Just my 2¢ worth about the articulated history:
Yes, Mallet is French, and it's prononced Mallee... or Malley... er... oh, well - French!
BUT: With all due respect, Anatole Mallet was (like Louis Chevrolet, b.t.w.) a
Swiss engineer, both originating from the French speaking part of Switzerland. Both had their family background in the watchmaking tradition, but then they switched to somewhat bigger machinery!
Imagine a world without those beautiful '57 Chevrolets! And who knows, without Anatole Mallet perhaps there hadn't been a Challenger and a Big Boy!
Yes, I know, Challengers and Big Boys have four high pressure cylinders, while the original mallet configuration has a compound steam engine with two high pressure cylinders (small diameter) at the rear, fixed engine, and two low pressure cylinders (big diameter) on the front, swivelling engine.
The N&W Y6b 2-8-8-2 was a real Mallet engine - look at the different cylinder size!
Ron