IMMI-nent?
Here's a question about a recent word quiz, followed by our answer:
Q: The quiz item said "The term imminent (EMMA-nent) means..." Shouldn't this be (IMMI-NENT)?
a. related to the moon
b. likely to happen soon
c. outstanding in one's field
d. disinclined to yield
Eminent = of high rank, etc.
Regards,
Dave Constable
===
Here's our answer:
Hello Dave—- Could be, depending on how you pronounce IMMI and EMMA. We try to use the simplest phonetic respelling that we think will work, and here’s why we chose EMMA-nent:
1. Almost everyone knows the name Emma (whether book title or person's name).
2. The dictionaries I checked give EM-uh as the phonetic respelling of “Emma.”
3. They give something like IM-uh-nuh-nt as the phonetic respelling of “imminent.”
4. So it seems that almost everyone would pronounce the first two syllables of EMMA-nent the same (or almost the same) as the name Emma.
But of course what’s standard pronunciation in one area (or subdialect) may not be the same in another. Someone we know (from Philadelphia, I think) pronounces “gratitude” something like “GRATTY-tyood.” We pronounce it more like “GRAT-uh-tyood.” But our friend is a highly respected linguist, with a PhD in the field, so he’s certainly entitled to his own pronunciation—but no more nor less than you are, or we are.
Hope this answers your question. If not, let us know. (And please let us know if it’s okay to use your question on our blog.)
Q: The quiz item said "The term imminent (EMMA-nent) means..." Shouldn't this be (IMMI-NENT)?
a. related to the moon
b. likely to happen soon
c. outstanding in one's field
d. disinclined to yield
Eminent = of high rank, etc.
Regards,
Dave Constable
===
Here's our answer:
Hello Dave—- Could be, depending on how you pronounce IMMI and EMMA. We try to use the simplest phonetic respelling that we think will work, and here’s why we chose EMMA-nent:
1. Almost everyone knows the name Emma (whether book title or person's name).
2. The dictionaries I checked give EM-uh as the phonetic respelling of “Emma.”
3. They give something like IM-uh-nuh-nt as the phonetic respelling of “imminent.”
4. So it seems that almost everyone would pronounce the first two syllables of EMMA-nent the same (or almost the same) as the name Emma.
But of course what’s standard pronunciation in one area (or subdialect) may not be the same in another. Someone we know (from Philadelphia, I think) pronounces “gratitude” something like “GRATTY-tyood.” We pronounce it more like “GRAT-uh-tyood.” But our friend is a highly respected linguist, with a PhD in the field, so he’s certainly entitled to his own pronunciation—but no more nor less than you are, or we are.
Hope this answers your question. If not, let us know. (And please let us know if it’s okay to use your question on our blog.)
And here's Dave Constable's interesting reply:
Yes, you may use the question, of course. Any
comments, too.
It could be that we Canadians (following our
British and French heritage) and you Americans (following your American
dictionaries - Webster set the precedent, I believe) are two nations separated
by a common language (Winston Churchill). When we travel in the States, many
citizens in your northern (border) states pick us out very quickly, as being
Canucks. When asked how...the response is, often, that we pronounce the whole
vowel very clearly and quickly.
Never mind the spelling differences ( e.g.
LABOUR, ORGANISE, CENTRE,
JUDGEMENT vs JUDGMENT, THROUGH vs THRU,
MANOEUVRE vs MANEUVER, FOETUS vs FETUS,
PAEDIATRICIAN, ENCYCLOPAEDIA, and
MEDIAEVAL) or basic pronunciation differences (e.g. MISSILE vs
MISSILE, but we reverse on REPTILE vs
REPTILE), SEMI (SEMEE vs SEMEYE), ZED vs ZEE, QUASI- (KWAHZEE vs KWAYSEYE) - the
big difference (yes, there are exceptions) seems to be that Americans hold on to
their vowels longer or that many shorten them more than we do. When I took a
graduate degree in the U.S., my family could tell "I'd been down there too
long!" And...... chesterfield vs sofa, serviette vs napkin, and pop vs soda or
Coke (regardless of brand or flavour).
Examples are: TUNE (TYOON vs TOON), FORTUNE
(FORCHYOON vs FORCHUN), MEASURE (MEZHURE vs MAYZHURE), PRODUCE
(PRAWDYUSE vs PROWDOOS), REDYEWS vs
REDOOS, INSURANCE (INSURANCE vs
INSURANCE), but we reverse on AFFLUENCE /
CONFLUENCE (AFFLUENCE / CONFLUENCE vs
AFFLUENCE/CONFLUENCE), RIGHT (RITE vs
RAHIGHT). This makes life interesting for us Canucks as we are
between American English and British English (which has a very strong French
influence (about 40% of our vocabulary comes from here.) You are being
influenced more by Spanish than we are.
Look for the influence of Indian English (90 - 100
million) and Hinglish (a Mumbai/Bombay dialect, 350 million users and counting),
with their unique but delightful qualities - it is the world's largest
English-speaking country with hundreds of millions speaking both versions of
English.Their education level is rising rapidly and as they emigrate to work or
study, they will influence the language. Great and expressive times ahead! Some
of their sayings/idioms are delightfully descriptive.
I tell the Yanks we meet that they'd better treat
us nicely or, with NAFTA, we'll send you moreArctic cold-fronts, Canada Geese,
and Celine Dion's!
Maybe, one day, our two languages will eventually
meld and become YANUCK, CANANK, CANUSA, or USACAN!
Hasta luego, Au revoir
David
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