Re: "Proper" english [off topic]
On Sun, Jan 02, 2000 at 10:41:37AM -0800, Steve Lamb wrote:
> I see it as fixing a wrong. Metre is "met-ray", not "meet-ehr" as
Consider that in French it's pronounced /metr/ or just /met/.
Chomsky and Halle notwithstanding, spelling is about 50% history, 15%
coincidence (like the words in English that are spelled with a final 'e'
because a medieval scribe needed to fill some space at the end of a line of
text), and 25% arbitrary decisions based on various misguided value
judgements, leaving about 10% for good solid (synchronic) phonology.
"Correct" language is whatever the person you're speaking to expects to
hear. In Canada at least, the accepted usage is "metre" for the unit of
measurement, and "meter" for the counterpart of rhythm. So please stop this
pointless argument, you're both right :)
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