3 ms·
Not so fast. /ˈfɔːteɪ/ is a perfectly permissible English pronunciation for "forte", and it's also the one most if not all fluent speakers expect that word to t
by throwanem 5y ago
Not so fast. /ˈfɔːteɪ/ is a perfectly permissible English pronunciation for "forte", and it's also the one most if not all fluent speakers expect that word to take - especially since /ˈfɔːt/ is how we pronounce "fort" meaning "fortification". The next substantiated claim I see that these words should be homonymous will be the first, and even a substantiated such claim remains incorrect in the face of the way people actually use and understand language.
The only thing I see here to quibble with would be the acute accent on the final "e", which is rarely if ever a feature of modern English orthography in any case. Beyond that, I think GP's prescriptivism has, like that of the Académie Française, proceeded to a fault - specifically in GP's case, the fault of recommending you mispronounce "forte".
- ChrisMarshallNY 5y agoI took it as “Lose the accent, but pronounce it ‘for-TAY,’” even so (because that is exactly how it is pronounced, whenever I hear someone say it).
- fsckboy 5y agoYou are prescribing that people should say things anyway they want to, that there's no such thing as an error, and while you may very well be correct: I'm simply describing how to sound like an educated person.
- throwanem 5y agoI'm a native speaker of American English, and I used to work with a bunch of Ph.D.s, mostly likewise native speakers, who adored correcting people's diction, on many occasions including mine. Despite this, I have never in my life heard anyone, educated or otherwise, pronounce "forte" as "fort". From what dialect are you prescribing here?