Re: Coup de grace

[Steve Boatti]

In a message dated 5/28/04 10:17:54 AM, halldj at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU writes:


> So, the consensus seems to be that in the vast majority of uses these days
> (assuming they're something to do with loudness and therefore come from
> Italian), the final vowel in *forte* is legitimately pronounced and not an
> instance of the 'coup de grace phenomenon'.
>

This is a puzzling statement. I would venture that "the vast majority of
uses" of forte are not for the musical term derived from the Italian, but rather
the term meaning "strong point" derived from the French. For this use, there
does not seem to be a consensus, based on the sources cited.

Steve Boatti
sjb72 at columbia.edu