The English language is a marvel to learn and grow up with. I find the wondrous and infinite number of ways to describe and emote in English liberating. It covers many different grounds and levels of communication. Essentially, English gives me a free rein on expression and emotion that I am unable to personify in my native language.
Depending on the geographical locations and the strong presence of local accents, people learn to speak and enunciate English words in a variety of perplexing ways. Also, anomalies (or inconsistencies, if you may) do exist in word pronunciation to which I find rather beguiling and amusing.
One such word is ‘porpoise’ which I stumbled upon a few weeks ago. Porpoise refers to a species of marine mammal that happens to be a cousin of the dolphin. Since it is spelled the same way as tortoise – I had assumed (wrongly) that the same elocution applies and it would be undoubtedly pronounced in a similar manner.
Alas, I was corrected by my pedantic significant other (thanks much hun! ;) ) who informed me porpoise is enunciated as POR-POISE, whilst tortoise is pronounced as TOR-TEESE.
Perhaps, the difference lies in the fact that these animals represent two extreme poles of mammals - one on land and the other in water. Hmmmm…..
Or possibly, the word por-poise somehow finds its origin to the word POISE, which means an easy manner of carrying oneself. Maybe porpoise is such a graceful mammal of the ocean - hence it was magnanimously bestowed with that name?
In a similar vein, the word TEESE (in pronouncing TORTOISE) has its own weigh (pun intended) in history. According to my Google search, TOISE (or as it is pronounced TEESE) is French’s unit of measurement which has since become obsolete.
I guess the French has some ‘bearing’ in confusing non-Native English speakers the multitude of ways to pronounce what seems to be innocuous-looking English words.
One however must bear in mind that throughout history, English (and other languages) do borrow words from other languages. So, does this mean we have to blame and admonish every language for creeping its way into English? One can only imagine how long the discourse would take.
In the end, we can only articulate the words but whether it is the right way to verbalize is another issue altogether. So if one fine day someone corrects the way you speak English, don’t react or assume the worst! You might learn something new. And be thankful for the lesson. In the mean time, one can only pray that those phonetically-challenged words would be dismissed as garbled and slurred speech! Hehe.
Depending on the geographical locations and the strong presence of local accents, people learn to speak and enunciate English words in a variety of perplexing ways. Also, anomalies (or inconsistencies, if you may) do exist in word pronunciation to which I find rather beguiling and amusing.
One such word is ‘porpoise’ which I stumbled upon a few weeks ago. Porpoise refers to a species of marine mammal that happens to be a cousin of the dolphin. Since it is spelled the same way as tortoise – I had assumed (wrongly) that the same elocution applies and it would be undoubtedly pronounced in a similar manner.
Alas, I was corrected by my pedantic significant other (thanks much hun! ;) ) who informed me porpoise is enunciated as POR-POISE, whilst tortoise is pronounced as TOR-TEESE.
Perhaps, the difference lies in the fact that these animals represent two extreme poles of mammals - one on land and the other in water. Hmmmm…..
Or possibly, the word por-poise somehow finds its origin to the word POISE, which means an easy manner of carrying oneself. Maybe porpoise is such a graceful mammal of the ocean - hence it was magnanimously bestowed with that name?
In a similar vein, the word TEESE (in pronouncing TORTOISE) has its own weigh (pun intended) in history. According to my Google search, TOISE (or as it is pronounced TEESE) is French’s unit of measurement which has since become obsolete.
I guess the French has some ‘bearing’ in confusing non-Native English speakers the multitude of ways to pronounce what seems to be innocuous-looking English words.
One however must bear in mind that throughout history, English (and other languages) do borrow words from other languages. So, does this mean we have to blame and admonish every language for creeping its way into English? One can only imagine how long the discourse would take.
In the end, we can only articulate the words but whether it is the right way to verbalize is another issue altogether. So if one fine day someone corrects the way you speak English, don’t react or assume the worst! You might learn something new. And be thankful for the lesson. In the mean time, one can only pray that those phonetically-challenged words would be dismissed as garbled and slurred speech! Hehe.
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