Pronounce TRIFED

"Howard Lester" wrote in
:

I see no one has picked up on my correction of the misspelling:
it's
Trifid, not Trifed.

That's correct, and it's an actual word in English, too. The
American pronunciation is "try-fid" (long i, then short i) with more
emphasis on the first syllable.

- Robert Cook

I'd always said TRIH-fid to myself, but TRY-fid makes more sense if
maybe it refers to a partition into three.

You might sound funny at the ballpark if you yelled, "Look at that! A TRY-
ple play!"

"Paul Lawler" wrote

I'd always said TRIH-fid to myself, but TRY-fid makes more sense if
maybe it refers to a partition into three.

You might sound funny at the ballpark if you yelled, "Look at that! A TRY-
ple play!"

Maybe so, but if you've studied English in this country as long as I have,
you know that the language is not exactly straightforward in either spelling
or pronunciation!

Howard




-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

"Howard Lester" wrote in
:


"Paul Lawler" wrote

I'd always said TRIH-fid to myself, but TRY-fid makes more sense if
maybe it refers to a partition into three.

You might sound funny at the ballpark if you yelled, "Look at that! A
TRY- ple play!"

Maybe so, but if you've studied English in this country as long as I
have, you know that the language is not exactly straightforward in
either spelling or pronunciation!

I guess it depends on who you like. American Heritage says "TRY-fid" and
Merriam Webster says "TRI-fid".

SkySea wrote:
As long as we're trifling with this tricky language, here's a triad to
consider: tripod, trio, and tritium. All refer to "three", and this
trimuvirate form a tribute to the trials and tribulations of learning
English.

But for all three examples you gave, the word constituents are Greek
from "tri-a"="three".

For Trifid, I am not at all sure that the second constituent (-fid) has
any significant Greek root. For that matter, had I not known the Greek
name for Trifid, I wouldn't be so sure about the "tri" part, either.

In Greek it's called "Trischides" from "tri" and "schizo" (verb)="to
tear".(Hence "schizophrenia" an old misnomer for the disease). I have no
idea how "fid" got in there :-)

Now that this thread is as old as a trilobite, I'll put in my
preference for "TRY-fid".

---------
Dale Gombert ( ), W. Seattle, WA, USA
http://flavorj.com/~skysea (stereo, scenic, and astro photos)
--
I. N. Galidakis
http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/jgal/
------------------------------------------
Eventually, _everything_ is understandable

Rhymes with knifed.

"Doink" wrote in message
...
Hi all...

What is the correct way to say TRIFED as in M8?

TRY-FED or TRIFF ED?

Ioannis wrote in message news:1094491895.633289@athnrd02...

SkySea wrote:

As long as we're trifling with this tricky language, here's a triad to
consider: tripod, trio, and tritium. All refer to "three", and this
trimuvirate form a tribute to the trials and tribulations of learning
English.

Well, that's just "trific." ;-)

[snip]
In Greek it's called "Trischides" from "tri" and "schizo" (verb)="to
tear".(Hence "schizophrenia" an old misnomer for the disease). I have no
idea how "fid" got in there :-)

It's from the Latin "trifidus," which literally means "split into
three."

Now that this thread is as old as a trilobite,

Yes, "These are the times that *try* men's souls." I don't know about
you, but I've had about enough of this *tripe*! ;-)


- Robert Cook