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Why is the British pronunciation of lieutenant leftennant?

Question #94715. Asked by billythebrit.
Last updated Jun 04 2021.

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sunrayz99 star
Answer has 3 votes
sunrayz99 star
19 year member
98 replies avatar

Answer has 3 votes.
In contemporary English, the word is usually pronounced ['/lu'tenent/]. In 1791, English lexicographer John Walker lamented that the "regular sound" – /lju'tenent/ – was not in general employ, giving the pronunciation current at the time as /lev'tenent/ or /lev'tenent/. Walker's prescriptive pronunciation – which represents the regular English naturalization of the modern French word – took hold in the United States over the course of the nineteenth century; while an American dictionary of 1813 gives /lev'tenent/ and New Yorker Richard Grant White, born in 1822, claimed never to have heard the /lju-/ form in his youth, the /lev-/ or /lef-/ form was by 1893 considered old-fashioned. The great influence exercised on American English by Noah Webster, who insisted (but inconsistently) on the congruence of orthography and pronunciation, may be partly responsible for the eventual triumph of the "regular" pronunciation in the United States. In the rest of the English-speaking world, however, the Commonwealth form remains.
link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieutenant


Editor's note:
AskFT does not support some foreign alphabets or characters, see the reference link for exact pronunciations.

Apr 16 2008, 3:34 PM
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Baloo55th
Answer has 5 votes
Currently Best Answer
Baloo55th
21 year member
4545 replies avatar

Answer has 5 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
In the Royal Navy it isn't. "The first reference to a naval Lieutenant is in 1580 when one was borne in each ship as the Captain's understudy. The word is pronounced L'TENANT in the Royal Navy, LEFTENANT in the Army
link https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/12171/reason-for-different-pronunciations-of-lieutenant

It's not the same rank in the Navy as it is in the Army, either.

Response last updated by CmdrK on Jun 04 2021.
Apr 17 2008, 1:30 PM
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satguru star
Answer has 0 votes
satguru star
Moderator
21 year member
1246 replies avatar

Answer has 0 votes.
Officially the British pronunciation, which dates to the 14th century, shortly before it related specifically to an officer, remains unknown.

link https://www.etymonline.com/word/lieutenant

Jun 01 2021, 9:18 PM
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Baloo55th star
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Baloo55th star
21 year member
4545 replies avatar

Answer has 0 votes.
A current reference (with misspelling) for my post is link https://www.hmsrichmond.org/dict_l.htm which is informative but not very decorative.

Jun 02 2021, 11:11 AM
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