili? would be the French phonetic form, if you want to write it phonetically for an English speaker , it's leelee.

Yeah, and who like to write for English when it's French name and pronounced French way...

So it's Lili.

[zpa]

It'd be cool to know the IPA alphabets. It could be easier to describe all the sounds and stuff. Or not. Dunno really, but it's still Lili :p

[Chommpers]

Yeah, and who like to write for English when it's French name and pronounced French way...

So it's Lili.

We know the French spell it Lili and thats how they sound it out. This has nothing to do with the spelling. We are not suggesting we spell it LeeLee either. They are spelling it so us Americans can sound it out and get the same sound as the french language. That is it.

[RMJ]

I wasn't talking about spelling but pronouncing. Learn the difference.

And why can't americans make it sound like Lili ? It's not that hard to learn one simple international pronouncing rule...

[Toc De Mac]

Yeah, and who like to write for English when it's French name and pronounced French way...

So it's Lili.

Why is it so hard to realize that many people here do not speak French and thus do not know how the French pronounce the letter "i"?

Yikes, let's not get ourselves worked up over such trifles... :rolleyes:

[Solaris]

I wasn't talking about spelling but pronouncing. Learn the difference.

And why can't americans make it sound like Lili ? It's not that hard to learn one simple international pronouncing rule...

Thats exactly what chommpers said RMJ... We are just seeing how the French say the "i" in Lili. So as to say it as they say it.

[Chommpers]

I wasn't talking about spelling but pronouncing. Learn the difference.

And why can't americans make it sound like Lili ? It's not that hard to learn one simple international pronouncing rule...

I was talking about pronouncing. I made the reference to spelling because obviusly we can't learn how to say it if you just say it's pronounced Lili. We pronounce "i" different than the French, that is why Americans can't make it sound the same. America does not force us to learn French and when we are trying to learn that one simple pronouncing rule you attack us. So just how are you helping by basically calling us stupid when we are trying to learn it. The way people posted it is the easiest way we can learn that pronouncing rule. I just dont understand you're argument.

-Edit- I guess I basically just restated what Toc De Mac and Solaris said, thank you guys.

[Matrix]

rocket, it's pronounced weedish , that is exactly how Alizee pronounces it, she sounded like that in the video

[Rocket]

rocket, it's pronounced weedish , that is exactly how Alizee pronounces it, she sounded like that in the video

What is pronounced weedish? :confused:

[RMJ]

Why is it so hard to realize that many people here do not speak French and thus do not know how the French pronounce the letter "i"?

So ?

I don't speak French either. And still it's pronounced Lili.

[nurvonic]

lol you still dont get it? oooook :blink:

[RMJ]

You so sure ?

But then again, not many are match to me...

[Zack -Alizee Lover-]

So ?

I don't speak French either. And still it's pronounced Lili.

Neither do i..... but i can say Lili!!!!!

[Solaris]

Isn't it Lolly? thats what i heard in the Chat Room! So it must be true! We love you Lolly!

[fsquared]

So ?

I don't speak French either. And still it's pronounced Lili.

After your first post I thought maybe you were being sarcastic and difficult. After your second post with the phonetic description, I thought that maybe possibly you being sincere in saying it's like a Finnish speaker would pronounce "Lili", but possibly neglecting the fact that "i" in the first position in American English is often a so-called short "i" which is rather different from the French "i", and furthermore that Finnish uses "ee" as a lengthened Finnish "e", rather than as an English long "e" sound which sounds a lot like the French (and presumably Finnish "i"), and also that the Finnish "y" is something else entirely from what the "y" in "Lily" would sound like in English.

Your last post, however, is leaning back in the direction that you're just being difficult.

[RMJ]

After your first post I thought maybe you were being sarcastic and difficult. After your second post with the phonetic description, I thought that maybe possibly you being sincere, but possibly neglecting the fact that "i" in this position in American English is often a so-called short "i" which is rather different from the French "i", and furthermore that Finnish uses "ee" as a lengthened Finnish "e", rather than as an English long "e" sound which sounds a lot like the French (and presumably Finnish "i"), and also that the Finnish "y" is something else entirely from what the "y" in "Lily" would sound like in English.

