Pronounciation of "respite" Australia verses America...

Question

Ok, folks, I'm an Aussie in the great upover (America). There are lot's of subtile differences here versus home but the one that seems very strange is the ignoring of the final "e" in respite and the pronounciation of it as respit. In all my many dealing with respite in Australia I have never heard it pronounced any way other than the way it is spelled. Is this pronounciation common in America? If I drink the water will I say respit too?

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Ok, folks, I'm an Aussie in the great upover (America). There are lot's of subtile differences here versus home but the one that seems[/nq]
What is "subtile"? Is it the way you say "subtle", or is it just a spelling boo-boo?
[nq:1]very strange is the ignoring of the final "e" in respite and the pronounciation of it as respit. In all my many dealing with respite[/nq]
Do you actually say "pronounciation" for "pronunciation"? I think that in speaking you might also add the necessary "s" to "dealings", roit, mite?
[nq:1]in Australia I have never heard it pronounced any way other than the way it is spelled. Is this pronounciation common in America? If I[/nq]
There you go again. Pronunciation.
[nq:1]drink the water will I say respit too? Only if you had mentioned havingspit already.[/nq]
If I spite you and then do it again, am I respiting?
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Ok, folks, I'm an Aussie in the great upover (America). There are lot's of subtile differences here versus home but ... way it is spelled. Is this pronounciation common in America? If I drink the water will I say respit too?[/nq]
Seems to break a rule. I do say "respit", but then go on and say "despite". Who knows why?
(Going a bit off topic here. OK. Way OT.) I can remember learning the Catholic prayer called "The Memorare" by rote as a third-grader. In one line, the actual wording is "Inspired with this confidence, to thee I fly", etc. But my co-agers and and others who were there before I arrived were saying "In spite of this confidence". I quickly sought the wording in a prayer book. The nuns never listened, or should I say never cared to correct the recitation. Similar errors occurred in the prayer to St. Michael, the Archangel.
Not until I was in public school, a junior in HS, did I hear about "Gladly (you know the rest)". Whew, but it was fun to laugh privately at the Protestants, by whom I always suspected I would be persecuted.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Not until I was in public school, a junior in HS, did I hear about "Gladly (you know the rest)". Whew, but it was fun to laugh privately at the Protestants, by whom I always suspected I would be persecuted.[/nq]
We always enjoyed "All we like sheep" too. (Ewe know that's not OT.)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Ok, folks, I'm an Aussie in the great upover (America). ... If I drink the water will I say respit too?[/nq]
[nq:1]Seems to break a rule. I do say "respit", but then go on and say "despite". Who knows why?[/nq]
I can think of a few similar examples.
(For)bade - either (for)'bad or (for)'bAd
(the latter being a 'spelling pronunciation' but now widely accepted) Shone - shOn (US) or shon (UK/canada)
Scone - scOn or scon

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Ok, folks, I'm an Aussie in the great upover (America). There are lot's of subtile differences here versus home but the one that seems[/nq]
[nq:1]What is "subtile"? Is it the way you say "subtle", or is it just a spelling boo-boo?[/nq]
A delicious archaism, Skitt: AFAIK, it was the original, but I won't look it up.
[nq:2]very strange is the ignoring of the final "e" in respite and the pronounciation of it as respit. In all my many dealing with respite[/nq]
[nq:1]Do you actually say "pronounciation" for "pronunciation"? I think that in speaking you might also add the necessary "s" to "dealings", roit, mite?[/nq]
Nah, in Oz that's "rite", mite: "roit" is rural England.
[nq:2]in Australia I have never heard it pronounced any way other than the way it is spelled. Is this pronounciation common in America? If I[/nq]
Dunno about America, but this Aus speaker of RP says the vowels like "hen-*****", stressing the first syll. Some Brits say it with the vowels of "hen-***", also stressing first syll.
Mike.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Ok, folks, I'm an Aussie in the great upover (America). There are lot's of subtile differences here versus home but ... way it is spelled. Is this pronounciation common in America? If I drink the water will I say respit too?[/nq]
"Respit" was the standard BrE pronunciation, but as the word has come into much more general use ("respite care") the "-ight" version has become usual.

Alan Jones

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]What is "subtile"? Is it the way you say "subtle", or is it just a spelling boo-boo?[/nq]
[nq:1]A delicious archaism, Skitt: AFAIK, it was the original, but I won't look it up.[/nq]
MWCD11 doesn't even call it archaic. It gives it a similar, but slightly different, set of senses. Both words are derived from Middle English "subtile" or "sotil".

Evan Kirshenbaum + HP Laboratories >A specification which calls for
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 >network-wide use of encryption, butPalo Alto, CA 94304 >invokes the Tooth Fairy to handle

(650)857-7572 > Henry Spencer

http://www.kirshenbaum.net/

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Ok, folks, I'm an Aussie in the great upover (America). ... If I drink the water will I say respit too?[/nq]
[nq:1]Seems to break a rule. I do say "respit", but then go on and say "despite". Who knows why?[/nq]
Partly at least because "despite" isn't a noun in current English: I imagine its pronunciation must be influenced by "in spite of". I feel sure I've heard, and maybe even read, plain "spite of"; not to mention "spite @".
Bring back "maugre", I say.
Mike.

Usenet · Answer

Alan Jones daybed:
[nq:2]Ok, folks, I'm an Aussie in the great upover (America). ... If I drink the water will I say respit too?[/nq]
[nq:1]"Respit" was the standard BrE pronunciation, but as the word has come into much more general use ("respite care") the "-ight" version has become usual.[/nq]
Both pronunciations are common in Australia, and I'd find it hard to say which is in the majority. But my wife works in the health system, so I might be hearing a different sample than the OP did.

(Hey, I just wrote "different than". I didn't think I ever did that.)

Peter Moylan peter at ee dot newcastle dot edu dot au http://eepjm.newcastle.edu.au (OS/2 and eCS information and software)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]A delicious archaism, Skitt: AFAIK, it was the original, but I won't look it up.[/nq]
[nq:1]MWCD11 doesn't even call it archaic. It gives it a similar, but slightly different, set of senses. Both words are derived from Middle English "subtile" or "sotil".[/nq]
Interesting. Collins says "rare spelling of 'subtle'"; COD9 doesn't list it; and OED1 lists plenty of examples, nearly all of which it calls "= subtle". Right near the end it gives a sense referring to the senses or pain "= acute, keen", which it doesn't equate to any sense of "subtle", and which it found in Longfellow from 1847, and as late as 1913 in a medical dictionary.
Mike.

Pronounciation of "respite" Australia verses America...

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions