Hi Hamish: If we start getting into the way the ENGLISH pronounce things ---- we're dead!!! I grew up in Kent, near the village of Trottiscliffe --- pronounced --- Trosley. Oh, well. Diana :-))) > Now, hold on friend! The surname Clive was pronounced as "cliff" by Clive > of India and probably so by Lady Clive who married a near descendant of > his. > This pronunciation still exists in the place name "Cliveden" - the place on > the Thames where the Cliveden set used to meet. Go to Cliveden now > (National Trust property, gardens open to the public, house with limited > access as it is used as a hotel) and hear the locals! In these examples, > the modern word cliff derives from clive in turn coming from the > Anglo-Saxon word for, would you believe it, 'cliff'. So perhaps it is the > letter 'v' sound that is wrong as well as a short 'i'. > > Menzies is pronounced as "Mingiss", with the "ng" being a diphthong in > Scots' dialect as it is in any English word ending in "-ing". The 'iss' is > very short with the emphasis on the first syllable. Try saying "being" or > "thongs" or "meaningful"; the 'n' and 'g' are not pronounced separately and > it is not just a combination of the two letters. This is very close to the > 'n' with a squiggle over it that Alberto was referring to recently and > which in American English became corrupted to 'ny' as in canyon. To an > untrained ear it may sound as "Minniss" with two short letters 'i'. > I believe Robert Menzies, former Prime Minister of Australia pronounced it > as spelt, English style, but then they do things differently down there. > > One further thought. If you do a spell check in Outlook 97, the word > 'clive' is not in its dictionary. The first suggested replacement is > 'cliff'. > > If you want a puzzle, how many ways can you pronounce "Nerine"? This will > be TOW at end of April. Have your homework ready by then!! > > Regards Hamish > (to the Irish I would be Seamus - O'hamish is the vocative form - to most > of you I would be James, to Alberto, I would be Jaime, in Latin, Jacobus, > etc.....) > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php