Your last post, however, is leaning back in the direction that you're just being difficult.

And we have a winner !

In deed... "a lot like"... so why not do it proper and pronounce it Lili like French does it ?

[Solaris]

And we have a winner !

In deed... "a lot like"... so why not do it proper and pronounce it Lili like French does it ?

I prefer Lolly. so i will stick with that.

[Fish]

And we have a winner !

In deed... "a lot like"... so why not do it proper and pronounce it Lili like French does it ?

This is a predominantly American forum. The purpose of this thread is to figure out how to pronounce it, and posts are mostly by native English speakers, a language in which Lili is phonetically different than it is in French. Many native English speakers don't know how to pronounce French.

Saying "Lili" is in no way helpful.

[RMJ]

I prefer Lolly. so i will stick with that.

I prefer The-girl-who-sings-ACC-and-can't-get-out-of-my-head.


Just imagine in concert yelling her name !

The-girl-who-sings-ACC-and-can't-get-out-of-my-head !
The-girl-who-sings-ACC-and-can't-get-out-of-my-head !
The-girl-who-sings-ACC-and-can't-get-out-of-my-head !
je t'aime beaucoup, The-girl-who-sings-ACC-and-can't-get-out-of-my-head !!

[RMJ]

This is a predominantly American forum.
Actually, last time when it was counted, the majority wasn't from america.

Tho I don't see how that's relevant with this.


Many native English speakers don't know how to pronounce French.
They don't need to know anything about French. They don't need to even know it exists. Since there's universal international pronouncing rules. Lili is pronounced [li.li]


Saying "Lili" is in no way helpful.
Helps a lot me, that's why I keep repeating her name.

[rcs]

Booooy, we better get this name thing right. Alizee is gonna open up a can of Bruce Lee whoop ass if we don't. :blink:

[Solaris]

Actually, last time when it was counted, the majority wasn't from america.

Tho I don't see how that's relevant with this.


They don't need to know anything about French. They don't need to even know it exists. Since there's universal international pronouncing rules. Lili is pronounced [li.li]


Helps a lot me, that's why I keep repeating her name.

So what im getting at is her name is Lolly? I'm confused:confused:

[fsquared]

This is a predominantly American forum. The purpose of this thread is to figure out how to pronounce it, and posts are mostly by native English speakers, a language in which Lili is phonetically different than it is in French. Many native English speakers don't know how to pronounce French.

Saying "Lili" is in no way helpful.

RMJ is far too intelligent and detail-oriented to be arguing with anyone else out of ignorance on this point; his obstinacy is most likely deliberate. Obviously the "Lee-Lee" explanations are intended for those English speakers who are not familiar with the International Phonetic Alphabet (not everyone on this forum is multi-lingual or trained in IPA), and the "ee" is the most unambiguous orthographic representation of the vowel in question for English speakers with no IPA training. While I am ordinarily not a fan of such transcriptions in, say, phrasebooks, I know that there are circumstances under which they can be helpful.

[Cooney]

fsquared's point is perfectly valid. So long as we're speaking different languages, phonetically writing in those languages is useless.

In proper international phonetic terms, it is:

A voiced alveolar lateral continuant consonant, followed by the highest of the front vowel sounds in full long pronunciation, repeated together twice.

Written, it looks like this:
http://truedungeonfans.com/alizee/lilipronunciation2.jpg


By this token, Alizée is pronounced
http://truedungeonfans.com/alizee/alizeepronunciation.jpg

[Roman]

That's a somewhat circular statement, isn't it? Presumably we are trying to ascertain a "correct" pronunciation, e.g., how she would say her own name and nickname. Thus it makes sense to attempt to convey that pronunciation in terms most familiar to speakers of English. It's like GNU stands for GNU Not Unix.


yeah, just think of Bruce Lee Lee.<object height="355" width="425">
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cKAeyUS91I8&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></object> LOL!

It's the same reason that Leelee Sobieski spells her name that way. I think her nickname, like Alizée, was Lili, but since she's an American, she spells it so that we can understand. Her father is of French origin.

[RMJ]

fsquared is getting at somewhere... :blink:





By this token, Alizée is pronounced
http://truedungeonfans.com/alizee/alizeepronunciation.jpg

Eh... How about no ?

