Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.
You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.
12:47 Sep 12, 2011
English to French translations [PRO] Marketing - Telecom(munications) / French pronunciation
English term or phrase:O2
"O2" is a UK based telecomunication company. We want to record a voice-over script in French where this name appears. How should we read this in French? "O-deux" or "O-two"? Is there a rule when it comes to reading a numeric name?
Your opinion on this matter will be highly appreciated.
Explanation: I also prefer this one, pronounced as the oxygen molecule.
from a marketing point of view, it might be usefull that potencial clients
know exactly how to write it down as they hear it, to look for information, to find a website for example.
english pronounciation "o- two", would lead me to write it "o - two" or "au tout", or something else. it is very ambiguous to me.
See O2 french website. It is a home service company (babysitting, cleaning... helping families and giving them more time, and oxygen.
You can play their jingle on the home page (bottom), see link below
"O-deux, gère tout dans la maison..."
Les chaînes BBC 1 à 4 ont été renommées BBC One, Two, Three et Four, probablement pour imposer la prononciation anglaise avec la diffusion internationale grâce aux bouquets, etc.
Dans le cas d'O2, les deux options sont possibles, je pense, avec une préférence pour O-deux. J'écoute parfois la radio norvégienne NRK P2 (pour la musique), et bien entendu je prononce le sigle à la française.
After further searching, I haven't been able to find any spoken French examples. O2 don't seem to have marketed themselves in France at the moment - in my opinion that means that both ways are acceptable.
FX Frapont has presented the pros and cons of each rather nicely.
Hi, DCopperfield, just about to jump to the sealing (I am for the "O-deux" pronunciation), when realised the company featured on YouTube is a different company from the "O2" telecommunication company we are talking here. Thanks anyway, brilliant approach!
I seem to have made a serious mistake in my last contribution: the O2 company described does not seem to be the international telecommunications company that you are referring to! Sorry.
Am I correct in thinking that your company does not actually represent O2? In this case, it would perhaps be wise to research what choice O2 itself made when marketing itself in France.
Interesting question
O-two, and you lose the oxygen bit, which is obviously part of the company's image.
O-deux, and you get the oxygen, but you lose the nice English sound which would make the company hot in francophonia.
As we said there is no rule: the company itself should decide. You must decide if you want O2 to read "O-deux" or "O-two" and French people will adapt. When I read your company's name (art-4-art) for some reason I read it English because I know it makes sense in English when it doesn't in French. But O2 is international so French people wil spontaneously read it "O-deux" (for oxygène) unless you chose to make it read 'O-two' in your script. But that is a marketing choice.
Do you know of a rule when it comes to pronunciation of names containing numerics as in "O-2"? For instance, the name of our company - art4art, should it be read in French "art-four-art" or "art-quatre-art"?
I agree with MM. It depends on your strategy. For instance, "Free" (internet provider in France) is very successful and they didn't try to make their name sound French. They could try but French people would still prononce it with their own accent. Also Orange exports as "Orange" and people prononce it with a local accent but they didn't change the name/prononciation either. I think the marketing strategy of the brand should decide whether they want to make it sound French or if they want people to know it's a UK-based company, which I think makes no difference because we only rely on the service itself.
It depents if you will insist on the origin of the company, that allows you to say "O-two" instead of "O-deux", that is the normal pronunciation. Sometime we conserve the english pronunciation for marketing reasons (the image of english and american companies can be better as the french companies in a branch of activities). For exemple, we say Ipnone imiting the english pronunciation.
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
4 hrs confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
o2
"o - deux"
Explanation: I also prefer this one, pronounced as the oxygen molecule.
from a marketing point of view, it might be usefull that potencial clients
know exactly how to write it down as they hear it, to look for information, to find a website for example.
english pronounciation "o- two", would lead me to write it "o - two" or "au tout", or something else. it is very ambiguous to me.
See O2 french website. It is a home service company (babysitting, cleaning... helping families and giving them more time, and oxygen.
You can play their jingle on the home page (bottom), see link below
"O-deux, gère tout dans la maison..."
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +1
