Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2000 00:24:44 -0500 From: "Erik Rothwell" <erothwell@callgtn.com> To: <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Pronunciations Message-ID: <200012020024.AA76284136@wdc.callgtn.com>
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What a lot of Americans seem to miss is that American English is a minority= language compared to the vast wealth of nations and peoples who speak prop= er Standard English (what Americans like to call British English.) Colour, valour, labour are the Standard spellings... similarly, Standard En= glish drops its final -rs and such. When you learn to speak English anywher= e but America or Canada, you learn with Standard English pronunciation. Cra= zily enough, Standard English has many more vowels than American English...= I believe it's 26 or 28 to just 12. Furthermore, the -ise / -ize difference comes from word origin: if the word= origin is Latin you use -ise, if it is Greek you use -ize. Food for thought ;-) ------- E. L. Rothwell xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxx ------- ---------- Original Message ---------------------------------- From: Mark Ovens <marko@freebsd.org> Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2000 03:57:48 +0000 >On Thu, Nov 30, 2000 at 02:19:22PM -0500, Passki, Jonathan P wrote: >> Yes, us lazy Americans hate that 'ou' thing the Brits try to always >> interject, like 'colour' and 'valour.' > >I think that originates from the French where such words end ~eur. Of >course it was Noah Webster who dropped the 'u'. > >> Also, why can't the Brits us an >> occasional 'z' in their words; initialize, serialize, and other words li= ke >> them just look cool w/ the 'z' in them, not that 's' substitution the Br= its >> use. >> > >Curiously, this is the one group of words that Americans spell correctly >and we get wrong. If you look in older editions of the OED you will find >such words spelled exclusively ~ize. Only in more recent editions (<10 >years) will ~ise appear and then only as an *alternative* spelling. I have= >great fun at work when writing docs where I always use ~ize and, >invariably, the reviewer pulls me up on it so I pull out a dictionary (and= >slap him 'round the back of the head with it).... > >> Here's another good one, though: /etc >> > >FWIW, slash ee tee cee > >> Some people pronounce it like its root word, etcetera, which is >> grammatically correct, since etcetera is abbreviated like "etc." Others= say >> it like "et-sEE." What's the better one? >> >> > -----Original Message----- >> > From: Peter Lai [mailto:PeterL@resnet.uconn.edu] >> > Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2000 12:31 >> > To: 'David Talkington '; 'freebsd-questions@freebsd.org ' >> > Subject: RE: Pronunciations >> > >> > >> > well, if you want to do a linguistical analysis on it: >> > >> > /lib is where you find "libs" (the i is short, ryhmes with >> > "fibs"). However >> > "libs" is derived from "lIbraries", which rhymes with "vIbe". >> > since "/lib" is a descendant of "libs" which is an altered >> > descendent of >> > "lIbraries" you should be able to pronounce "libs" with the short i. >> > i mean, you would prononounce "GTK-libs" as ryhming with "fibs" so why= >> > wouldn't you do the same with "slash-lib". >> > >> > /bin is the place where you find "bInaries". but then you can >> > say it's the >> > "bin where you find programs". refer to eric s. raymond's >> > hackers jargon >> > dictionary. So linguistically it would make sense for you to pronounce= >> > "/bIn" with the long vowel. But, americans are `lazy' and it >> > takes less >> > energy to say the short vowel. >> > >> > i mean, "missiles" can be pronounced "missels" or "missILes", >> > the former >> > being the american prounouciation and the latter, the british method. >> > >> > more questions: how the heck do you pronounce "/src"? >> > -----Original Message----- >> > >> > To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org >> > Sent: 11/30/2000 12:47 PM >> > Subject: Pronunciations >> > >> > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- >> > >> > >> > Salutations. >> > >> > There is disagreement on these points among even knowledgeable people >> > in my office. I'll cast it to the list and let the chips fall where >> > they may. (There's no money on it.) >> > >> > /lib rhymes with "fib" or "vibe"? >> > /bin rhymes with "sin" or "whine"? >> > peeco or pyco? >> > >> > I don't have to argue about GNU or Linux, because there are FAQs to >> > back me up. On the above, however, I can find no controlling >> > authority. Please guide us on our path to righteousness. >> > >> > Cheers! -d >> > >> > - -- >> > David Talkington >> > Community Networking Initiative >> > dtalk@prairienet.org >> > 217-244-1962 >> > >> > PGP key: http://www.prairienet.org/~dtalk/dt000823.asc >> > >> > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- >> > Version: PGP 6.5.8 >> > Comment: Made with pgp4pine 1.75-6 >> > >> > iQEVAwUBOiaSo71ZYOtSwT+tAQF1XQf/T6cIFBNe9FDwc3GH1BcL0h7vir9ddVYQ >> > 18JmEFOW0UiUctgVsipysposcOBM4J71cUzyoHFt5NOtE8fRwCv8LWoZh/b7Vqmk >> > y0/NIWSgarAKFNljCdwxLYj9qK0UIxq5e/1yeyFTwy/qh9AFIH1/8FNFCMK8xIte >> > k8EPaad4vayLbc4haBlpwd+h4kih1njNHvMISR4j1fCydr2PK5NIvINj6svK/ltl >> > Pc2nQ6/TUo01AbslIjIszW8n1zRsDpBaAnQwIT2WVUOly49StI5jty4FMk8WwRVW >> > bscKg2+Ahoc3+3W0OiRXSaAvHRUeut4zHTuoiF8V3rvMUx93RBdTcQ=3D=3D >> > =3DCWDY >> > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org >> > with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message >> > >> > >> > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org >> > with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message >> > >> ************************************************************************= ***** >> The information in this email is confidential and may be legally privile= ged. >> It is intended solely for the addressee. 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