| Author |
Message |
Steve Hayes
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 7:27 pm
Post subject: Re: Geniuses or genii |
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On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 18:24:45 -0500, "perchprism" <rat@atat.net> wrote:
| Quote: | "Jordan Abel" <jmabel@purdue.edu> wrote in message
news:slrncsjucu.397.jmabel@random.yi.org...
On 2004-12-22, perchprism <rat@atat.net> wrote:
"Jordan Abel" <jmabel@purdue.edu> wrote in message
news:slrncsiapg.2os.jmabel@random.yi.org...
JEE-nee-iy (wrong)
Wrong in what language?
Mine, I guess. What justification is there for pronouncing the two i's
differently? One Latin and the other English. It's abominable,
sir--abominable.
Both pronunciations of the letter "i" exist in English. How is it, then,
"one Latin and the other English"?
How is it not? Say petechiae for me.
I was taught that the vowel sounds in Latin said in English are invariable,
as strange and un-English as that might make the word sound.
|
Like "nisi prius"?
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk |
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perchprism
Guest
|
| Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 8:23 pm
Post subject: Re: Geniuses or genii |
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"Steve Hayes" <hayesmstw@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:41ca52ad.7569563@news.saix.net...
| Quote: | On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 18:24:45 -0500, "perchprism" <rat@atat.net> wrote:
"Jordan Abel" <jmabel@purdue.edu> wrote in message
news:slrncsjucu.397.jmabel@random.yi.org...
On 2004-12-22, perchprism <rat@atat.net> wrote:
"Jordan Abel" <jmabel@purdue.edu> wrote in message
news:slrncsiapg.2os.jmabel@random.yi.org...
JEE-nee-iy (wrong)
Wrong in what language?
Mine, I guess. What justification is there for pronouncing the two
i's
differently? One Latin and the other English. It's abominable,
sir--abominable.
Both pronunciations of the letter "i" exist in English. How is it,
then,
"one Latin and the other English"?
How is it not? Say petechiae for me.
I was taught that the vowel sounds in Latin said in English are
invariable,
as strange and un-English as that might make the word sound.
Like "nisi prius"?
|
Yeah. I'm no lawyer or Latin scholar, but I'm hoping that if I ever have
occasion to say anything like that at a cocktail party, people will suppose
I know what I'm doing. All's fair in a dead language. Anyway, a
pronunciation established in jargon doesn't count. When's the last time you
heard "genii"?
--
Perchprism
(southern New Jersey, near Philadelphia) |
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Tony Cooper
Guest
|
| Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 8:35 pm
Post subject: Re: Geniuses or genii |
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On Thu, 23 Dec 2004 08:23:37 -0500, "perchprism" <rat@atat.net> wrote:
| Quote: | When's the last time you heard "genii"?
|
Yesterday, but from the hardware store clerk that wanted to know what
kind of garage door opener remote that needed the battery was. I'm
sure he pronounced it with two "i"s. |
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R H Draney
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 10:53 pm
Post subject: Re: Geniuses or genii |
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Tony Cooper filted:
| Quote: |
On Thu, 23 Dec 2004 08:23:37 -0500, "perchprism" <rat@atat.net> wrote:
When's the last time you heard "genii"?
Yesterday, but from the hardware store clerk that wanted to know what
kind of garage door opener remote that needed the battery was. I'm
sure he pronounced it with two "i"s.
|
Did he by any chance have light brown hair?...r |
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R H Draney
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2004 1:27 am
Post subject: Re: Geniuses or genii |
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Jim Ward filted:
| Quote: |
On 21 Dec 2004 05:32:15 -0800, R H Draney <dadoctah@spamcop.net
wrote:
Thirty-two, shirley?...for mercer's sake, what are they teaching these days?...r
Fletcherism advocates thorough mastication, but there was no set
number. What HAVE you been doing?
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Chewing cotton, apparently...I could have sworn it was Mercer and not Fletcher
who thought the number of teeth determined the optimal number of chews....r |
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Tony Cooper
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2004 4:10 am
Post subject: Re: Geniuses or genii |
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On 23 Dec 2004 07:53:48 -0800, R H Draney <dadoctah@spamcop.net>
wrote:
| Quote: | Tony Cooper filted:
On Thu, 23 Dec 2004 08:23:37 -0500, "perchprism" <rat@atat.net> wrote:
When's the last time you heard "genii"?
Yesterday, but from the hardware store clerk that wanted to know what
kind of garage door opener remote that needed the battery was. I'm
sure he pronounced it with two "i"s.
Did he by any chance have light brown hair?...r
|
No, but I do admit that I was afraid to ask him to make me a
milkshake. |
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Steve Hayes
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2004 8:22 am
Post subject: Re: Geniuses or genii |
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On Thu, 23 Dec 2004 08:23:37 -0500, "perchprism" <rat@atat.net> wrote:
| Quote: |
"Steve Hayes" <hayesmstw@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:41ca52ad.7569563@news.saix.net...
On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 18:24:45 -0500, "perchprism" <rat@atat.net> wrote:
"Jordan Abel" <jmabel@purdue.edu> wrote in message
news:slrncsjucu.397.jmabel@random.yi.org...
On 2004-12-22, perchprism <rat@atat.net> wrote:
"Jordan Abel" <jmabel@purdue.edu> wrote in message
news:slrncsiapg.2os.jmabel@random.yi.org...
JEE-nee-iy (wrong)
Wrong in what language?
Mine, I guess. What justification is there for pronouncing the two
i's
differently? One Latin and the other English. It's abominable,
sir--abominable.
Both pronunciations of the letter "i" exist in English. How is it,
then,
"one Latin and the other English"?
How is it not? Say petechiae for me.
I was taught that the vowel sounds in Latin said in English are
invariable,
as strange and un-English as that might make the word sound.
Like "nisi prius"?
Yeah. I'm no lawyer or Latin scholar, but I'm hoping that if I ever have
occasion to say anything like that at a cocktail party, people will suppose
I know what I'm doing. All's fair in a dead language. Anyway, a
pronunciation established in jargon doesn't count. When's the last time you
heard "genii"?
|
More recently than I heard "desultory", but that's not prima facie evidence
for anything, of course.
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk |
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