Asked by Anonymous

In "mille sept cent" the "pt" in sept is not pronounced - right?
Thank you
Answered by MathMate
The p in sept is not pronounced.
Answered by E.G.
Actually I think it was supposed to read:
mil sept cents (not mille)
And I think that neither the "p" not the "t" are pronounced when the word "sept" is followed by a word starting with a consonant?
Answered by MathMate
It is supposed to read

Mil<i>le</i> se<i>p</i>t cent<i>s</i>.

The word sept is very special. Of all the common French words that start with <i>sept</i>, only in four words the p is not pronounced:
sept (seven)
septième (seventh)
septmoncel (a cheese)
septain (a seven verse poem)

Even in the old word for seventy (septant) still used in Belgium, the p is pronounced.
Answered by MathMate
correction:
Even in the old word for seventy (septante) ...
Answered by SraJMcGin
That's septième. If you tell us whether you have a PC or a MAC, we can send you to way to make accent marks with the computer. We should also know if you have Windows or not.

Sra (aka Mme)
Answered by Question
Doesn't septieme mean seventh?
Answered by MathMate
Yes, septième means seventh.
Sorry for the misprint (an encoding problem with the computer)
Answered by E.G.
You are right, it IS MILLE sept cent, except when it is used for DATES, then it is MIL (that's what I was thinking of when I wrote "mil")
Answered by MathMate
Sorry, I thought you were referring to pronounciation.

In any case, mille is pronounced [mil], the same as mil [mil].

For the new pronounciation question you have for SraJMcGin, the stated rule applies to 5 and 8. For 6 and 10 there is a separate rule but none for 7 and 9.

For your information, I reproduce from <i>Le Petit Robert</i> the pronounciation rules, if any, for the numbers 5-10.

(REM. Cinq se prononce [sR] devant un nom commençant par une consonne; [sRk] dans les autres cas, et fam. devant un nom commençant par une consonne.)

REM. Six se prononce [si] devant un nom commençant par une consonne; [siz] devant un nom commençant par une voyelle; [sis] dans les autres cas.

sept [set]
neuf [nZf]

(prononcé ['Pi] devant un mot commençant par une consonne, ['Pit] dans tous les autres cas)

dix [dis] devant une pause; [di] devant une consonne; [diz] devant une voyelle

Note that the pronounciation code letters are not reproduced correctly for the vowels and for the beginning of "huit". It should be clear for the ending consonants.
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