Pedants' Paradise

[gurnemanz]

The word 'decussated' is just too boring for ... words. It means 'in the shape of a cross'.

Boring as a word maybe but I was interested in its etymology (that's the kind of guy I am). It turns out to be quite interesting, derived to the Roman number ten.

OED: — origin mid 17th cent. (as a verb): from Latin decussatus, past participle of decussare divide crosswise, from decussis (describing the figure X, i.e. the Roman numeral for the number 10), from decem ten.

[Don Petter]

Why, are you angry at me?

Why, Sir, to be angry at you is a luxury which I can ill afford, as my spleen is fully needed for causes more worthy.

[Serial_Apologist]

On yesterday evening's Any Questions, the public school-educated Jonathan Dimbleby asked the panel if the Maria Miller issue over parlimentary expenses had re-awoken general interest in the question.

Surely this should have been re-awakened?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I've been watching the Laurence Olivier film of Wuthering Heights on BBC2. I noticed on the opening titles that it was based on the book by Emily Bronté (sic). I've never seen Brontë spelt that way before.

[Hitch]

I've been watching the Laurence Olivier film of Wuthering Heights on BBC2. I noticed on the opening titles that it was based on the book by Emily Bronté (sic). I've never seen Brontë spelt that way before.

Consult a Brontësaurus.

[MrGongGong]

Consult a Brontësaurus.

Is that Roger's ?

[vinteuil]

I've been watching the Laurence Olivier film of Wuthering Heights on BBC2. I noticed on the opening titles that it was based on the book by Emily Bronté (sic). I've never seen Brontë spelt that way before.

... whereas a serious pedant wd've known that the name shd be spelled - Brunty. Or possibly Ó Pronntaigh...


as wiki advises:

"The Brontë family can be traced to the Irish clan Ó Pronntaigh, which literally means 'grandson of Pronntach'. They were a family of hereditary scribes and literary men in Fermanagh. The version Ó Proinntigh, which was first given by Father Woulfe in his Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall (Surnames of the Gael and the Foreigner) and reproduced without question by MacLysaght inter alia cannot be accepted as correct, as there were a number of well-known scribes with this name writing in Irish in the 17th and 18th centuries and all of them used the spelling Ó Pronntaigh. The name is derived from the word pronntach or bronntach, which is related to the word bronnadh, meaning giving or bestowal (pronn is given as an Ulster version of bronn in O'Reilly's Irish English Dictionary.) Father Woulfe suggested that it derives from proinnteach (a refectory of a monastery). Ó Pronntaigh was earlier anglicised as Prunty and sometimes Brunty.

At some point, the father of the sisters, Patrick Brontë (born Brunty), decided on the alternative spelling with the diaeresis over the terminal e to indicate that the name has two syllables. It is not known for certain what motivated him to do so, and multiple theories exist to account for the change. He may have wished to hide his humble origins. As a man of letters, he would have been familiar with classical Greek and may have chosen the name after the cyclops Brontes (literally 'thunder')."

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

At some point, the father of the sisters, Patrick Brontë (born Brunty), decided on the alternative spelling with the diaeresis over the terminal e to indicate that the name has two syllables. It is not known for certain what motivated him to do so, and multiple theories exist to account for the change. He may have wished to hide his humble origins. As a man of letters, he would have been familiar with classical Greek and may have chosen the name after the cyclops Brontes (literally 'thunder')."

Indeed, I read the Wiki article before writing my previous post. What puzzles me is why Patrick Brunty would think his name could be pronounced in any other way that with two syllables.

[french frank]

Indeed, I read the Wiki article before writing my previous post. What puzzles me is why Patrick Brunty would think his name could be pronounced in any other way that with two syllables.

I think vinteuil was also making the point that he [PB, not vinteuil] thought Brunty sounded a bit humble, so he gentrified it to Bronte, thus necessitating the diaeresis.

[Honoured Guest]

#

[jean]

...thus necessitating the diaeresis.

But an acute accent would have done just as well presumably, which is where we came in.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

But an acute accent would have done just as well presumably, which is where we came in.

Do we really know how the family pronounced their revised name?

[jean]

Much as they pronounced it before they revised the spelling, I would guess - theirs doesn't seem to have been a Hyacinth Bucket-style transformation.

That said, I am not sure of the precise difference between é and ë in the mouth of a genuine French person.

[Padraig]

corruption?

[french frank]

That said, I am not sure of the precise difference between é and ë in the mouth of a genuine French person.

I answered that several hours ago, but appear to have neglected to press the appropriate Post button :-/

I don't think the tréma would occur on a final e, unless preceded by a vowel (thus aiguë indicates that the final u is pronounced, not rhyming with lègue).

According to Grevisse §86, the tréma was replaced by a grave accent in words like poëme (>poème). I can't think you would ever have a tréma on a final e which followed a consonant (as in Bronte), because you wouldn't have a grave accent in that position either. Normally it's used to show that two adjacent vowels are pronounced separately (Saül), but don't mention Saint-Saëns. Messrs Vinteuil and Caliban are more fluent in the language than I am, so might be able to correct my impressions.