Dip-thong

[Beverly Flanigan]

And then there's that simple (monosyllabic, non-ph) word "fifth."  I'm
hearing [fITH] more and more--or maybe I'm just tuning in more to a
long-used pronunciation.

At 01:42 PM 5/19/00 -0400, you wrote:
>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


_____________________________________________
Beverly Olson Flanigan         Department of Linguistics
Ohio University                     Athens, OH  45701
Ph.: (740) 593-4568              Fax: (740) 593-2967
http://www.cats.ohiou.edu/linguistics/dept/flanigan.htm