pronunciation

It's phonetic. We had to learn it at school.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet_chart_for_English_dialects

It's French, that's why.

We (try to) pronounce it in the French way, and there's no real equivalent in English we could copy or rhyme it with.

So you'll just have to try to copy Monsieur Sarkozy or Antoine de Caunes.

As for the ab- part, I'd just say it like the ab- in "screaming ab-dabs" or "abs and pecs"

Pronouncing the "th" sound as it is pronounced in English is definitely not the French pronunciation. In French, "th" is always pronounced as "t" is pronounced in English.

I would probably write "absant" to give a monoglot English person a clue.

Only those who put on airs do that, McTag.

Words that come into a new language do not come with the original language's sound system for a very good reason. We can't possibly learn the sound systems of all the languages of the world.

It's funny that this suggestion seems only to be made for certain languages not for all of them.

When speaking in Romish, speak as the Romans.

JTT, I cannot hold back from declaring that, in my opinion, you are an extremely annoying and utterly opinionated loudmouthed dickweed.

If you know some French, pronounce it the way you know it should be pronounced. If you don't, then learn some. Ignore JTT. He is a "wanker" as we say here.

Then you'd only be a "sound much worse" putting on airs asshole, C.

You completely ignored the reasons and obviously got all upset because you're one of these people who puts on airs.

How do you propose learning the sound system for all the languages from which English has borrowed words? It's ludicrous to suggest that we try such a thing. Have you ever heard a foreigner speak? They sound like foreigners because matching the sound system of other languages isn't something that's easy to do.

Children who are fluent in two languages don't intersperse their English with the sounds of their second language for those words that are borrowed from their second language.

How would they even know they are borrowed? And if they did, it wouldn't matter for they are bright enough to know that they are speaking English.

When I pronounce absinthe I put on my extremely annoying and utterly opinionated loudmouthed dickweed lisp because absinthe makes the heart grow fonder and the fox follows it's own scent.