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#194169 11/19/10 02:15 PM
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Okay, I have always known this word to be pronounced (and pardon my clumsy notation; no good at the technical way...) as "MISS chuh viss". I have heard "miss CHEE vee uhss", but never paid much attention to it. I thought it was wrong, or perhaps a slipped in Britishism along the lines of "aluminium". Online it is characterized as incorrect. Just wondering what different people hear/think in their necks of the woods. I heard it pronounced as the latter on NPR recently. Thanks! :0)

twosleepy #194170 11/19/10 03:11 PM
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what do I know? I find upon reflection that I pronounce it *either way when I read it, depending on.. I've no idea on what. I haven't had the opportunity to actually speak it in many years, or hear it spoken, so I'm at a loss.

edit: M-W online gives ÷mis-ˈchē-vē-əs as a variant, but I don't know what the '÷' symbol implies.

Last edited by tsuwm; 11/19/10 03:17 PM.
tsuwm #194172 11/19/10 03:43 PM
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÷ = incorrect variant ;0)

"The obelus, or division sign, is placed before a pronunciation variant that occurs in educated speech but that is considered by some to be questionable or unacceptable. This symbol is used sparingly and primarily for variants that have been objected to over a period of time in print by commentators on usage, in schools by teachers, or in correspondence that has come to the Merriam-Webster editorial department."

Last edited by twosleepy; 11/19/10 03:48 PM. Reason: looked it up....
twosleepy #194174 11/19/10 03:58 PM
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I hear chee-vee-ous at times. But there is no 'i' in the
final syllable so I've assumed it to be incorrect.


----please, draw me a sheep----
twosleepy #194175 11/19/10 03:59 PM
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ah, the RPSN* marking.

*Received Pronunciation Society of Nitpickers

tsuwm #194177 11/19/10 05:13 PM
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Another country heard from.


----please, draw me a sheep----
twosleepy #194183 11/19/10 06:54 PM
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always used to say the Chee-vee-us version, unless I was trying to be clever, then I'd use the "proper British" form.

then I actually read the word, and realized the i was transposed.

now I just don't use the word.

:¬ )


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twosleepy #194184 11/19/10 07:49 PM
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I got thinking that it might be suffering from crosstalk with devious. The two do share some common ground.

Faldage #194185 11/19/10 11:24 PM
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Originally Posted By: Faldage
I got thinking that it might be suffering from crosstalk with devious. The two do share some common ground.


that's a good thought and certainly makes me feel better about my mis-pronunciation...

:¬ )


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It happens a bit over here, although generally only at school because English teachers tend to favour it as a spelling test word because so many young people tend to say it with the non-existant i and so spell it incorrectly. Because of this they tend to get taught the correct spelling and so learn to spell it with its phonetics miss-chee-vous and so after school most have lost the -vee-ous.


----The next sentence is true. The previous sentence is false----
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