The Forgotten Soldier

[fsbofk]

How does one pronounce author Guy Sajer's names ? From my high school French, I have a hunch but I'm not sure if that's correct given his family backgound.

[Nick Beale]

Like you, I've always wondered about this.

His first name, I think, could only be pronounced the French way. At school when I was learning German, a teacher said the German equivalent of Guy was Veit. The second name looks French but there would be a logical pronunciation in German. I suppose it all comes down to which language the family spoke at home.

[fsbofk]

I've always pronounced it "Gee" (with a hard G, like "go") and "Sa-zhay" (like a French "er" verb), but I'll wait for one of our French-speaking friends to set me straight.

[CJE]

Sajer doesn't look French at all, a "j" between two vowels is rare.
But we don't all bear typical French names and I am one of the best examples!
If you want to pronounce it the French way, you must say: Gui (like in "gear") Sa-zhayr (pronounce the final "r").

[fsbofk]

Merci mon ami ! Your pronunciation of Sajer makes sense, with the "r" sounded - I should've remembered one of the rules I learned in my high school French lessons: "careful - c, r, f, and l are pronounced when they are the last letter of a word following a vowel," or something to that effect. And, I would not have guessed the pronunciation of Guy. Of course, being from Alsace with a French father and German mother, he may have pronounced it with a German influence as well, or perhaps a blend - maybe someone who visits this board from Alsace can shed some more light on the subject.

[CJE]

In German or Alsacian, should be said Zayeur.

The "r" is not pronounced when it's a verb: parler is parlé and not parlair.

[fsbofk]

That sounds more Germanic, which is befitting his service in the Wehrmacht, although it would not necessarily have to be - "Marseille" is one example. And, yes, you are right about about "parler" (and the other "er" verbs, as they were called in our French language education - I think there must be more to that oversimplified rule, perhaps it applies to nouns). I've also heard contradictory information whether Sajer is living or not - anyone know? Thanks again !

[CJE]

He might have been French as well, since Alsace (and Lorraine) was integrated into the Reich in 1940 and Alsacians considered as German citizens.
Many were forced to serve in the Wehrmacht (and Luftwaffe too). They called themselves the "malgré nous" (despite of us).

[jeanba]

Originally Posted by fsbofk

That sounds more Germanic, which is befitting his service in the Wehrmacht, although it would not necessarily have to be - "Marseille" is one example. And, yes, you are right about about "parler" (and the other "er" verbs, as they were called in our French language education - I think there must be more to that oversimplified rule, perhaps it applies to nouns). I've also heard contradictory information whether Sajer is living or not - anyone know? Thanks again !

From what I know, he is still alive : he has become a famous comics writer (at least in France) under the name of "Dimitri".
He mainly made humoristic comics (the adventure of Eugene Krampon, also known as "Le Goulag").but he also talked about wwII in the East ("Kursk Tourmente d'Acier", which can be translated by "Kursk, steel turmoil").

It should be noticed that his father is from the center of France, that only his mother is alsacian (Sajer, I think is the name of his mother, the name of his father is Mounimoux accorind to wikipedia).
This is quite important because most of the other "malgré nous" do not consider him as such.

[CJE]

His publisher (Laffont) wrote that his mother was German (Saxen) and that he volunteered at 17.

http://www.je-dis-non.com/article.php3?id_article=5