Why do Americans pronounce lieutenant differently?
Later, when the drive by the English to rid the language of french words began, they modified the word to try to match their pronunciation and made it “leftenant”. Even later, when the Americans cuddled up to the French during the revolutionary war, their pronunciation changed to follow the french term.
When did Lieutenant become leftenant?
Such is the case with the word lieutenant. The word arrived in English from French in 1375 and within 100 years the English were pronouncing it “left-tenant” as if there were a “right-tenant” as well.
Why do British people pronounce lieutenant wrong?
According to military customs, a lower ranking soldier walks on the left side of a senior officer. This courtesy developed when swords were still used on the battle field. The lower ranked soldier on the “left” protected the senior officers left side. Therefore, the term leftenant developed.
Is there a difference between lieutenant and leftenant?
As nouns the difference between lieutenant and leftenant is that lieutenant is (military) the lowest commissioned officer rank or ranks in many military forces while leftenant is an archaic spelling of lieutenant.
Why is Colonel said that way?
This was because the rank was bestowed upon the commander of a column of troops. This word was then adopted by the French, who translated the term in their own language, converted the word ‘colonnello’ to the word ‘coronel’. This is the reason why ‘colonel’ is pronounced ‘kernel’.
Is lieutenant pronounced leftenant?
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary shows both pronunciations. A Lieutenant (a leader of a platoon) is pronounced ‘Left-tenant’ in the U.K. (as he/she is left the tenancy of command). In the US however, the word is pronounced as ‘Lew-tenant’, much to British distaste. Leftenant is the U.K. and Commonwealth pronunciation.
How do you say in lieu of?
WORDS RELATED TO IN LIEU OF
- alternately.
- alternatively.
- as a matter of choice.
- by choice.
- by preference.
- first.
- in lieu of.
- in preference.
What is another word for Lieu?
In this page you can discover 8 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for lieu, like: in-lieu-of, place, instead, substitute, stead, position, untaken and pursuance.
What is the difference between a lieutenant and a lieu?
Lieu from french shows up in English phrases like “in lieu of” meaning “in place of”, so lieu means place and lieutenant essentially means placeholder. There is a rarely used word, lief, which I see in old books in phrases like “I’d as lief jump off this wall as…” and I think it is another spelling and pronunciation of lieu.
How do you pronounce lieutenant in English?
In the case of lieutenant even the English themselves don’t agree. In the army it is pronounced as leftenant, but in navy they use lootenant.
What is the meaning of the French word lieu?
Lieu in French means “place” and” tenant” is to hold. It’s pronounced like how Americans would say it. Notice words like March (Marche) to walk), Salute (Salut)greeting), beret, reveille (to get up), soldier, morale just for starters are all French words that are used daily in the military.
Why is the French word ‘lieutenant’ pronounced ‘leggy’ instead of ‘lieutenant’?
It’s simply an attempt for English speakers to pronunce French phonemes, I don’t believe there’s an additional reason. The word appeared in English as “lieutenant”, and an alternative “leftenant” was made to stick to the pronunciation. The pronunciation being very difficult for English speaker.