Dip-thong

[Pearsons, Enid]

Ophthalmologist is another tough one.  You not only have the dread "ph-th"
combination but the really difficult disappearing "l."  Random House shows
/f/ in the first syllable, and the equivalent of theta-schwa-l in the
second. However, (working backwards), we have alternatives of
schwa-no-l-at-all for the second syllable and /p/ ending the first.  Juggle
them as you will. I have actually seen the "opthamologist" spelling, and I'm
not surprised.

Enid Pearsons
Senior Editor, Reference
Random House, Inc.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dfcoye at AOL.COM [mailto:Dfcoye at AOL.COM]
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2000 1:33 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Dip-thong


I think 95% of Americans would say  dip-theria, and the vast majority who
were aware of the word would say DIP-thong.   In grad school one of our
professors was adamant that we all say DIFF-thong, but there is a
counter-argument for /p/.  Granted ph- is almost always /f/, but in English
there are (I think!) no instances of native words with the /f/-theta
combination, so whenver a Greek word with this combination was introduced,
we
rendered it more speakable by making that /f/ a /p/.    The earliest OED
entry for 'diphthong/ (1400s) indicates not only a /p/ but also a /t/
--diptong.  The spelling 'dipthong' is shown as early as the 17th c.  There
is also the Old Testament foolish father Jephtha (mentioned in Hamlet),
where spellings indicate it too was JEP-thuh.   Compare also those
unpleasant
sores of the mouth "aphtha'" which the few doctors I have heard pronounce it
render as 'AP thuh'.

Dale Coye
The College of NJ