It's pronounced "skizm," not "shizum," OK?
In English the "sch" combo separates the two consonant sounds with one soft "s" and the other a hard "ch" like the Italian "chiesa".
As in "school". You don't pronounce it "shool," do you?
So stop saying "shizum".
Also, it's "suck-sess" not "sussess".
"Success". The reason there are two c's in the middle is because the second one is followed by an "e" which in English softens it. The first is hard, the second soft.
Say it with me: "suck-sess" "skizm".
Right? Got it?
OK.
~
Agreed. But then the English go and confuse everyone with "shedule".
ReplyDeletewith due respect Miss White, it's better pronounced sism, like scissors (though I'll admit that skism is certainly also valid). The problem you've encountered is that rules for English pronunciation are riddled with exceptions. Ghoti is the classic illustration of this point. Ghoti which can either be pronounced 'fish' or be totally silent: gh is f as in tough; o is i as in women; t is sh as in creation. Or, gh is silent as in though; o is silent as in people; t is silent as in ballet; i is silent as in business.
ReplyDeleteBeing encouraged as a child to sound out words before spelling them was one of the least helpful thing a teacher could have done for me, and I'm sure that trying to apply rules to spelling set me back years, before I freed myself from them and just decided to learn spellings. I distinctly remember reading the word 'caution' on road signs until I was perhaps 11 years old before I realised that it was cawshon (a word I'd never heard read aloud) and not cow-tea-on. I pity the foreigner who has to get to grips with the caprice of this tongue.
Wow, who are you hanging around with? I've never heard anyone make those types of mistakes before.
ReplyDeleteLydia
df,
ReplyDeletethe difference between schism and scissors is the h. Therefore they cannot be pronounced the same way.
Lydia
Who did you hear saying that
ReplyDelete- a Jewish Rabbi?
Lydia,
ReplyDeletethat's precisely my point - you can't tell simply from the spelling how it's pronounced. The schi and sci can in this case be pronounced the same.
"schism (si- or ski-)". Thus the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.
Sk-ism sounds more like a split has occurred, so I go with that. Onomatopoeia-ish.
ReplyDeleteI would recommend inpatient treatment for those who say "suh-sess."
Amen Hilary!
ReplyDelete