Linguist Defends American Pronunciation Of 'Croissant'

Much to their dislike, U.S. citizens have on a number of occasions been stereotyped as "less intelligent" and "less cultured" than Western Europeans. The latter's jibes often take the same shape and paint an intendedly benign picture of Americans as being devoid of accurate geographical and cultural knowledge.

But one linguist has jumped to the defense of how Americans view and pronounce words from foreign lands, particularly well-known French words, names and phrases. Woody, an American linguist who'd prefer to keep his full identity private, has aired his two cents on the hot topic that thanks to a social media video now centers around the correct pronunciation of the pastry, 'croissant'.

"Brownie is an American dessert, but can you see how [the French] pronounce it?" the linguist said in a viral social media video.

The three-minute-long clip which had been shared online on March 2 featured an interview snippet of a young French woman pronouncing the much-loved chocolate dessert, brownie, with a distinctively French twang. He proceeded to call out what he deems as being the unfair standard that Americans are held to when using loan words or referring to words in different languages.

Woody, who goes by @woodyling on TikTok, argues that if the French and the Brits can get a free pass at pronouncing American terms and brand names seemingly "incorrectly", then Americans should be given a license to do the same. The linguist spoke about his lifelong advocation of linguistic diversity to Newsweek.

"Linguistics, like all science, is descriptive," Woody said.

"Linguistics and languages are defined by the way people speak and use languages, the way we speak casually creates the language, rather than the prescriptive idea that the language has some changing standard that we all need to adhere to.

"Unfortunately, most of us are taught prescriptive rules about languages, including our native language. The rules are usually based on whatever the upper or ruling class speaks, for example, people using double negatives in English. Upper-class white dialects typically wouldn't say things like 'I don't know nothing', therefore we teach people that is incorrect English, but double negatives have always been a part of many, if not most, English dialects, going back a century or three," he added.

The linguist initially took issue and wanted to make his voice heard when he saw a British content creator implying—in a humorous tone that is in line with his other videos—that Americans should be pronouncing 'croissant' in a certain way, and by that, he meant to soften its 'R' so that it takes on the vocal form of a 'W'.

"There are multiple problems with this claim," Woody said.

"In French, they do pronounce an 'R' sound there, it's just different from an English 'R'."

The creator, who had shared his own video to TikTok under @joelmwood, had also posited that Americans don't need to pronounce French words with a strong accent and that they can get by simply by "changing" the sounds they make.

Woody responded to this claim: "The word accent just means the way we as individuals pronounce things, speaking without an accent is impossible because an accent is just describing our authentic speech sounds."

"It seems that the content creator believes the way he pronounces 'croissant' is the objective standard, because he thinks he's pronouncing it in the same way French speakers do when in reality it's just a British approximation that no French speaker would confuse for a French pronunciation," he added.

The linguist argues that people tend to believe this way to pronounce 'croissant' is king because they see their standard as being the only standard in the world.

"French culture has a high prestige attached to it. In a way, all French culture is seen as the upper class, and therefore French standards are seen as prescriptive standards," Woody elaborated.

"Yet, the same people who enforce pronunciations of French words like 'croissant' virtually never enforce the Nahuatl or Mexican pronunciations of Nahuatl words like quesadilla, or Yoruba pronunciations of Nigerian foods like Efo Riro, because they don't place the same kind of value of Mexican or Nigerian culture."

He went on to note that croissants aren't even originally from France and that they're a French version of the Austrian Kipferl.

"Nobody should be criticized for not pronouncing a foreign word the way the native speakers of that foreign language do," he explained.

"There's a good reason why foreign accents exist, because it is arguably impossible to ever produce sounds the way a native speaker does in a foreign language, and even hear the sound distinctions that don't exist in your native accent, an ability you begin to lose as young as six months old."

According to Woody, the masses who believe there exists only one correct way to pronounce typically French words are imposing a French standard on American English speakers while they do not themselves meet that imposed standard because they can't actually hear or pronounce the intricacies of those words.

"The way people speak is and defines the language and this is constantly evolving. French only exists because people speaking Latin made 'mistakes' and those mistakes became the rules," the linguist said.

"Stifling linguistic evolution and diversity is almost always based in classism, racism, and xenophobia. It's okay to not understand these things about linguistics but outside of a language education context, forcing others to speak the way you speak should never be accepted," he added.

Woody is a linguist and language teacher who has lived and studied in a number of countries. His experiences have shaped his views on linguistic prescriptivism—the idea that there is a "correct" way to speak.

Woody's defense of varied pronunciations came in response to a video posted by the British content creator Joel Wood, which centered around how Americans 'should' be pronouncing 'croissant'.

Newsweek reached out to @joelmwood via email for more information.

This debate isn't limited to just linguists and academics, and their occasional paths cross with content creators. Online social media platforms like Reddit and Quora have seen lively discussions about the pronunciation of 'croissant'.

Some Americans lean toward a hard 'R' sound, while others adopt a softer version, indicative of the word's French origins. The discussions reveal a broader reluctance to conform to external linguistic standards.

The linguistic tug-of-war over 'croissant' mirrors larger discussions about cultural identity and influence. English, after all, is a language profoundly shaped by its borrowings from and exchanges with other languages.

"Everything we say today is a result of past mistakes," Woody continued.

"But my hope with speaking about this online is that people really learn the linguistics I explain in my video, and understand that I'm not just criticizing British people. I'm explaining why the argument makes no sense linguistically, and offering to make the same argument against any Americans who criticize the way Europeans speak."

Much to his delight, the response to Woody's divisive perspective has been largely positive, resonating with many who feel that linguistic diversity should be celebrated rather than corrected.

"I'm very pleased and thankful for it! It's been generally positive, since the internet seems to have more anti-American rhetoric and positive things to say about America and Americans," the linguist reflected.

As the debate continues, it's clear that language is more than just a means of communication—it's a reflection of history, culture, and social dynamics.

Woody's final thoughts encapsulate this view: "Every accent, dialect, and language are beautiful, valid, and correct. I want people to understand that language and accents are beautiful, and just because it's not the way you or I would speak or pronounce things, doesn't make it wrong."

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