Pronunciation watch

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  • Eine Alpensinfonie
    Host
    • Nov 2010
    • 20570

    We are talking about English here - you know, the language with the most inconsistent spelling and pronunciation in the entire world.

    one
    Fetherstonhaugh,
    quoits
    enough, cough, through, thought, bough
    subtle
    debt

    ...

    Comment

    • oddoneout
      Full Member
      • Nov 2015
      • 9144

      Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View Post
      We are talking about English here - you know, the language with the most inconsistent spelling and pronunciation in the entire world.

      one
      Fetherstonhaugh,
      quoits
      enough, cough, through, thought, bough
      subtle
      debt

      ...
      Hence 'ghoti'...

      Comment

      • french frank
        Administrator/Moderator
        • Feb 2007
        • 30243

        Originally posted by oddoneout View Post
        Hence 'ghoti'...
        Or as in Finnegan's Wake:

        "Gee each owe tea eye smells fish."
        It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

        Comment

        • ferneyhoughgeliebte
          Gone fishin'
          • Sep 2011
          • 30163

          Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View Post
          We are talking about English here - you know, the language with the most inconsistent spelling and pronunciation in the entire world.
          Indeed so - I'm trying to think of another word with the "dis" prefix that's frequently pronounced with a long "i", though. (frenchie's pointed out an exception in the other direction, but ... )
          [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

          Comment

          • umslopogaas
            Full Member
            • Nov 2010
            • 1977

            1365 thanks Bryn. I was based at Silwood Park from 1986 to 1996, but I dont remember the Sirex unit, I think it must have been disbanded by then. I did not actually work for Imperial College, but for the International Institute of Biological Control, a part of CAB International, which had a building on the site. By virtue of my position I was awarded an honorary lectureship with Imperial, which sounds rather grand, but all it meant in practice was that I had to give lectures for which I was not paid, and supervise PhD students, which was a very time consuming chore.

            We worked on a variety of projects - essentially, any project that anyone would fund - but locust control was our biggest. We considered nematodes (Steinernema and the like, not mermithids) but rejected them because of the requirement for water, locusts living in arid conditions.

            Comment

            • french frank
              Administrator/Moderator
              • Feb 2007
              • 30243

              Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post
              Indeed so - I'm trying to think of another word with the "dis" prefix that's frequently pronounced with a long "i", though. (frenchie's pointed out an exception in the other direction, but ... )
              Will have to think about this (pedant alert), but I think it's a question of knowing whether the 's' is the end of the dis- prefix or not. So it would be dis-appear, dis-band, dis-embark, dis-inter. But di-sect as opposed to dis-sect.

              Just noticed: the OED marks di-sect as 'obsolete'. It now only recognises dissect … And the latest Fowler says it's either dissect or bisect. So disect no longer exists.
              It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

              Comment

              • Pabmusic
                Full Member
                • May 2011
                • 5537

                Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post
                Indeed so - I'm trying to think of another word with the "dis" prefix that's frequently pronounced with a long "i", though. (frenchie's pointed out an exception in the other direction, but ... )
                Surely most long-i prefixes are Greek di- meaning two (I see FF says this too. But even then the rule is not hard ans fast. In dipthong it's short.

                Comment

                • ferneyhoughgeliebte
                  Gone fishin'
                  • Sep 2011
                  • 30163

                  Originally posted by Pabmusic View Post
                  Surely most long-i prefixes are Greek di- meaning two (I see FF says this too. But even then the rule is not hard ans fast. In dipthong it's short.
                  Yes, which is what makes the "dai section" unusual.
                  [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

                  Comment

                  • Pabmusic
                    Full Member
                    • May 2011
                    • 5537

                    Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post
                    Yes, which is what makes the "dai section" unusual.
                    Now there's the danger in entering a discussion late...

                    Comment

                    • french frank
                      Administrator/Moderator
                      • Feb 2007
                      • 30243

                      Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post
                      Yes, which is what makes the "dai section" unusual.
                      Except that the lexicologists - as well as the scientists - say di-sect is now obsolete.

                      On another point: the prefix dĭs- in Latin was a short syllable (dĭs-cernō, dĭs-crepō) compared with dī- which is long (dī-rigō, dī-rumpō). Prefix dē- seems sometimes to have become dĭ- in words like distil (earlier form destylle).
                      It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

                      Comment

                      • Bryn
                        Banned
                        • Mar 2007
                        • 24688

                        Originally posted by french frank View Post
                        Except that the lexicologists - as well as the scientists - say di-sect is now obsolete.

                        On another point: the prefix dĭs- in Latin was a short syllable (dĭs-cernō, dĭs-crepō) compared with dī- which is long (dī-rigō, dī-rumpō). Prefix dē- seems sometimes to have become dĭ- in words like distil (earlier form destylle).
                        Hmm, when I worked for a couple of years as a technical editor for a company called (horribly) "Technical Indexes" my line manager was termed "lexicographer". Things in Braccan Heal have since got even worse. The new town centre redevelopment is named "The Lexicon".

                        Comment

                        • Pulcinella
                          Host
                          • Feb 2014
                          • 10887

                          Originally posted by Bryn View Post
                          Hmm, when I worked for a couple of years as a technical editor for a company called (horribly) "Technical Indexes" my line manager was termed "lexicographer". Things in Braccan Heal have since got even worse. The new town centre redevelopment is named "The Lexicon".
                          Will it be laid out like a crossword grid, Bryn?

                          Comment

                          • ferneyhoughgeliebte
                            Gone fishin'
                            • Sep 2011
                            • 30163

                            Originally posted by french frank View Post
                            Except that the lexicologists - as well as the scientists - say di-sect is now obsolete.
                            ??? - not sure whether you're saying that "dai-sect" or "dis-sect" is "now obsolete"? (Especially as both are still in use.)
                            [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

                            Comment

                            • french frank
                              Administrator/Moderator
                              • Feb 2007
                              • 30243

                              Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post
                              ??? - not sure whether you're saying that "dai-sect" or "dis-sect" is "now obsolete"? (Especially as both are still in use.)
                              I refer my friend to Msg #1371 re the OED and the latest Fowler.
                              It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

                              Comment

                              • jean
                                Late member
                                • Nov 2010
                                • 7100

                                The online OED gives the pronunciation 'dis-sect' and says nothing about any alternative, whether current or obsolete!

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