[canonne]

Bonjour,
I teach Histoire, Geography and EMC. I am fortunate to work in the same “collège” with Gilles Duhil who teaches French. He also teaches Latin in the University of Tours.
Here is his response :
« Par le fait que l'accent tonique est fixe car placé sur la dernière syllabe du mot, ce qui peut donner l'impression que notre langue est monotone, pour ne pas dire terne comme on peut le lire sur la discussion de ton forum.
Mais, après, leur discussion sur la césure du mot Villacoublay est un peu inutile ... L'essentiel est dit dans la contribution de Laurent Rizzoti. En français, les mots se coupent en fonction de leur syllabe : Vil-lacoublay ; Villa-coublay ; Villacou-blay. Selon toute vraisemblance, le nom remonte au latin villa auquel a été associé le patronyme gallo-romain Escoblenus (ce qui empêche le découpage Villacoub-lay au passage) ».

A translation (good one ?) gives this text :
“By the fact that the tonic accent is fixed because it is placed on the last syllable of the word, which can give the impression that our language is monotonous, not to say dull as we can read on the discussion of your forum.
But, afterwards, their discussion on the hyphenation of the word Villacoublay is a little useless, ... The essential is said in the contribution of Laurent Rizzoti. In French, the words are broken according to their syllable: Vil-lacoublay; Villa-coublay; Villacou-blay. In all likelihood, the name dates back to the Latin villa with which the Gallo-Roman patronymic Escoblenus was associated (which prevents Villacoub-lay being cut in the process)”.

Philippe