unrequited

[pne]

I just found out that "unrequited" has a "quite" sound in it—I'd been pronouncing it with "quit" all my life.

(At least, that's how I've been saying it in my head. I don't think I've ever heard it spoken out loud, nor that I've had the opportunity to say the word out loud myself.)

Comments

[otana.livejournal.com]

Even as a native speaker, English throws me for a loop with words I've never heard or said aloud. Especially learning the SoCal dialect changes and pronunciations.

[nik-w.livejournal.com]

Ah the joys of the English language! To have "quit" in it, it would have to be "unrequitted":D Not the most used word ever - I'd guess 99% of times it would be followed by "love". :)

[pne.livejournal.com]

To have "quit" in it, it would have to be "unrequitted":D

I thought about that, too, but I'm not sure how firm that rule is -- for example, US English has "traveled" with only one "l" even though it's not pronounced "traveeld".

I'd guess 99% of times it would be followed by "love". :)

Almost certainly :)

[nik-w.livejournal.com]

Yes, but we all know US English is a totally seperate language to UK English - they don't like double-letters, the can't understand "ph", they replace perfectly sensible words with different words, etc!:p

[sparkofcreation.livejournal.com]

I spent a good part of today wondering if the last syllable of "assuage" is like "rage" or "dressage" and I speak English all day (well, at least three-quarters of the day) every day. (The American Heritage Dictionary says the former, btw.)

[lovesasa.livejournal.com]

I've always said it with 'quit'. Then again, even as a native speaker I say a lot of words wrong. I don't exactly live in a highly lexically proper area, and I learned most of my big words from books, nerd that I am.

[leighbug]

Every time I see it, I pronounce it with quit. It's always a shock to hear it the other way, and it takes me a moment.

[oh-meow.livejournal.com]

it's like quite because the e at the end of that part makes the vowels inside long, if the short sound was to be preserved it would be spelt with a double t at the end. I used to tutor a dyslexic boy, and had to wade through an entire workbook of that kind of stuff ...