theatrical gh (was: Cyrillic for English)

At 11:07 am -0500 11/12/99, John Cowan wrote:
>Raymond Brown scripsit:
>
>> Could well be - or the older spellings kept for special effect - as I've
>> occasionally met 'theatre' & 'gaol' in America to give 'quaint' or 'olde
>> worlde' effect.
>
>"Theatre" is used in the sense "place where plays are performed" by
>people in the theatre business, and a fortiori in the names of
>theatres.   In all other senses ("operating theater" in a hospital,
>"movie theater", "theater of operations" in military strategy, etc.),
>"theater" is used.
Thanks for the explanation.

I had seen 'theatre' in the States - but my visits there are, alas, too
infrequent & too short to pick up such nuances of meaning.  At least I was
right about 'theatre' being an affected use - just wrong about the effect
of the affectation  ;)

But if Nik is proved right about 'gh' dropping out of normal, everyday
spelling during the 21st cent - and I think this may well happen - then I
suspect some 'gh' spellings will get preserved for affected use.

Ray.


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A mind which thinks at its own expense
will always interfere with language.
                   [J.G. Hamann 1760]
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