DESAGULIERS FAMOUS FREEMASONS

John Theophilus Desaguliers The sounds in the French name Desaguliers as pronounced by Brother McClenachan will be found in the list of words printed at the end of the second volume of this work. A few comments may be made here upon the matter. All that can well be done is to indicate accepted custom. Doctor E. B. de Sauz, the leading American authority on modern languages, prefers the following from a French point of view: De, as in desecrate; sa, as za, the short a as in lateral; gu, as gu, the French or German u (the sound best imitated by shaping the lips as if to whistle and then uttering the u); li, as in lid or lit, and ers, as the French , shorter than the first e in desecrate. The reader will note that the final letters rs are not pronounced. Another and a fairly common pronunciation of the name among English-speaking Brethren is heard thus: Des, as in days or pays; ag, as in lag or tags u, as in mute or lute; li, as in lid or lit, and ers, as in pears or bears. A French naturalist of the same name is listed with the indicated pronunciation in Spiers' and Surenne's Dictionary (page 175) and as nearly as we can reproduce the sounds by English words may be illustrated thus: De, as in pay and way; sa, as zo in zone; gu, as in gulf or gum, the French or German u sound being understood; li, as in lit or listen, and ers, as the a in cat or mat. Practically there is no tonic accent in French beyond a slight stress on the final syllable pronounced. Source: Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Albert Mackey.

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