I think I've figured it out

[Cooney]

Originally Posted by aFrenchie

It's only a diphthong. Try cueillir (or only "oeil") in this link: http://www.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php#top
(choose Juliette..French, it's the most accurate)

Hmm, thanks for the link. I could swear I keep hearing it as a triphthong. Oh well, good news for me that it's not! Much easier for me to pronounce that way.

No, there's no diphthong in Jacotey! I know English-speaking people will do that (like in Alizée). And "-tey" is far from sounding like "-tail" in détail. Try both in the link above too. "-tey" is like English "get" without the ending "t". "-ail" is like "I".

Thank goodness! Again, I was going by how I thought I'd heard it pronounced. Problem is, I've only heard it like twice, and never spoken by her herself (is there any clip where she says her last name?). The way you are saying to pronounce it is how I had originally, before I ran across things I thought sounded different. I'll be happy to switch back!

"Get" is a good word for reference there - it's actually the american word used for teaching that sound in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) for theatre - it's the third vowel sound from the front (order front to back is We Will Get Mad Fast Who Would Obey All Honest Fathers Stir Surprise Cup). I don't suppose you study IPA, do you?