Alizée is pronounced [a.li.ze]...

NOT [æ.li:.zɛ]

æ is the most typical mistake people does... a is never pronounced æ in French ! Not even close...

A is always pronounced as a.


And it's not even i:... It's much smaller mistake, tho. However, it's way too long for French i. French i is standard length. It's not shortened or lengthened i.

(shortened i (I) is like "sit" in English, and lengthened i (i:) is like "sea" in english. French i is in between.)


And no... It's not ɛ... but e.

[Roman]

Well, RMJ seems to be in a mood, but I'll have to admit that while it may still be missing the point, http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/aliz%C3%A9 (a french to french dictionary) says this:

alizé /a.li.ze/ (http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/Annexe:Prononciation) masculin
(Marine) Certains vents (http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/vent) qui règnent entre les deux tropiques (http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/tropique) et qui soufflent de l’est à l’ouest. <dl><dd>Vents alizés.</dd></dl>(edit: ok, so this web site jacked up the code, but the pronunciation you can see.)

[Toc De Mac]

Eh... How about no ?

Alizée is pronounced [a.li.ze]...

NOT [æ.li:.zɛ]

æ is the most typical mistake people does... a is never pronounced æ in French ! Not even close...

A is always pronounced as a.


And it's not even i:... It's much smaller mistake, tho. However, it's way too long for French i. French i is standard length. It's not shortened or lengthened i.

(shortened i (I) is like "sit" in English, and lengthened i (i:) is like "sea" in english. French i is in between.)


And no... It's not ɛ... but e.

RMJ, I thought that you didn't speak French?

[Calisto]

This is the weirdest debate I've seen on these forums...I'm actually not even sure if it's for real..:blink:

It really isn't that hard to understand. For people that don't know a lick of French or anything about French pronunciation, the simplest way to spell it to get them to pronounce it as correctly as possible is LeeLee. Period.


In deed... "a lot like"... so why not do it proper and pronounce it Lili like French does it ?



Yes LiLi might be very close in French pronunciation, but for a lot of people here there is a few different ways you can pronounce Lili...but there is really only one way for english native speakers to say LeeLee, and that way happens to be the correct pronunciation. The goal of this thread was to ensure english native speakers are saying it correctly, not "doing it proper like the French does it"..

I know this point has already been by different people..it's just suprising we are still debating it. :p

[fsquared]

This is the weirdest debate I've seen on these forums...I'm actually not even sure if it's for real..:blink:



And this is from a forum that's seen some pretty weird debates (anyone remember the Fanta vs. OJ melee in August?


PS It was Fanta.
:)

[Killian]

PS It was Fanta.
:)

Off topic, but thank you... Finally :p

[nurvonic]

You so sure ?

But then again, not many are match to me...

in what sense?

perhaps you should look up "pronunciation" in the dictionary. hell, it even tells you how to pronounce it.

[RMJ]

Don' bother your head with it. It's too complicated for you.


RMJ, I thought that you didnt's speak French?
I don't.


but there is really only one way for english native speakers to say LeeLee, and that way happens to be the correct pronunciation.
Well, it isn't.

English does not have French i sound. You cannot pronounce it correctly with English examples.

[The Cap]

English does not have French i sound. You cannot pronounce it correctly with English examples.

Well, then, I guess that's that. The "great language god" RMJ (against whom we are all compared to small, worthless insects or maybe some kind of bacteria) has decreed that we lowly native English speakers cannot correctly pronounce this "Lili" name because there is no corresponding sound in the English language that can be used to vocalize "the French i sound".

There. Let us never speak "Lili" ever again. :(

[RMJ]

Well, then, I guess that's that. The "great language god" RMJ (against whom we are all compared to small, worthless insects or maybe some kind of bacteria) has decreed that we lowly native English speakers cannot correctly pronounce this "Lili" name because there is no corresponding sound in the English language that can be used to vocalize "the French i sound".

There. Let us never speak "Lili" ever again. :(

What exactly stops you learning the right sound ? It has not stopped most of the world... are English people some how special cases ?

But it's good that you are finally starting to understand your place in the grand scheme of things.

