Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/05/09

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Subject: [Leica] Forte and Forte: Was, Even us natives don't write English good"
From: msmall at infionline.net (Marc James Small)
Date: Sun May 9 11:58:59 2004
References: <409E47CA.2000504@summaventures.com>

At 12:57 PM 5/9/04 -0500, Jeffery Smith wrote:
>I'm more comfortable with the music version pronunciation. If I say
>"fort", someone invariably corrects me.
>

These are two different words, though both descend from the Latin root
"forti" meaning strong or forceful.

One word comes through the Italian and means "with great force";  it is
used as a musical directive and is pronounced "for-tey" in USian English.

The other comes through Medi?val French and is a survival of the earlier
"campus forte" or "situs forte", both meaning a fortified location.  Our
Modern English word "fort" derives from this word.  And, yes, when "forte"
is used to describe an outstanding quality or a strong qualification, it is
pronounced, "fort" in Modern English.

Check out any decent dictionary, from the modern versions of Webster or the
American Heritage Dictionary or, of course, the Oxford English Dictionary.

So, Jefferey, allow them to correct you.  Then you can correct THEM.

Marc

msmall@infionline.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
Cha robh b?s fir gun ghr?s fir!




Replies: Reply from jls at runbox.com (Jeffery Smith) ([Leica] Forte and Forte: Was, Even us natives don't write English good")
Reply from jonathan at openhealth.org (Jonathan Borden) ([Leica] Forte and Forte: Was, Even us natives don't write English good")
In reply to: Message from pdzwig at summaventures.com (Peter Dzwig) ([Leica] "Even us natives don't write English good")
Message from jls at runbox.com (Jeffery Smith) ([Leica] "Even us natives don't write English good")