• samus12345@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    11 months ago

    The word comes ultimately from the Latin salmon, but we got it by way of French, as we did with so many other food words. The French, as was their wont, had swallowed up the Latin L in their pronunciation, so by the time we English borrowed the word, it was saumon, no L in the spelling and so no L in the pronunciation.

    https://katherinebarber.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-l-in-salmon.html

    True, we kept the L, but we got the pronunciation from them.

    • Diabolo96@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      11 months ago

      Pronouncing the word based on how another language says it is strange to say the least. Imagine if train had the same treatment. In French it’s a short tr-un instead of English tr-ayn.

      • samus12345@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        edit-2
        11 months ago

        Pronouncing the word based on how another language says it

        French influence on English is rather unique in this regard. French was the language of the upper class, so an effort was made for English to sound more French when possible.

        My favorite example of how this has carried into modern day is the expressions “cordial reception” and “hearty welcome.” They both effectively mean the same thing, but the first, which is latin-derived, sounds fancy, while the second, which is germanic-derived, sounds more informal.

        • Diabolo96@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          11 months ago

          I know this but didn’t fully apprehend how deep the affect was.

          If I ever visit an English speaking country I’ll have to remember to say half the words in French to sound very haut class. Lol

          • samus12345@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            edit-2
            11 months ago

            It hasn’t been this way for hundreds of years, so you’ll most likely just confuse people! Unless you’re in Canada, maybe.