Heard: "loci" with [k]

[Joel S. Berson]

At 2/22/2013 06:59 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>You mean it isn't homonymous with "Loki"?

Wilson, you've been tricked.


>That's how I've always said it.

Me too.  Or did I say "locuses"?


>And I got an A in geometry. Eventually.

And I heard it in math class.  Perhaps that's why I got an A quickly.

But has anyone looked at the OED's pronunciation of "locus" and
"loci"?  Or why it does not tell us how to pronounce "foci"?  (Which
I say with [s].  Perhaps because [k] would bring it too close to the
F-word.)  Or infer how one would pronounce, let alone spell, the
plural of "hocus"?

Joel


>JL
>
>On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 11:44 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> > Subject:      Re: Heard: "loci" with [k], not [s]; cf. "fungi" with [Ng],
> > not
> >               [nDZ] [NT]
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > On Feb 21, 2013, at 11:17 PM, Scott wrote:
> >
> > > Not two words one usually hears in conversation; however, it seems to
> > > me that here in Montana the pronunciations you indicate are usual. In
> > > fact, ISTR a lame joke: "He always orders his pizza with mushrooms;
> > > he's a real fun guy!"
> > >
> > > Scott Swanson
> > >
> > And if those unsoftened velars were good enough for [iulius kaisar]
> > they're good enough for me!  (OK, I admit I do soften those velars myself,
> > but I would fight to the death your right to retroactively harden them.)
> >
> > LH
> >
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> >
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>
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