Pronunciation watch

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

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

...

[oddoneout]

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'...

[french frank]

Hence 'ghoti'...

Or as in Finnegan's Wake:

"Gee each owe tea eye smells fish."

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

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 ... )

[umslopogaas]

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.

[french frank]

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.

[Pabmusic]

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.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

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.

[Pabmusic]

Yes, which is what makes the "dai section" unusual.

Now there's the danger in entering a discussion late...

[french frank]

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).

[Bryn]

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".

[Pulcinella]

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?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

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.)

[french frank]

??? - 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.

[jean]

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