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pronunciation Comtesse de Bouchard

Saypoint zone 6 CT

18 years ago

I believe Comtesse is pronounce ko TESS in French, but I'm wondering how folks who know are pronouncing the cultivar name of this Clematis.

TIA

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Comments (7)

gardenbug
18 years ago
According to the Hull university database:
'Comtesse de Bouchaud' +
Other names: 'Comtesse de Bouchard'; 'Comtesse du Bouchaud'; 'Comtesse de Bauchaud' (all almost certainly mis-spellings).

Sooo, being part French, I'd say cone-tess, with your tongue never actually hitting the roof of your mouth to pronounce the letter 'n'. 'de' is easy enough. Bouchaud is 'boo show' (sort of).
nckvilledudes
18 years ago
Thanks for the pronunciation guide Marie. I took 3 years of it in high school many many moons ago. I didn't think I had ever heard of a silent m and thought the first part was pronounced as you indicated (I think of contessa when to help trigger the pronunciation of the first part). Doesn't chaud mean hot in French? Like I said earlier, my French is very rusty!
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I want to thank both of you for your help. I don't know why I had "Comtesse" or "Countess" stuck in my mind (perhaps one too many old romance novels?). I have looked at countless Google images and I agree with you, Annette. It does look exactly like Marie Boisselot, right down to the stringy yellow center. I have photos of this vine saved in my computer from 2006 and 2007. All are labeled "big white clematis." I know better than that! I am going to call it Marie Boisselot until I dig out my oldest stored hard drive and go through that. I know I wrote it down somewhere! I grew the plant shown above while I lived on the military base here. When we moved off base I transplanted a lot of the flowers I had growing around the house. I had just moved two hostas from the base to our new/old house in this town 20 miles away. I drove back to get the two clematis, and some confused soul had gone into my yard, dug out the vines, and took them, leaving a deep gaping hole where they had been. They knew we had not yet cleared housing. We were still living there, packing, and getting ready for the movers. Once people have cleared their base housing and the neighbors know they've left, anything in the garden is then fair game - but not when they you you're still there. The curtains were still fluttering in the windows, and the second car was in the drive. Some folks' nerve! LOL
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gardenbug
18 years ago
Chaud does mean hot...but it is a coincidence here.

When a Comtesse or Count or other royal type's name is followed by "de" it usually means where they are from. (as in Duchess of Edinburg, Claude de Lorraine)

In Dutch and German, the van (Van Gogh) means 'from' as well. Perhaps the Scottish Mc/Mac serves the same purpose, designating a geographic location?
Saypoint zone 6 CT
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks, gardenbug. I have to get up and say this in front of a roomful of people tonight.
gardenbug
18 years ago
They don't know it either, so don't be nervous! I know the tags are often printed incorrectly, but I am glad to spread the word on Bouchaud (rather than Bouchard). :-)
keith_treadaway
18 years ago
Hi,
Do note that she is actually Comtesse de Bouchaud when working out the pronunciation. Sorry to be so pedantic, it comes from 35 years at 'the chalkface'!
Keith
Jay_20013
18 years ago
Here's a Link that will help you with pronunciations. I am quite fond of Audrey saying, "Shovel prune that blackspot magnet, it sucks" It's a keeper, the link that is :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Our TTS Demo Speaks Your Text

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