A short solo episode/transcript from the Influency Podcast’s “How to Pronounce Friday” segment (host Hadar Shemesh) explaining the pronunciation, phonetics, etymology, and usage of the word “bourgeois.” The host gives a step-by-step pronunciation guide (phonemes and mouth/tongue positions), a Dictionary.com definition, notes the word’s French origin, and invites listener engagement via Instagram.
Welcome to the Influency Podcast. I'm Hadar, and this is how to Pronounce Friday, where we take a confusing word or word pair. We learn how to pronounce it and how to use it with confidence. Let's get started.
Have you noticed that I put on my gold earrings to get into character? I feel very bourgeois today. The word bourgeois does make me speak with a vocal fry. Bourgeois. Anyway, today we are going to talk about the word bourgeois. We're going to learn how to pronounce it and when to use it and what it actually means. According to Dictionary.com number one, a member of the middle class, and number two, a person whose political, economic and social opinions are believed to be determined and mainly by concern for property values and conventional respectability. Now, the word bourgeois is derived from French. This is why we have this weird spelling pattern with a lot of letters that we don't pronounce. But what's new? That's English. To pronounce the word bourgeois, we start with a B sound. So make sure to close your lips. You don't want it to sound like a V sound or anything like that. And then it's the or as in poor. So it's not an sound, it's not bourgeois. It's not an sound, it's not bourgeois. It's right there in the middle. Because why be specific if you can be vague? Bore, bore. Make sure that the tongue doesn't go up too quickly. And then it sounds something like it's not a huge mistake and everyone will still understand you. So if this is the only way you can make it, by all means do it. But if you want to be more accurate, try to pronounce this or as in poor. You hear transition here, and the tongue is not going up until the end of the vowel. Pour. Bore, bore. Then, although it looks like you're about to say goys or something like that, the S is not pronounced and the G represents a J sound, as in vision, bour. And then w sound. Wa. That's the second syllable, joie. The last vowel is the ah, as in father. You see, it's the same sound. Joie, Ah. Ah, father. So you drop your jaw quite a lot, relax your lips, pull the tongue back. Bour. Joie. So there is this motion here. Bourgeois, Bourgeois. Now, since I'm feeling a little bourgeois today, I wanted to start a conversation by asking you what the word bourgeois means to you. What comes up when you think of this word? I'm really curious and I'm sure it's going to spark an interesting conversation because there's so many people from all around the world here. So let me know what you think.
Okay, that was your how to Pronounce Friday episode. I hope you enjoyed it. And if you like the podcast, then consider subscribing to the podcast. And if you feel really crazy, you can even rate and review the podcast. And you can find me at Hadar Accentsway on Instagram, where you can DM me and ask for all the crazy, fancy, confusing words that you'd like to know how to pronounce. Have a beautiful day and I'll see you next time.
