fluffy 💜5d ago
Okay time for another pronunciation poll: Longitude vs. Longitudinal, do you use a hard G (like Gift) or a soft G (like Giraffe)?
Both use hard G
39.1%
Both use soft G
55.2%
Longitude hard, Longitudinal soft
2.8%
Longitude soft, Longitudinal hard
2.8%
Poll ended at .
Show threadfluffy 💜

Every pronunciation guide I see has a soft G for "longitude" (with some differences between UK and US for whether the "tu" is like 'tube' vs. 'choob') but they only get into the UK pronunciation of "longitudinal" where it's a hard G

And it seems weird to me that you'd pronounce the G differently between those two different words, since they're, like, the same root?

Apr 6 at 3:26amWeb
Show threadDeborah Pickett5d ago
@fluffy OED lists both, hard first then soft, for both words. Pronouncing the two differently is indefensible. I use soft G because I trained myself to; the norm in my country is hard G.
Show threadDeborah Pickett5d ago

@fluffy Merriam-Webster lists both for both, soft then (British) hard.

Collins (print dictionary) lists both for both, soft then hard.

Prisma English/Dutch (print dictionary) lists both for both, hard then soft.

I have a number of other foreign language dictionaries but they’re either all also Collins, or don’t have English pronunciations in them at all.

Show threadTim Richards4d ago
@fluffy Seems odd to go for a J sound when the root word is LONG
Show threadfluffy 💜3d ago
@timrichards I don't make the US English pronunciation rules, I just live within them