Re: sore-ISK-ee-an or ...

[rowe@lepomis.psych.upenn.edu (Mickey Rowe)]

If you're getting fed up with discussions of pronunciation, please
e-mail me and I'll cease and desist.

However, I'm really fascinated by a newly mounting ischium debate (hip
hip hooray :-).  Until recently at a training session for volunteers
at an exhibit at the Academy of Natural Sciences, I'd never heard
ischium pronounced with a "k" sound.  Afterwards I looked in a
dictionary and saw the pronunciation declared as having said "k" in
it.

Somebody just sent me e-mail claiming that ischium is always
pronounced "ISH-ium".  However, not only my dictionary at home, but an
on-line dictionary (American Heritage Electronic Dictionary Copyright
1991 by Houghton Mifflin Company) also says:

[is-chi-um]
 (i_s'ke--@m)

(NOUN): is-chi-a (-ke--@).
    The lowest of three major bones comprising each half of the pelvis.

ETYMOLOGY
    Latin, hip joint  <  Greek [[iskhion]].
[is'chi-al] (ADJECTIVE)


(I'm not sure what all of the pronunciation marks mean, but I think
the @ is supposed to be a schwa.)  At this point I guess I'll go
either way on that one since the "sh" sound seems to get much more use
despite the dictionaries.

I'm gathering from Neil Clark's comments that all he hears across the
pond is the "sh" sound as well?  If so, Neil, I don't think it's a
mispronunciation on your part in the same sense that you guys
mispronounce schedule :-) It seems almost everybody mispronounces
ischium :-)

And as for Amado's question about "sawr" vs. "sore", I don't think
that I'd make much of a distinction between the two, but the "saur"
generally sounds more like "or" than like "are" to me, so when writing
phonetically I go with "sore".

-- 
Mickey Rowe     (rowe@lepomis.psych.upenn.edu)