prophesai for prophecy

[Laurence Horn]

At 6:38 AM -0700 10/22/07, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>The only pronunciation and spelling I've ever known for the verb in
>question are as Arnold and Wilson say.
>
>   BTW, Cate is about to play the role of Bob Dylan in an upcoming biopic.
>
>   JL

...which actually brings up one sorta counterexample to the first
observation:  in "The Times They Are a-Changing", Dylan sings

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen

But this is only a sorta counterexample, because it arguably involves
not the verb "prophesy" but a different (albeit eggcornishly formed)
verb.

LH

>
>"Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU> wrote:
>   ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender: American Dialect Society
>Poster: "Arnold M. Zwicky"
>Subject: Re: prophesai for prophecy
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>On Oct 22, 2007, at 12:49 AM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>
>>  In "Elizabeth: Golden Age", Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth) seems to say
>>  "prophesai" for the verb "prophecy".
>
>?? the verb is "prophesy" and is pronounced with final /aj/. (this
>is the only pronunciation the OED has, and the OED has no entry for a
>verb "prophecy" -- only for a noun so spelled, and pronounced with
>final /i/.)
>
>arnold
>
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