|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 11:15 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 11:22 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 11:43 pm
![](//graphics.gaiaonline.com/images/s.gif) |
![](//graphics.gaiaonline.com/images/s.gif) |
![](//graphics.gaiaonline.com/images/s.gif) |
![](//graphics.gaiaonline.com/images/posts/say/say_b1_p.gif) |
Ezra Pound It's pronounced /ˈfɔrteɪ/ according to dictionary.com. Your pronunciation only applies to a part of a sword.
Because of your research, I decided to look into it deeper as well. Here are my findings:
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
Main Entry: 1forte Pronunciation: 'fort; 2 is often 'for-"tA or for-'tA or 'for-tE Function: noun Etymology: French fort, from fort, adjective, strong 1 : the part of a sword or foil blade that is between the middle and the hilt and that is the strongest part of the blade 2 : one's strong point usage In forte we have a word derived from French that in its "strong point" sense has no entirely satisfactory pronunciation. Usage writers have denigrated 'for-"tA and 'for-tE because they reflect the influence of the Italian-derived 2forte. Their recommended pronunciation 'fort, however, does not exactly reflect French either: the French would write the word le fort and would rhyme it with English for. So you can take your choice, knowing that someone somewhere will dislike whichever variant you choose. All are standard, however. In British English 'fo-"tA and 'fot predominate; 'for-"tA and for-'tA are probably the most frequent pronunciations in American English.
American Heritage Dictionary @ Answers.com
for·te1 (fôr'tā', fôrt, fōrt) pronunciation n.
1. Something in which a person excels. 2. The strong part of a sword blade, between the middle and the hilt.
[French fort, from Old French, strong, from Latin fortis. See fort.]
SYNONYMS forte, métier, specialty, thing. These nouns denote something at which a person is particularly skilled: Writing fiction is her forte. The theater is his métier. The professor's specialty was the study of ancient languages. Mountain climbing is really my thing.
USAGE NOTE The word forte, coming from French fort, should properly be pronounced with one syllable, like the English word fort. Common usage, however, prefers the two-syllable pronunciation, (fôr'tā'), which has been influenced possibly by the music term forte borrowed from Italian. In a recent survey a strong majority of the Usage Panel, 74 percent, preferred the two-syllable pronunciation. The result is a delicate situation; speakers who are aware of the origin of the word may wish to continue to pronounce it as one syllable but at an increasing risk of puzzling their listeners.
Maven's Word of the Day
The pronunciation of forte 'strong point' is a subject of much debate. The most common pronunciation--by far--in America is FOR-tay, the same as the Italian musical term. Conservative usage writers usually insist that this pronunciation is wrong, and only the pronunciation FORT (identical to the word fort 'defensive military location') is acceptable. The rationale is that the French word forte should be pronounced like fort in English; people who pronounce is FOR-tay are either confusing it with the Italian musical term or are assuming that it's spelled forté, which would be pronounced FOR-tay. (In fact, the word is occasionally found in print in the forté spelling, confirming that people do make that mistake.)
There are several problems with this argument. First, the French word is simply not forte, it is fort, so the forte spelling is wrong from the start. Second, the correct French word fort is pronounced FOR, without a "t." Thus, anyone claiming that the FORT pronunciation is correct because of any connection with French is simply wrong. Another factor is that French words can be Anglicized however we see fit--Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage points out that the punctuation mark (') is pronounced uh-PAHS-tro-fee in English, even though it "should" be pronounced ah-pahs-TROPH, since it's from French. Finally, there's the point that the FOR-tay pronunciation is so common that most people now have never heard of the FORT pronunciation and will think it's wrong.
None of this, of course, makes FOR-tay a correct pronunciation; it comes from a mistake of one kind or another. But there is no pronunciation of forte 'strong point' that is etymologically acceptable, so it comes down to a question of choosing which error you want to go with. FORT is favored by the more conservative, but is much less familiar; FOR-tay is far more common but is thought to be wrong by people who bother expressing opinions on such matters. The choice is yours.
|
![](//graphics.gaiaonline.com/images/s.gif) |
![](//graphics.gaiaonline.com/images/s.gif) |
![](//graphics.gaiaonline.com/images/s.gif) |
![](//graphics.gaiaonline.com/images/s.gif) |
|
![](//graphics.gaiaonline.com/images/template/s.gif) |
![](//graphics.gaiaonline.com/images/template/s.gif) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 11:49 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 12:26 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 4:02 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 4:07 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 5:40 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 7:00 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 7:03 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 7:08 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:15 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
![](//graphics.gaiaonline.com/images/template/s.gif) |
|
|
|
|
|