Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[wangfeel]

I saw in TV. They said> If you lie to me, death would be no respite. They said it /i/. But my dictionary said it /ai/. Which one is used today?
_________________
"Watch flower flowering and searing
Stay or leave has no sense
Clouds curling and stretching
Like or dislike is no surprising " from old Chinese saying

[ad-miral]

with /i/ is the correct one, like spit, just with a re- before it. Listen it here:

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=respite

[Lorikeet]

I remember the first time I used that word. It was 45 years ago. I was going out on a date, and I said something to the boy at the door using the word "respite" and pronouncing the second syllable so it rhymed with "night" and had the stress on the second syllable. My mother corrected me. I was so embarrassed! But I had never heard the word before, and you can't really tell by looking at it how it should be pronounced. It's because the stress is on the first syllable that the second syllable is pronounced more like "spit" although I would say it isn't really an /i/ vowel (which is usually stressed) but the vowel we use in syllables with reductions, sometimes called a schwa or a barred i). At least you know native speakers can make mistakes too!

[bud]

I was probably in my 40's before I learned the correct pronunciation for gamut! I always thought it was "ga-MUTT" because I'd never noticed it spoken until then.

[wangfeel]

Thank you very much.

I heard it in 'Deadwood'. I felt that many antique words seem so moderate and elegant to be heard out, rather than being read. I can never keep in wonderment about new words in a book. But voice does give an impression.
_________________
"Watch flower flowering and searing
Stay or leave has no sense
Clouds curling and stretching
Like or dislike is no surprising " from old Chinese saying

[CP]