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Is it pronounced "vouché"?

It looks like the word comes from English. Is it pronounced like an English word in France?

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If the question is As a french word, how does it pronounce ?, I'd first ask Is it a french word ? (If I had to read it as a french string, I'd read it like doucher, so yes, "vouché".) – Nikana Reklawyks Oct 10 '12 at 9:32
Do you have any evidence that it's actually more than anecdotally used in France ? I doubt it… in which case, it's not really a question about the French language. – F'x♦ Oct 10 '12 at 14:24
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I have have no evidence but two French clients used that word in software specs (exclusively written in French). I also found a few definitions in French: wikipedia and a random tourism website. If the word is indeed not really used in France, then the answer is it should be pronounced as in English, like @lewebdalex suggests. – Michaël Witrant Oct 10 '12 at 15:29
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@MichaëlWitrant the WP page is pretty thin, and uses it between quote signs: “voucher”. The random tourism website features a lot of other English words which aren't used in French. – F'x♦ Oct 10 '12 at 15:36
It's an English word borrowed from Anglo-French, which is itself derived from Old French voucher (to claim, to summon). It is now finding its way back into French. – deutschZuid Oct 12 '12 at 0:41

3 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

Being a native french speaker, I can say it's pronounced as in English. That's an english word used in french language, that's all.

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Like Alexis Pigeon and Le Vieux Gildas I've never heard it used in France either. And lots of French people can't speak English and if they had to pronounce it the surely would not pronounce it [vaʊtʃə] but [vuʃe]. – Laure Oct 10 '12 at 18:48
I'm from Belgium by the way. @Laure, you say you've never heard it. Which word would you use ? Ticket ? – lewebdalex Oct 10 '12 at 18:56
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un coupon, un bon, un reçu, un ticket... selon le contexte. – Laure Oct 10 '12 at 19:13
Cela dépend du secteur d'activité, dans le monde de la formation c'est unt mot couramment utilisé mais toujours en lien avec des entreprises anglophones. – Jérémie Bertrand Oct 11 '12 at 14:20
up vote 2 down vote

I never heard this word used in France. However, I would imagine people knowing its pronounciation in English would pronounce it like in English, except from the "r", that would be said the French way. On the other hand, people not fluent in English might pronounce it like "voocher", again with the "r" pronounced the French way.

Things might be quite different in Quebec, where this word is likely to be commonly used.

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+1 for "I never heard it", but -1 for 1. considering french people would know how it's pronounced in English and 2. I never heard it in Québec either. – Nikana Reklawyks Oct 10 '12 at 9:41
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@LeVieuxGildas I thought I made it clear in my answer that 1. while some French people will, some others won't know the proper pronounciation in English, and 2. things might be different in Quebec... – Alexis Pigeon Oct 10 '12 at 10:37
That's fine, and I do suggest to make these matters less subtle in the body ;) (especially : most people don't know it) – Nikana Reklawyks Oct 13 '12 at 7:36
up vote 5 down vote

It's not a word that I would consider as part of the French vocabulary, even with the most descriptive mindset. It could be part of the commercial aviation jargon as the only place I've heard it in an otherwise French sentence was in airport related contexts. The pronunciation was a pretty good approximation of an English pronunciation.

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