Pronunciation watch

[LMcD]

Perhaps Mike Pompeo could become Deputy Match Day Mascot at Fratton Park when Trump leaves the White House.
I remember singing 'Poor Old Pompey, they lost 5-2' on the way home after what turned out to be a good day for travelling Saints supporters.

[LMcD]

Did I hear Georgia Mann say that Jessye Norman had just sung a song called 'Im Arbuntrott'?
I'm not too sure about Petroc's 'Kappulmeister/Kapplemeister'', either....

[oddoneout]

Did I hear Georgia Mann say that Jessye Norman had just sung a song called 'Im Arbuntrott'?
I'm not too sure about Petroc's 'Kappulmeister/Kapplemeister'', either....

It did sound a bit garbled didn't it? Too much emphasis on the hard 'd' perhaps. Petroc's approach to forrin I find slightly odd in that parts of the French or German(I'm not qualified to comment on other languages) seem reasonably OK but will be mixed, often in the same word, by firmly English vowels. His somewhat erratic approach to stressed syllables doesn't help.

[LMcD]

It did sound a bit garbled didn't it? Too much emphasis on the hard 'd' perhaps. Petroc's approach to forrin I find slightly odd in that parts of the French or German(I'm not qualified to comment on other languages) seem reasonably OK but will be mixed, often in the same word, by firmly English vowels. His somewhat erratic approach to stressed syllables doesn't help.

I'm actually more concerned about the 'trott'. I'm willing to be corrected - my modern languages 'Desmond' does date, after all, from the late 1960s - but surely the last 3 letters should be pronounced so as to rhyme with 'wrote'? I don't ever recall a certain German airman being called the Rotter Baron.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

A question.

How do you pronounce "diapason"? I've often wondered - ever since 1963, when I first played the organ. I've never heard the word spoken, even by organists.

[oddoneout]

A question.

How do you pronounce "diapason"? I've often wondered - ever since 1963, when I first played the organ. I've never heard the word spoken, even by organists.

Dye-uh-payzun has been the version used on the couple of occasions I've heard it when the choir conductor has had occasion to discuss accompaniment matters with an organist. Don't know if that's correct but it didn't provoke a muttering among the masses so either no-one knew different or it was acceptable...

[french frank]

Dye-uh-payzun has been the version used on the couple of occasions I've heard it

That's the first (preferred?) pronunciation of the OED. The variant Dye-uh-paysun (s rather than z):

Pronunciation: Hear pronunciation/dʌɪəˈpeɪzən/Hear pronunciation/dʌɪəˈpeɪsən/

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Many thanks to both. I first opted for "dire pace on", which was very close, but later, wondered whether it was something more south European, like "dear pass on".

[gurnemanz]

A question.

How do you pronounce "diapason"? I've often wondered - ever since 1963, when I first played the organ. I've never heard the word spoken, even by organists.

Our choir had to sing it when we did a St Cecilia concert around this time two years ago. It comes in Handel's Ode on St Cecilia's Day. From a poem by Dryden, where man is depicted as the diapason (culmination) of creation (an accolade he unfortunately frequently fails to live up to):

From harmony, from heavenly harmony,
This universal frame began.
Through all the compass of the notes it ran,
The diapason closing full in man.

We went for "dye a pay son", which seems to be the accepted standard but which I personally found not especially elegant.

I have a number of recordings from the French music magazine of the same name and in that context I would lean to their pronunciation which I find more appealing. Dya pa zo (nasal on the last syllable). Found it here.

[Bryn]

Our choir had to sing it when we did a St Cecilia concert around this time two years ago. It comes in Handel's Ode on St Cecilia's Day. From a poem by Dryden, where man is depicted as the diapason (culmination) of creation (an accolade he unfortunately frequently fails to live up to):

From harmony, from heavenly harmony,
This universal frame began.
Through all the compass of the notes it ran,
The diapason closing full in man.

We went for "dye a pay son", which seems to be the accepted standard but which I personally found not especially elegant.

I have a number of recordings from the French music magazine of the same name and in that context I would lean to their pronunciation which I find more appealing. Dya pa zo (nasal on the last syllable). Found it here.

[french frank]

I have a number of recordings from the French music magazine of the same name and in that context I would lean to their pronunciation which I find more appealing. Dya pa zo (nasal on the last syllable). Found it here.

I suppose it would depend whether one is singing in French or English but if you're contending that French is the more mellifluous language I cannot disagree

[Bryn]

"Efficacy". A quick Internet search suggests that both British and American English pronunciation put the stress on the first syllable. However, one frequently hears medical professionals put the stress on the second syllable. What is the origin and rationale of this variant?

[Boilk]

"Efficacy". A quick Internet search suggests that both British and American English pronunciation put the stress on the first syllable. However, one frequently hears medical professionals put the stress on the second syllable. What is the origin and rationale of this variant?

The rationale (if not the origin) is likely the words 'efficient' and 'efficiency', where the stress is definitely on the second syllables.

[french frank]

The rationale (if not the origin) is likely the words 'efficient' and 'efficiency', where the stress is definitely on the second syllables.

And effective.

[Bryn]

The rationale (if not the origin) is likely the words 'efficient' and 'efficiency', where the stress is definitely on the second syllables.

If the origin is such, I hope the false link in meaning is not carried over with the pronunciation. To confound efficacy with efficiency would be a major error.