At 09:57 AM 3/23/2000 -0500, John Cowan wrote:
>BTW, "Scyth" [sIT] is the people and "Scythia" [siTija] the nation.
>In general, "sc" before a front vowel is /s/ in English, although a
>few words have adopted a spelling pronunciation. One of the shibboleths
>is "schism", which is traditionally [sIzm] but now usually pronounced
>[skIzm] by people who have read it before they heard it. Sometimes /S/ is
Hmm, any idea where the /sIzm=/ pronunciation came from? Perhaps the word
was introduced into English before the /sk/->/s/ before front vowel rule
took place? Otherwise I would think it would have /sk/ in keeping with the
Greek etymon.
>used instead, as in "schedule" /SEdjul/; in America this is /skEdZ@l/.
I usually hear /"skEdZu@l/.
>It is said that Eisenhower was talking to Montgomery about /skedZ@lz/,
>until Monty asked "Where did you learn to pronounce /SEdjul/ like that?"
>Ike replied, "In grammar /Sul/."
Who knew Ike was Jewish? ;)