I can't believe how many people seem to have no idea how to spell this word. It's not wah-la, or walla, or any variation thereof. There's a v in it, and a whole bunch of vowels. Like viola (or maybe viola) but different.
...but it's not a French word. Nor an Italian word.
I just had a look, and it appears that I was wrong, too (I though that "fort", like the thing you see in Wild West films, was the correct pronunciation). M-W (http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/forte), at least, says that the word "has no entirely satisfactory pronunciation".
It notes that in French, one would use the masculine form, "fort" (pronounced roughly like English "for"), not the feminine, "forte", in the noun sense.
And in Italian, the pronunciation would be roughly "fortay", so that pronunciation is acceptable for the musical term (which is borrowed from Italian), but not really for the "strong point" definition, which didn't come from Italian but via French, or so it seems.
"So," as M-W continues, "you can take your choice, knowing that someone somewhere will dislike whichever variant you choose."
I lose.
Not that it's something that matters terribly except to pedantic nit-pickers.
The documentation is vague enough that you also win. I speak neither French nor Italian except for a few words in both, and most of those are food-related (and in Italian, a few musical terms).
In a way, I like pedants. I learn from them, and appreciate the opportunity to do so. Thank you for the discussion :)
Not that it's something that matters terribly except to pedantic nit-pickers.
That'd be me! I'm the only person I know who skips off the e at the end. I understand why people say it with an -ay sound, and I feel vaguely hypocritical to be telling them off for it... but it really irks me anyway.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-05-21 12:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-21 01:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-21 02:04 pm (UTC)I just had a look, and it appears that I was wrong, too (I though that "fort", like the thing you see in Wild West films, was the correct pronunciation). M-W (http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/forte), at least, says that the word "has no entirely satisfactory pronunciation".
It notes that in French, one would use the masculine form, "fort" (pronounced roughly like English "for"), not the feminine, "forte", in the noun sense.
And in Italian, the pronunciation would be roughly "fortay", so that pronunciation is acceptable for the musical term (which is borrowed from Italian), but not really for the "strong point" definition, which didn't come from Italian but via French, or so it seems.
"So," as M-W continues, "you can take your choice, knowing that someone somewhere will dislike whichever variant you choose."
I lose.
Not that it's something that matters terribly except to pedantic nit-pickers.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-21 05:30 pm (UTC)In a way, I like pedants. I learn from them, and appreciate the opportunity to do so. Thank you for the discussion :)
no subject
Date: 2007-05-21 10:01 pm (UTC)That'd be me! I'm the only person I know who skips off the e at the end. I understand why people say it with an -ay sound, and I feel vaguely hypocritical to be telling them off for it... but it really irks me anyway.