Mispronunciation of "forte"
If you’re going with the French origin, then it should be pronounced “fohrr” (and spelled “fort”).
Effectively, “forte” has become an English word, and the “correct” pronunciation is whatever pronunciation the majority of English speakers uses, which seems to be closer to the Italian pronunciation (which would match the spelling “forte”).
In fact, from the page you linked: “both the one- and two-syllable pronunciations of forte are now considered standard”.
- Al Zheimer
for-tey ( ones strong point) is in common usage in American English and has been for quite a while. Their using it in that form is correct given what country the game was made in. That being said reporting a language issue at this stage when there are hundreds of much more important bugs and game stopping defects seems pretty lame.
I think that’s prounounced “lah-may.”
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for-tey ( ones strong point) is in common usage in American English and has been for quite a while. Their using it in that form is correct given what country the game was made in. That being said reporting a language issue at this stage when there are hundreds of much more important bugs and game stopping defects seems pretty lame.
The trouble is that the more usual American pronunciation comes from people who are being pretentious and trying to use a fancy word that they can’t pronounce. And it’s lame, based on the idea that a trailing “e” in a French word is always pronounced as though it had an “accent ague” over it, which is not the case for “forte”.
When there is a common error in grammar or pronunciation, there is always a tension between descriptive and normative approaches. Over time, the descriptive wins. I am not convinced we are there yet with “FORT” vs “forTEY”. And the site I linked showed the preferred pronunciation as being the French style.
At any rate, why would a scholar speak like a wanna-be scholar? The character that mispronounces the word is in the Priory.
from dictionary.com: A two-syllable pronunciation [fawr-tey] is increasingly heard, especially from younger educated speakers,
It seems that the Priory are on the leading edge of the change of pronunciation.
- [fawrt, fohrt or for 1, fawr-tey]
- /f?rt, fo?rt or for 1, ?f?r?te?/
noun \?fo?rt; 2 is often ?fo?r-?t? or fo?r-?t? or ?fo?r-t?\
- the part of a sword or foil blade that is between the middle and the hilt and that is the strongest part of the blade
- one’s strong point
…[F]orte’s … “strong point” sense has no entirely satisfactory pronunciation. Usage writers have denigrated \?fo?r-?t?\ and \?fo?r-t?\ because they reflect the influence of the Italian-derived 2forte. Their recommended pronunciation \?fo?rt\, however, does not exactly reflect French either: the French would write the word le fort and would pronounce it more similar to English for. So you can take your choice, knowing that someone somewhere will dislike whichever variant you choose. All are standard, however. In British English \?fo?-?t?\ and \?fo?t\ predominate; \?fo?r-?t?\ and \fo?r-?t?\ are probably the most frequent pronunciations in American English.
Both dictionaries show the two-syllable variation as a primary for the word. The tl;dr for Merriam-Webster is: there’s no consensus; pick which ever you like.
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
from dictionary.com: A two-syllable pronunciation [fawr-tey] is increasingly heard, especially from younger educated speakers,
It seems that the Priory are on the leading edge of the change of pronunciation.
Hinky dinky “Parley voo”. Ersatz French rules!
It’s the new old thing.
EDIT.
——
the above lines are from “Mademoiselle from Armentieres”, a song popular with American troops in WW-I, in 1918.
“Mademoiselle from Armentieres, Parley-voo?
Mademoiselle from Armentieres, Parley-voo?
Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
She hasn’t been kissed in forty years,
Hinky, dinky, parley-voo.”
(edited by Obed.7629)