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In American English, unlike British English, œ and æ have mostly been collapsed into e. Compare encyclopaedia, foetus, faeces, diarrhoea, oestrogen. (But except
by dmurray 5y ago
In American English, unlike British English, œ and æ have mostly been collapsed into e. Compare encyclopaedia, foetus, faeces, diarrhoea, oestrogen. (But exceptions spelt the same way in both dialects: phoenix, oeconomics).
If you'd like to encourage what you consider the correct pronunciation, I'd suggest favouring the spelling esthetic, which I do see but less commonly.
- 1_player 5y agoIf they've collapsed, neither AmE nor BrE speakers got the memo, as I've heard it mispronounced by both. Non-native speakers on the other hand tend to pronounce it correctly, as it's a common diphthong in other languages, such as French.
- raverbashing 5y agoApple still uses an A for that sound (though true, it does not come from the latin æ)
- nieve 5y agoIn American English the word is spelled economics, not oeconomics. Not the same spelling at all.
- dmurray 5y agoIt's also spelt that way in British English, which was my point.
- nyuszika7h 5y agoPerhaps interestingly, in some languages like German and Hungarian, (o)estrogen is written with just an ö and no e (Östrogen, ösztrögén).
- CRConrad 5y agoThat's probably because the dots on top are, historically, a vestige of the 'e'.
- nyuszika7h 5y agoI just realized I made a mistake but can't edit it anymore: the last one should say "ösztrogén".