envelope vs endeavor

Question

Why are some words that starts with 'en' pronounced as /on/ while some are pronounced as en?

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Well, in this case at least, 'envelope' comes directly from the French.

Raindoctor · Answer

Even though English has many French words (even suffixes), there are a few words that contain those Frenchisms.

As MM mentioned in the earlier post, it just retains a pronunciation closer to the French nasal vowel. You can pronounce 'envelope' like the way you pronounce 'en' in 'endeavor'. Many native speakers use the latter pronunciation as well.

Here are some Frenchisms:

envelope
ensemble
envoy
entree
encore
entrepreneur
en route
en masse
ennui
entourage
double entendre

DMW · Answer

Due to the proximity of England and France, thousands and thousands of French words have gradually entered the English language, over a period of around 1000 years. Typically, when a word first enters the language, its pronunciation will be similar to how it is pronounced in its original language; then with time, it gradually begins to sound more and more English-like. In other words, the more recent introductions from French are usually pronounced in a more French-sounding way than earlier introductions.

The word "endeavour" was introduced from French around 1400. In 600 or so years, the "en" sound has had time to completely assimilate to English - it is invariably pronounced in an entirely English-like way.

The word "entrepreneur" was introduced from French in the 19th century. Most people still pronounce it in a way that approximates the original French pronunciation. Most likely, in a few hundred years, we'll be pronouncing it completely differently.

The word "envelope" was introduced from French around 1700. It's kind of an in-between case. Many people (including me) pronounce it with an "en" sound; many others pronounce it with an "on" sound, or with a more nasal French-sounding sound. In a sense, all three pronunciations are correct - this word is simply partway along its journey from being perceived as a French word (like entrepreneur) towards being perceived as fully English (like endeavour).

Rover_KE · Answer

DMWMany people (including me) pronounce it with an "en" sound; many others pronounce it with an "on" sound,

That's right, and in the verb form — envelop— it has to be 'en', with the stress on the second syllable.

Rover

envelope vs endeavor

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