The church in the village of Meusnes, six miles east of Saint-Aignan, is one of the prettiest in the area, I think. The Michelin guidebook says it is d'un style roman très pur. The Cadogan Loire guidebook says that the Meusnes church is an example of "very early" Romanesque.I didn't take any of these photos. They were all taken by CHM, who give me copies of them after he took them on July 2, 2004, when we stopped in Meusnes. I haven't asked for permission to post them, but I'm hoping CHM won't mind.
The two S's in the word Meusnes are silent by the way. The name is pronounced as if it was spelled Meûne.
Of course, I don’t mind, it’s an honor to figure in your blog.
ReplyDeleteThis modest little church is un vrai bijou. The romanesque style, whether early or late, is my favorite. One of the best monumental exemples is St-Sernin in Toulouse, the largest remaining romanesque church in Europe. From the smallest to the largest there are so many in between!
Meusne is also pronounced as jeûne (fasting). Ken might explain the difference the chapeau on the u makes with jeune (young). I could not believe my eyes when I saw jeûne translated as young on the line! I think the accent circonflexe replaces an s as in hospital becoming hôpital; but it remained in hospitalisé. It shows how important accents are in French!
DeleteInteresting, in the transept crossing, two semi columns as buttresses.
DeleteMeusnes rhymes with jeûne, meaning "fast" as in "to be fasting"), but not with jeune (meaning "young"). It's the difference between the vowel in peu (transcribed as pø in the phonetic alphabet) and peur (transcribed as poe:ʀ). The vowel ø is pronounced in the front of the mouth with the lips rounded and nearly closed. The vowel œ is pronounced in the back of the mouth with the lips open. How's that for a description? LOL!
DeleteThanks, Ken and chm.
DeleteBettyAnn
What a charming church.
ReplyDeleteBettyAnn
Sympa
ReplyDeleteEvelyn
Oh, no... I have no idea how to pronounce jeûne differently than jeune, and your phonetic description troubles me, too, because I don't know that I pronounce peu and peur differently... okay... I'm saying those last two out loud and paying attention to my tongue and mouth configuration... I guess my mouth does change with the two p words, but I can't see how to apply that to jeûne and jeune. I need to hear those two pronounced.
ReplyDeleteSwitch an e for an a and you have jaune (yellow)! LOL
DeleteJudy, my Dictioannaire de la prononciation (Larousse 1980) says that jeune is pronounced ʒœn, but jeûne is pronounced either ʒœn or ʒøn, depending on the dialect being spoken or the person speaking. You can't go wrong.
DeleteOkay, I tried listening on the acapela website... I guess I hear a slight difference, and I guess that I've been pronouncing jeune like jeûne all this time (I never even knew that jeûne existed until I read it on your blog a year ago or so!).
ReplyDeleteThere aren't very many minimal pairs (if you know that linguistics term) that depend on the difference in the two vowels (ø and œ). A minimal pair is two words, long and lent for example, in which the only distinction is the vowel. The pair proves that the distinction between nasal O nasal A is significant and meaningful in French. You can't freely substitute one for the other without risking misunderstandings. Another vowel distinction that Anglophones have trouble with is U and OU, as in coup/ and cul ( ! ) or dessous and dessus.
DeleteÉcrou and écru.
DeleteThe only other minimal pair I've found for the ø / œ vowel distinction is veule [vøl] vs. veulent. [vœl]. Veule is not a word you see or hear often. I looked it up...
DeleteOK it would be good to hear you two (Ken and chm) pronouncing some of these. "jeune vs jeûne" I don't see much different. Meusne is like moon? But I've always known how to pronounce "cul."
DeleteLOL D. one difficulty is that Blogger is not an audio server.
DeleteDuring my short tenure as a French teacher, I had my students repeat after me : J’ai perdu ma roue dans la rue (I lost my wheel in the street), for the right and difficult pronunciation of the U.
ReplyDeleteEnglish doesn't have either the vowel in rue or the vowel in roue. Not to mention the R. Were you just torturing your students or what? LOL
ReplyDelete