[Killian]

What exactly stops you learning the right sound ? It has not stopped most of the world... are English people some how special cases ?

But it's good that you are finally starting to understand your place in the grand scheme of things.

RMJ please try to be nice about these things. People are merely saying that it was unfair to say it is pronounced Lili without explaining what you meant, but then, you proceeded to tell us the way in which we tried to explain to eachother, in a helpful and good hearted manner, was wrong and obsolete. If there was a sound, which there are, that existed in English but not Finnish, and you didn't speak Finnish, we would do our best to explain it to you through ways you would find easiest.We wouldn't try to shoot down your attempts beacause they weren't perfect, and exact, according to the grand scheme of things. That's being elitist and is not nice, regardless of what is being talked about.

I'm not trying to start another argument, I'm just saying that I feel you are being unfair and unhelpful here. It would have been easier to make a constructive statement at the beginning, rather than allow it to erupt into this...

[Candide]

In French, we pronounce LEELEE ^^

[ZachLovesAlizée]

i usualy pronounce it lily, but thats cause i never new the french pronouciation, i still like lily better than leelee

[The Cap]

But it's good that you are finally starting to understand your place in the grand scheme of things.

Yes ... several large steps above you, evidently, on the civility scale. Go be rude and obnoxious to somebody who gives a da*n.

At least I know how to correctly pronounce Lili. How you choose pronounce it is your own business.

[RMJ]

Apparently you do not know.

[fsquared]

English does not have French i sound. You cannot pronounce it correctly with English examples.

RMJ is indeed correct about this. "Lee-Lee" is a approximation, which is close mainly in the respect that it forces a long "e" sound unambiguously, but the long "e" sound of English is not quite the French "i", being both longer in time duration, and also diphthongized at the end (i.e., not "pure"). It's funny, we even learned about that in elementary school, the "a that turns into an e", where the teacher would pronounce the letter "a" (long "a" sound) like "aaaaaaaaaaaa.e.e.e.eeee". That's what has always bothered me about those phrasebook transcriptions like "pahr-lay voo frahn-say?", because it can lead English speakers to end up using their own vowels rather than try to imitate the vowels that are being used in the target language. English vowels are rather odd ducks relative to lots of other languages; almost all diphthongized, not written consistently, etc. There was a joke that the biggest, busiest, most international of all airports, "Heathrow", has a name which has so many sounds peculiar to English that almost any non-native speaker is missing at least one of them in his/her native language.


RMJ's attitude about the whole thing is another story entirely. If he wants to emphasize to everyone his opinions about how America, Americans, and English are not the center of the world, then that's his right, but I think doing it in this manner is not particularly productive.


I'm not trying to start another argument, I'm just saying that I feel you are being unfair and unhelpful here. It would have been easier to make a constructive statement at the beginning, rather than allow it to erupt into this...

He's clearly not trying to be easy.

[zpa]

I gotta admit that "leelee" is prolly the closest for a native English speaker. It's just that it's easy to forget the differences and the fact that there aren't all the "weird" phonetics. Let's cut the irrelevant bs..it's not helping anyone.

[Ben]

I'd just like to thank fsquared for his informative posts in this thread.

[Rocket]

I'll just ask her when I go to Paris

[JCC]

I'll just ask her when I go to Paris

Can i go with you? :o I'll bring drinks....

[The Cap]

I'll just ask her when I go to Paris

Now look what you've gone and done, Rocket ... you've made RMJ apologize for being himself !

Keep up the good work. :D

[CK]

rofl this is an american site, so the closest way for english speakers to pronounce lili like Alizée does is to write leelee, if you say its pronounced lili, people would say it totaly rong compared to the way Alizée says it

rmj needs some chill pills

[painbringer]

LEROY LEROY LEROY

its cool RMJ you can attack me im cool with it LEROY LEROY LEROY

[fsquared]

Time for a thread lock, I suspect.

[Rev]

Or perhaps just a request to stay on topic.

[Calisto]

Or perhaps just a request to stay on topic.

There really isn't much more that can be said on the topic...

[CFHollister]

There really isn't much more that can be said on the topic...

Ya' know, I think you might be right...