Pronouncer

Here is a guide to the pronunciation of France’s Euro 2016 roster in French, followed by approximations in English in parentheses. For convenience, we stress the final syllable other than one containing an unstable e, [ə] in the English approximations, as is common practice in American English. However, as French does not have distinctive stress, it would do just as well to use stress patterns more familiar in English, like initial stress or penultimate stress. Nasalized vowels in French are indicated by a superscript n in the respelling guide for English.

• Manager: Didier Deschamps (France) [di.dje de.ʃɑ̃, -dɛ.ʃɑ̃] (di-di-EH de-SHAH^N [ˌdɪd.i.ˈeɪ̯ dɛ.ˈʃɒ̃])
• Benoît Costil [bə.nwa kɔs.til] (bə-NWAH ko-STEEL [bə.ˈnwɑː kɒ.ˈstiːl])
• Hugo Lloris [y.ɡo ʎɔ.ʁis, ljɔ.ʁis] (ü-GOH lyaw-REESS [ju.ˈɡoʊ̯ ljɔː.ˈɹiːs])
• Steve Mandanda [stɛv_ə mɑ̃.dɑ̃.da] (STEV mahⁿ-dahⁿ-DAH [ˈstɛv mɒ̃.dɒ̃.ˈdɑː])
• Lucas Digne [ly.kɑ diɲ_ə] (lü-KAH DEEN-yə [lju.ˈkɑː ˈdiːn.jə])
• Patrice Évra [pa.tʁis_ə e.vʁa] (pa(h)-TREESS ev-RAH [pɑː.ˈtɹiːs ɛ.ˈvɹɑː])
• Christophe Jallet [kʁis.tɔf_ə ʒa.lɛ] (kri-STOF zha(h)-LEH [kɹɪ.ˈstɒf ʒɑː.ˈleɪ̯])
• Laurent Koscielny [lɔ.ʁɑ̃ kɔ.sjɛl.ni] (lo-RAH^N kos-yel-NEE [lɒ.ˈɹɒ̃ ˌkɒs.i‿ɛl.ˈniː])
• Eliaquim Mangala [e.lja.kim mɑ̃.ɡa.la] (el-i-ə-KEEM mahⁿ-ga(h)-LAH [ˌɛl.i‿ə.ˈkiːm mɒ̃.ɡɑː.ˈlɑː])
• Adil Rami [a.dil ʁa.mi] (a(h)-DEEL ra(h)-MEE [ɑː.ˈdiːl ɹɑː.ˈmiː])
• Bacary Sagna [ba.ka.ʁi sa.ɲa] (ba(h)-ka(h)-REE sa(h)n-YAH [ˌbɑːk.ɑː.ˈɹiː sɑːn.ˈjɑː])
• Samuel Umtiti [sa.mɥɛl um.ti.ti] (sa(h)m-ü-EL uum-ti-TEE [ˌsɑːm.ju.ˈɛl ˌʊm.tɪ.ˈtiː])
• Yohan Cabaye [jɔ.an ka.baj_ə] (yoh-A(H)N ka(h)-BY [joʊ̯.ˈɑːn kɑː.ˈbaɪ̯])
• Kingsley Coman [kiŋs.lɛ kɔ.man, -mɑ̃] (kings-LEH koh-MA(H)N or koh-MAH^N [kɪŋ.ˈsleɪ̯ koʊ̯.ˈmɑːn, -ˈmɒ̃])
• N’Golo Kanté [ən.ɡɔ.lo kɑ̃.te] (ən-gol-OH kahⁿ-TEH [ən.ˌɡɒ.ˈloʊ̯ kɒ̃.ˈteɪ̯, əŋ-])
• Blaise Matuidi [blɛːz_ə ma.tɥi.di] (BLEHZ ma(h)-twi-DEE [ˈbleɪ̯z ˌmɑːt.wɪ.ˈdiː])
• Dimitri Payet [di.mi.tʁri pa.jɛt] (di-mi-TREE py-ET [ˌdɪm.ɪ.ˈtɹiː paɪ̯.ˈɛt])
• Paul Pogba [pɔl pɔɡ.ba] (PAWL pog-BAH [ˈpɔːl pɒɡ.ˈbɑː])
• Morgan Schneiderlin [mɔʁ.ɡan ʃnɛ.dəʁ.lɛ̃, -dɛʁ.lɛ̃] (mor-GA(H)N shned-ər-LA^N [mɔːɹ.ˈɡɑːn ˌʃnɛd.əɹ.ˈlæ̃])
• Moussa Sissoko [mu.sa si.sɔ.ko] (moo-SAH si-so-KOH [muː.ˈsɑː ˌsɪs.ɒ.ˈkoʊ̯])
• André-Pierre Gignac [ɑ̃.dʁe.pjɛːʁ_ə ʒi.ɲak] (ahⁿ-dreh-pi-AIR zhin-YA(H)K [ɒ̃.ˌdɹeɪ̯.pi.ˈɛə̯ɹ ʒɪn.ˈjɑːk])
• Olivier Giroud [ɔ.li.vje ʒi.ʁu] (o-liv-i-EH zhi-ROO [ɒ.ˌlɪv.i.ˈeɪ̯ ʒɪ.ˈɹuː])
• Antoine Griezmann [ɑ̃.twan_ə ɡʁi.ɛz.man] (ahⁿ-TWAHN gree-ez-MA(H)N [ɒ̃.ˈtwɑːn ˌɡɹiː.ɛz.ˈmɑːn])
• Anthony Martial [ɑ̃.tɔ.ni maʁ.sjal] (ahⁿ-toh-NEE mar-si-A(H)L [ˌɒ̃.toʊ̯.ˈniː ˌmɑːɹs.i.ˈɑːl])

See previous posts on Dimitri Payet and Kingsley Coman for more on those names.

The surname Lloris which comes from Catalan contains the palatal lateral approximant [ʎ] spelled ll. While this sound is not present in standard French, it—or a close variant, the palatalized lateral approximant [lʲ]—is often used in this name by those who are able to produce it. Otherwise, it is replaced with [lj], which is probably the closest equivalent in standard French, but it is often further simplified to [l] (which may also be a spelling pronunciation) or to [j]. This is why you may also hear pronunciations like law-REESS and yaw-REESS as well as the recommended lyaw-REESS.

For the names of non-French origin, it might be more natural in English to convert the French nasalized vowels into sequences of vowels and nasal consonants as in the original language. Also, it would be more natural to restore the stress patterns of the original language. In that case, we could have pronunciations like ma(h)n-DA(H)N-də for Mandanda, ma(h)ng-GAH-lə for Mangala, KA(H)N-teh for Kanté, etc.

Following stress patterns of the original language similarly yields LYOR-iss for Lloris (Catalan), kos-YEL-nee for Koscielny (Polish Kościelny), and SHNED-ər-laⁿ for Schneiderlin, and GREE-ez-ma(h)n for Griezmann.

In English, the Alsace-born Schneiderlin himself uses the more German-like pronunciation SHNY-dər-lin, although SHNAY-dər-lin might be closer to the Alsatian pronunciation. Griezmann, whose family is also of Alsatian origin, is often pronounced GREEZ-ma(h)n or greez-MA(H)N even by French speakers, but the player prefers [ɡʁi.ɛz.man]. The spelling ie represents a diphthong [iːə̯] in the Alsatian dialect unlike in Standard German where it is simply [iː].