Endangered specie (coinages)

[Tom Zurinskas]

I look "specie" up in thefreedictionary.com It's a coin, but the plural is a whole different word meaning "class".

Pronunciation was strange for US

US ~spishee (rhymes with fishy)
UK ~speeshee
icon ~speeshee

The same for the plural "species". The US speaker says ~spisheez. I've not heard it said this way.

Another "ci" word is "social" which Pres. Clinton pronounces ~soesool (~oe as in "toe" ~ool as in "wool"). The three voices of thefreedictionary.com say ~soeshool, which I'm glad to hear because I assume that is correct. Not even an option for ~soesool is given although ~speesee is mentioned as an option for "specie and species"



Tom Zurinskas, Conn 20 yrs, Tenn 3, NJ 33, now Fl 9.
See how English spelling links to sounds at http://justpaste.it/ayk









> Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2012 21:11:50 -0500
> From: hwgray at GMAIL.COM
> Subject: Re: Endangered specie (coinages)
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Re: Endangered specie (coinages)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Sat, Mar 10, 2012 at 1:39 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
> > "wood wood"
>
> Royal Ford, late automotive writer of The Boston Globe, asked, in his
> review of the Rolls-Royce "Silver Whatever," asked,
>
> "What is the point of [a dashboard made of walnut, with the] wood so
> highly polished that it looks like plastic?"
>
> Hence, if you drive a Rolls, it may sometimes actually be necessary to
> point out that various appointments are made of *wood* wood, though
> they appear to be made of plastic.
>
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
> to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org